Binding Decision of the Constitutional Court in Terms of Doctrine and Jurisprudence

The Constitutional Court is the main interpreting body of the Constitution and one of its functions is to unify its own case-law. The article deals with the question of the binding force of its decisions. It submits a summary of opinions presented by the legal doctrine and the Constitutional Court itself. It is necessary to distinguish which forms and parts of the decisions are binding and whether a decision is binding in a particular case (inter partes) and in other similar cases (erga omnes). The Czech law does not contain a formal system of precedents but it is generally accepted that a verdict and a ratio decidendi of the Constitutional Court (“findings”) are binding. Attention in the article is also focused on a possibility to change a previous legal opinion of the Constitutional Court.