JUDr. Cyril Svoboda

Born on 25 November 1956 in Prague. In 1980, he graduated from the Faculty of Law, Charles University. He worked for Transgas between 1980 and 1983, before becoming a notary public. In 1990, he was adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister of the federal government for human rights, property restitution, and state-church relations. He was subsequently director of the legislative section of the Office of the CR Government until 1992. He held the post of Deputy Minister of Justice of the Czech Republic until 1996. In January 1997, he was given temporary charge of the Czech Government Legislative Council, of which he had been Vice-Chairman from 1992. In July 1996, Mr Svoboda was appointed the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs responsible for issues related to the Czech Republic’s accession to the EU. From 2 January 2 1998 to 23 July 1998, he was the Minister of the Interior and, at the same time, head of the delegation negotiating the terms of the Czech Republic’s admission to the European Union with EU representatives. From 23 July 1998 to 20 June 2002, he was Chairman of the Petitions Committee of the Czech Parliament’s Chamber of Deputies; from January 2001, he was the Chairman of the Rules of Procedure and Immunity Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In 1996, Mr Svoboda was made a member of the academic councils of the Faculty of Law, Charles University, and the Faculty of International Relations, University of Economics, Prague. In 1997, he was appointed the Vice-Chairman of the European Commission of Democracy through Law (of which he had been a member since 1994). Mr Svoboda joined the KDU-ČSL in 1995. On 28 January 2001, he was elected leader of the Coalition of Four. On 31 January 2001, he resigned from his post of First Vice-Chairman of the KDU-ČSL, and on 31 March 2001 he stepped down from his post as leader of the Coalition of Four. On 26 May 2001, he was elected Chairman of the KDU-ČSL. He was the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Vladímír Špidla’s government between 15 July 2002 and 4 August 2004. Mr Svoboda is a co-author of the book Notes to the Constitution of the Czech Republic, a textbook of constitutional law for the Faculty of Law, Charles University, and the author of the book The Out-of-Court Rehabilitation Act: Questions and Answers, as well as a number of studies concerning legislation. He is married, the father of four sons.