Constitutional Court rejects government bid to remove judge from NATO summit case

The government has failed in its bid to have Constitutional Court judge Pavel Šámal removed from a case concerning President Petr Pavel’s participation in the NATO summit in Ankara in July. The Constitutional Court said on Thursday that a judge cannot be considered biased in any court proceedings in Czechia solely because of the way they have handled a case.

Czech President Pavel appealed to the Constitutional Court in a dispute over the scope of his authority after the government denied his request to lead the Czech delegation to the NATO summit.

The Constitutional Court subsequently issued a preliminary injunction ordering the government to ensure the president could attend the summit in Ankara.

The government argued that Šámal had erred by allegedly sending the president’s submission to the government for comment too late.

The court is yet to issue a definitive ruling on the case.