Fremr gives up nomination as Constitutional Court judge

Robert Fremr has decided not to accept the position of judge at the Constitutional Court, he announced at a press conference on Monday afternoon. He told reporters that public trust is a key prerequisite for being a constitutional judge and that he did not want to jeopardise the credibility of the Constitutional Court.

Fremr was nominated for the positional of constitutional judge by President Petr Pavel and was approved by the Senate, but his appointment was subsequently postponed as allegations surfaced that he may have knowingly issued guilty verdicts in over 100 communist-rigged trials and lied about his pre-1989 past in Senate hearings.

The vice president of the Prague High Court said last week that he was considering giving up his candidacy for the Constitutional Court, but, like the president, he wanted to wait for the results of his background check so that his stepping down would not be interpreted as a confession of guilt.