Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Jaroslav Benák
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Masaryk University Brno
Is There Room for the Strategic Selection of Cases at the Czech Constitutional Court?
Jurisprudence 2/2018 Section: Discussion Page: 32–38
Keywords: Czech Constitutional Court, strategic voting, aggressive grant, defensive denial
Abstract: The procedure before the U.S. Supreme Court is based on a selection model sometimes called the white list. The court will only deal with those cases that were specifically chosen for the hearing. The choice (i. e. granting of the certiorari) is entirely within the discretion of Justices. The case is included in the list if four Justices (out of nine) vote in favour. The theory assumes that judges can apply defensive denials (vote for non granting certiorari if they expect the court to be unable to find the necessary majority to overcome the appeal decision that they consider to be wrong) and aggressive grants (vote for granting of certiorari in the case when the Justice agrees with the decision of the court of appeal and wants the Supreme Court to take the case. The present article considers whether there are situations in which judges of the Czech Constitutional Court have the opportunity to make similar decisions.
