Czech legal bodies criticize Andrej Babiš over judicial independence remarks

The Czech Bar Association (ČAK) and the Prosecutors' Union have criticized Prime Minister Andrej Babiš for statements that undermine the independence of the judiciary. Babiš recently claimed at a political rally that a ‘mafia’ exists that can imprison people upon request and accused judges of making decisions without evidence or acting like prosecutors from the former regime.

Monika Novotná, head of the Czech Bar Association, stated that trust in judicial independence is a fundamental prerequisite for a democratic society and that undermining this order by a high constitutional official weakens the institutional framework of the rule of law. The Judges' Union has also called on the Prime Minister to provide evidence for his claims or refrain from such statements.

These criticisms follow legal developments in the ‘Čapí hnízdo’ (Stork's Nest) subsidy fraud case. The Prague High Court recently upheld a three-year suspended sentence for Babiš’s former advisor, Jana Nagyová, regarding the misuse of EU funds. While criminal proceedings against Babiš are currently suspended due to his parliamentary immunity, he continues to challenge the legitimacy of the judicial decisions related to the case.