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In related news, on Thursday EU leaders signed the Treaty of Lisbon, to replace the EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in national referenda in 2005. The new document will now need to be ratified by individual member states by 2009. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek commented in Brussels on Friday, saying the process would “not be easy”. He signalled that a potential sticking point was the implementation of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The chairman of the Constitutional Court, Pavel Rychetsky, has said that the court will not rule on a complaint on healthcare fees put forward by the opposition Social Democrats before the end of the year. The court is to study whether payments for visits to the doctor to be introduced as of January 1 are unconstitutional – clashing with the country’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Mr Rychetsky told radio station Frekvence 1 people would have to obey the law unless the Constitutional Court annulled the legislation, part of the government’s reforms. The court chairman stressed he disagreed with a petition launched this week by some politicians and public figures, calling on the public to express civil disobedience and to ignore the law when it comes into effect.

The Prague State Attorney’s Office has revealed that Christian Democrat MP Pavel Severa did not commit a crime in the case of leaking the so-called “Kubice report” – a report presented by former senior police officer Jan Kubice outlining alleged links between organised crime and the state administration. The report was leaked to the media shortly before parliamentary elections in 2006, after the officer appeared before a lower house committee. Mr Severa was suspected of having put classified information at risk through negligence. The Social Democrats, who lost the election, have contended the report influenced its outcome. They originally blamed the right-of-centre Civic Democrats of having purposely leaked the document.

The new committee for the prevention of domestic violence established by the Czech government's council for equal opportunities will draft an action plan for fighting against domestic violence, the minister in charge of minorities and human rights Dzamila Stehlikova has revealed. The committee's priority will be the preparation of proposals for the government for including certain measures against domestic violence among crimes, she told journalists after the first committee meeting. She also stressed the committee would also focus on the better protection of children against domestic violence. Domestic violence has been punishable in the Czech Republic since June 2004. As of this year, police can expel the perpetrators of domestic violence from their home for a ten-day period. The measure is aimed at protecting victims against further attacks.