Czechia

[CZ] Amendment to the acts on Czech Television and Czech Radio

IRIS 2023-8:1/35

Jan Fučík

Česká televize

Parliament has adopted an amendment to the Acts on Czech Television and Czech Radio concerning the Council of Czech Television and the Council of Czech Radio. Until now, the Chamber of Deputies had elected all of the members of these councils. The amendment stipulating that council members are to be elected and dismissed by the Senate in addition to the Chamber of Deputies has been added to the current version. The Chamber of Deputies will elect 12 of the 18 members of the Council of Czech Television, and the Senate will elect six of them. At the Council of Czech Radio, which has nine members, the Chamber of Deputies will elect six members and the Senate three. This will ensure that both chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic will participate in the establishment of both councils. The six-year term of office is maintained, as is the replacement of a third of the members every two years. The number of members of the Council of Czech Television is increased from the current 15 to 18, wheras the number of members of the Council of Czech Radio remains the same. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate elect members of both councils from among candidates proposed by legal entities that have been established for at least 10 years at the time of submission of the proposal and that represent cultural, regional, social, trade-union, employer, religious, educational, scientific, ecological and national interests. The condition of 10 years of existence is a recent addition.

The main goal of the legislation is to enable the members of the Council of Czech Television and the Council of Czech Radio to be elected by both chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Parliament as a whole is representative of the public. Its members – both in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate – are elected by the public as their representatives to exercise legislative power and to exercise powers conferred by law. The principle of the legislation is to achieve the involvement of both chambers of the parliament in relation to the election and dismissal of members of the Public Media Councils, who are elected by different systems and thus represent a comprehensive representation of the citizens of the Czech Republic.