Limitations of Fundamental Rights in the Czech Republic and the Role of the Principle of Proportionality

Abstract

One of the most substantial issues relating to the protection of fundamental rights is seen in searching for a balance between those rights and the public interests of the society. Different conceptions have been developed attempting to determine the modes of resolving this conflict under constitutional law; however, none of these conceptions has been spread in such an extensive manner as the principle of proportionality has.The principle of proportionality has been debated intensively in contemporary jurisprudence, as it is perceived as a modern method of constitutional reasoning, determining what limitation of a fundamental right may be considered in conformity with the constitution and what may not.This article is to deal with these issues and to outline a historical and contemporary application of the proportionality principle in the Czech Republic.Part One will introduce various contexts of proportionality in law and their consequences for the formation of the principle of proportionality in legal doctrine after WWII and the case-law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Part Two will outline the circumstances under which the proportionality principle became one of the most significant methods of constitutional reasoning in the Czech Republic. The final part will be devoted to emphasizing the proportionality principle as a neutral principle in constitutional law and to a variable intensity of its review.