The legal system of the present-day Czech Republic would not be understood properly without sufficient knowledge of its historical roots and evolution. This book deals with the development of Czech law from its initial origins as a form of Slavic law to its current position, reflecting the influence of the legal systems of neighbouring countries and that of Roman law. The reader can see how a legal system originally based on custom developed into written and codified law. Czech law was fully dependent upon developments within the Luxemburg, Jagiellonian and, primarily, Habsburg monarchies, although some features remained autonomous. The 20th century is particularly important in the development of the Czech state and law of today, namely due to the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 and its split in 1992 giving rise to the independent identities of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. It was a century encompassing periods of democratic as well as totalitarian regimes; political, ideological, economic and social changes stemming from such transformations were projected into, and reflected in, the system of Czechoslovak and Czech law. It can therefore serve as a “case study” for researchers interested in the transition of democratic legal systems into totalitarian regimes, and vice versa.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this convenient resource provides systematic information on how Czech republic deals with the role religion plays or can play in society, the legal status of religious communities and institutions, and the legal interaction among religion, culture, education, and media. After a general introduction describing the social and historical background, the book goes on to explain the legal framework in which religion is approached. Coverage proceeds from the principle of religious freedom through the rights and contractual obligations of religious communities; international, transnational, and regional law effects; and the legal parameters affecting the influence of religion in politics and public life. Also covered are legal positions on religion in such specific fields as church financing, labour and employment, and matrimonial and family law. A clear and comprehensive overview of relevant legislation and legal doctrine make the book an invaluable reference source and very useful guide. Succinct and practical, this book will prove to be of great value to practitioners in the myriad instances where a law-related religious interest arises in Czech republic. Academics and researchers will appreciate its value as a thorough but concise treatment of the legal aspects of diversity and multiculturalism in which religion plays such an important part.

In 2005 the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic granted to the Charles University Law Faculty funds to research developments in Czech law from the last twenty years. Their findings were compiled into a four-volume collection entitled New Phenomena in Law at the Beginning of the 21st Century. In Czech Law Between Europeanization and Globalization, editor Michal Tomásek features those selections from the original monograph that are most relevant to an international audience. Translated into English, the texts in this collection are divided into four sections: Historical Impulses for the Development of Law, Theoretical and Constitutional Impulses for the Development of Law, Transformation of Public Law, and Transformation of Private Law. Accompanying each section are extensive bibliographies to help those unfamiliar with the Czech legal system. A major contribution from many of the leading Czech legal scholars, Czech Law Between Europeanization and Globalization provides necessary background to all who study comparative, European, and international law.

For those planning on or already doing business in the Czech Republic, or just wanting to extend their knowledge about the legal framework for conducting business in one of the central European states An Overview to Czech Commercial Law in English will prove worthwhile. Commencing with a concise background of the history and basis of the Czech commercial law, the authors move on to cover the legal regime of the principal business players, commercial companies. Thereafter, the commercial obligations and their main instruments, commercial contracts, are reviewed. A succinct analysis of the competition law represents a logical culmination of the publication. Each of the contributing authors has both an extensive academic background and a wide experience in the practice of law which contributes to a well balanced blend of a theoretical and practical approach demonstrated across this invaluable publication.

The world's legal professions have undergone dramatic changes in the 30 years since publication of the landmark three-volume Lawyers in Society, which launched comparative sociological studies of lawyers. This is the first of two volumes in which scholars from a wide range of disciplines, countries and cultures document and analyse those changes. The present volume presents reports on 46 countries, with broad coverage of North America, Western Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia, North Africa and the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, and former communist countries. These national reports address: the impact of globalisation and neoliberalism on national legal professions (the relationship of lawyers and their professional associations to the state and tensions between state and citizenship); changes in lawyer demography (rapidly growing numbers and the profession's efforts to retain control, the entry of women and obstacles to full gender equality, ethnic diversity); legal education (the proliferation of institutions and pedagogic innovation); the regulation of lawyers; structures of production (especially the growth of large firms and the impact of technology and paraprofessionals); the distribution of lawyers across roles; and access to justice (state-funded legal aid and pro-bono services). The juxtaposition of the reports reveals the dramatic transformations of professional rationales, labour markets, and working practices and the multiple contingencies of the role of lawyers in societies experiencing increasing juridification within a new geopolitical order.