The Conference "Constitution 1920 - Culmination of Constituting the Czechoslovak State

The Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University organize, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the adoption of the first Czechoslovak constitution, a scientific conference which will be held on 25 February 2010.

At the end of February 1920 the first Czechoslovak constitution was adopted. Thus it was finished constituting the new state in the symbolic and legal form; it was not easy and posed number of challenges to the political actors who had to cope with them. Answers to questions how the political representation coped with the situation of the newly constituted state in a turbulent Central Europe full of national, social and economic problems can be found just through the study of constitutional rules and other laws adopted in connection of the adoption of the Czechoslovak constitution.

In 2010 we will commemorate the 90th anniversary of that important moment of the Czech history and therefore the Office of the Government in cooperation with the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University decided to organize a scientific conference, the basic objective of which would be to summarize existing scientific knowledge on the historical context of the adoption of the Czechoslovak constitution and to bring new, unpublished results of the scientific research. With regard to the fact that members of the government significantly participated in the preparation of the constitutional rules, it will be just the current Office of the Government, which advocates the heritage of the First Republic Ministerial Council, which will commemorate this event.

The result of the conference both for experts and the public will be a summary of contributions presented at the conference.

Thursday 25 February 2010

Hrzán Palace (Loretánská Str. 9, Prague 1)

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Programme:

8:30 Opening of the conference

9:00 – 10:00 Section I.

• Prof. JUDr. Karel Malý, DrSc., Dr.h.c. – Constitution as a commencement of a new era of democracy
• Prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Kárník, DrCs. – The Path to the stabilization constitution of the state
• Prof. JUDr. PhDr. Karolina Adamová, CSc. – Czechoslovak constitution in the context of the European constitutionality

10:00 – 10:20 coffee break

10:20 – 11:40 Section II.

• Prof. JUDr. Václav Pavlíček, CSc. dr.h.c. – Czech and Czechoslovak idea of the state
• Doc. PhDr. Eva Broklová, CSc. – Fair constitution for fair people
• PhDr. JUDr. Jakub Rákosník, Ph.D. – Political parties in the constitution 1920

11:40 – 12:40 Lunch

12:40 – 14:20 Section III.

• Prof. PhDr. Jan Rychlík, DrSc. – Problem of the position of Slovakia in preparation of the constitution 1919-1920
• Mgr. Mirolav Michela, Ph.D. – Plans for solution of the Slovak issue aimed at renewal of the Hungarian integrity in 1918-1920
• JUDr. PhDr. René Petráš, Ph.D. – Constitutional system and rights of minorities
• Mgr. David Hubený + Bc. Jan Hasil – Attitude of the German Reich and Czechoslovak Germans to the constitution
• Doc. PhDr. Jana Čechurová, Ph.D. – Boarder guards and their mobilization force not only in adopting the constitution

14:20 – 14:40 coffee break

14:40 – 16:00 Section IV.

• Prof. PhDr. Ivan Šedivý, CSc. – Discussion of constituting the army in the context of the Czech legislation
• Doc. Mgr. Jaroslav Šebek, Ph.D. – Church-political situation in the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918-1920
• PhDr. Lukáš Šlehofer – Changes in the educational system in the light of constituting the Czechoslovak state
• Prof. PhDr. Ivan Jakubec, CSc. – Economic parameters of the Czechoslovak Constitutional Act

16:00 – 16:30 Closing discussion and conclusion