In this election period, the Czech Republic will not make progress in ratifying the Istanbul Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The server iRozhlas.cz drew attention to this, according to which Petr Fiala’s government at Monday’s meeting canceled the consent to ratification, which was granted by the previous cabinet of Andrej Babiš. Members of the government did not inform about this decision at the subsequent press conference, the TASR agency reported in a report from Prague, referring to the Czech server.
- The Czech government of Petr Fiala canceled its consent to the ratification of the Istanbul Convention.
- With this move, the government formally revokes previous support and freezes ratification.
- In January 2024, the Senate refused to approve the ratification of the convention.
- The Senate’s disapproval and the government’s decision make it impossible to approve the convention in the mandate.
- The Czech Republic remains among the European Union states without a ratified Istanbul Convention.
According to iRozhlas.cz, in the resolution, which is not publicly accessible, this step is justified by the fact that in the last election period the Chamber of Deputies did not vote on the proposal for ratification at all and the Senate did not adopt any resolution on it. The government’s decision thus formally cancels the previous support and effectively freezes the ratification process at least until the end of the current mandate of the parliament.
Blocked ratification
In June 2023, Petr Fiala’s cabinet adopted a resolution in which he recommended the deputies to support the international agreement. However, the Lower Chamber did not get to the debate itself, because the Senate was discussing the document in the meantime. In January 2024, despite the persuasion of President Petr Pavel, he refused to express his consent to the ratification.
Since the adoption of an international treaty in the Czech Republic requires the consent of both chambers of the parliament, the Senate’s disapproval meant a de facto halt to the process. Theoretically, the situation could change in the current election period, but the government’s current decision to cancel the original consent to ratification practically excludes this scenario for the next few years.
Criticism from experts
In response to iRozhlas.cz, former government commissioner for human rights Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková described the cabinet’s move as a signal that protecting people from violence is not a priority for the current government. According to her, such a procedure is particularly worrying at a time when violence in partner relationships, in families, against seniors, or violence motivated by prejudice is on the rise.
The Istanbul Convention is a treaty of the Council of Europe signed on May 11, 2011 in Istanbul. It obliges states that ratify it to adopt legislative measures to punish domestic violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence.
European context
The Czech Republic signed the convention in 2016, but has not yet completed the ratification process. Within the European Union as a whole, the treaty entered into force on October 1, 2023, while not all member states have yet legally committed to it. The Czech government’s decision to cancel its consent to ratification thus means that the country will continue to remain among the states that have not incorporated the convention into their legal order.
