News

The lower house has passed an amendment to the criminal code which in the future should more firmly protect crime victims’ personal privacy, banning the publication of details in the case of minors, as well as adults who hadn’t issued prior consent. Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil said the law would allow for information to be published only if it was in a victim’s or the public’s interest, for example, in abduction cases or for identification purposes. The ban on publishing personal data will also include photographic or video images. Any breach could lead to a five million crown fine, and in some cases, up to five years in prison. Under the law, which now goes to the Senate, the media would no longer be able to publish images of children in divorce cases, or any images of minors in cases of child abuse. The government committee for children’s rights recommended that existing legislation be toughened after a case of severe child maltreatment in the town of Kuřim came under close media scrutiny for months, both this and last year.

The Constitutional Court is to announce its verdict on whether the Lisbon treaty is in line with the Czech constitution two weeks later than originally planned, at the request of President Václav Klaus. The court had been due to deliver its ruling on November 10, but will now do so on November 25. Mr Klaus, a fierce critic of the treaty, will be abroad in mid November; he said he wanted to be in the country when the judgment is announced, so he can take part in the public debate on the matter. The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, said recently he hoped the Czech Parliament would vote on Lisbon by the end of the year.

The Czech Republic, which takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in January, is one of the few EU states not to have ratified the reform treaty. However, the document’s whole future has been in doubt since it was rejected by voters in Ireland in June.

The Bohemian National Hall in New York is being officially opened on Thursday evening. The hall was built by Czech immigrants on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in the late 19th century and served as an important social centre for many decades. However, it fell into disrepair and was sold to the Czech state for the token price of one dollar in 2001. Since then the Czech Republic has funded an extensive reconstruction of the impressive five-storey building, which will now house the Czech Center and other Czech institutions in New York.

Prime Minister Topolánek has accepted an invitation to hold a working lunch with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Paris on Friday, the news website novinky.cz reported. The two leaders are due to discuss the rotating presidency of the EU, the global financial crisis and the Lisbon treaty. There has been speculation that France would like to extend its EU presidency, thus depriving Prague of its first turn in the president’s chair. However, Czech officials have dismissed the idea, saying EU rules are EU rules. Suggestions France could play a leading role in an informal eurozone group within the EU have also been questioned by the Czech government; the Czech deputy prime minister for European Affairs, Alexander Vondra, said such a development would divide the bloc rather than unifying it. The Czech Republic has not adopted the common European currency.