Legal provisions for optional referendums at national level

Constitution of the Czech Republic (1993)

ARTICLE 2(2). A constitutional act may designate the conditions under which the people may exercise state authority directly.

ARTICLE 10A.
1. Certain powers of Czech Republic authorities may be transferred by treaty to an international organization or institution.
2. The ratification of a treaty under paragraph 1 requires the consent of Parliament, unless a constitutional act provides that such ratification requires the approval obtained in a referendum.

Article 21 p. 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms provides that citizens have the right to participate in the administration of public affairs either directly or through the free election of their representatives.

Although Art. 2 p. 2 of the Constitution of Czech Republic adopted on 16 December 1992 states that a constitutional law may stipulate the cases when the people exercise state power directly, such law has not been enacted. At the moment there is no general law on nationwide referendum or initiative. The only law concerning referendum was adopted in order to regulate the referendum on the accession to EU which took place in 2003. According to Art. 10a of the Constitution, certain powers of Czech Republic authorities may be transferred by treaty to an international organization or institution. The ratification of such treaty requires the consent of Parliament, unless a constitutional act provides that such ratification requires the approval obtained in a referendum. The constitutional act providing for a referendum on EU accession (but not on any other issue), was passed in October 2002 but it served only this one concrete referendum.