Executive Power
The President of the Republic

(2) The President of the Republic shall be elected by Parliament at a joint meeting of both the chambers.

(3) The President of the Republic shall not be answerable for the exercise of his function.

Article 55
The President of the Republic shall enter upon his office by taking the vow. The election term of the President of the Republic shall be five years, commencing by the date on which he takes the vow.

Article 56
The election shall be held in the course of the last thirty days of the election period of the President of the Republic in office. If the office of the President of the Republic is vacated, the election shall be held within thirty days.

Article 57
(1) Any citizen who is eligible for the Senate may be elected President of the Republic

(2) Nobody may be elected more than twice in succession.

Article 58
(1) A candidate may be nominated by a group of at least ten Deputies or ten Senators.

(2) Elected as President of the Republic shall be the candidate supported by a simple majority vote of all Deputies as well as by a simple majority vote of all Senators.

(3) If none of the candidates has won the support of a simple majority vote of all Deputies and all Senators, a second round of the election shall be held within a fortnight.

(4) Qualified for the second round shall be the candidate who has won the highest number of votes in the House of Deputies, as well as the candidate who has won the highest number of votes in the Senate.

(5) If there are several candidates who have won the same highest number of votes in the House of Deputies, or several candidates who have won the same highest number of votes in the Senate, the votes polled for them in both the chambers shall be added up. Qualified for the second round shall be the candidate who has thus won the highest number of votes.

(6) Elected should be the candidate who has won a simple majority vote of the Deputies present as well as a simple majority vote of the Senators present.

(7) It the President of the Republic has not been elected even in the second round, a third round of the election shall be held within a fortnight; elected in this third round shall be the candidate of those of the second round who has won a simple majority vote of the Deputies and Senators present.

(8) If no President of the Republic has been elected even in the third round, a new election has to be held.

Article 59
(1) The President of the Republic shall take a vow, to be received by the Chairman of the House of Deputies, at a joint meeting of both the chambers.

(2) The vow of the President of the Republic shall be worded as follows: "I promise allegiance to the Czech Republic. I promise to observe its Constitution and laws. I promise upon my honour to exercise my office in the interest of all the people and according to the best of my knowledge and conscience."

Article 60
If the President of the Republic refuses to take the vow or if he takes it with a reservation, he shall be regarded as not having been elected.

Article 61
The President of the Republic may resign from his office, addressing the resignation to the Chairman of the House of Deputies.

Article 62
The President of the Republic shall
a) appoint and recall the Prime Minister and other members of the Government and accept their resignations, recall the Government and accept its resignation,
b) convene sessions of the House of Deputies,
c) authorize the Government whose resignation he has accepted or which he has recalled, to continue to exercise its functions temporarily, until a new Government has been appointed,
e) appoint the judges of the Constitutional Court, as well as its Chairman and Vice-Chairman,
f) appoint, from amongst judges, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Court,
g) forgive and mitigate sentences imposed by courts, order that criminal proceedings should not be instituted, or if they have been instituted, that they should be discontinued, and allow judicial sentences to be deleted from personal records,
h) have the right to return to Parliament an adopted law, with the exception of a constitutional law,
i) sign laws,
j) appoint the President and the Vice-President of the Supreme Control Office,
k) appoint the members of the Banking Council of the Czech National Bank.

Article 63
(1) Furthermore, the President of the Republic shall
a) represent the state in external relations,
b) negotiate and ratify international treaties; he may transfer the negotiation of international treaties to the Government or, with the Government's consent, to its individual members,
c) be the supreme commander of the armed forces,
d) receive the heads of foreign diplomatic missions,
e) accredit and convene the heads of diplomatic missions,
f) call elections to the House of Deputies and to the Senate,
g) appoint and promote generals,
h) bestow and award state distinctions, unless he authorizes another organ (body) to do so,
i) appoint judges,
j) have the right to grant amnesty.

(2) The President of the Republic shall also be entitled to exercise powers which are not specifically mentioned in a constitutional law, if authorized by law to that effect.

(3) In order to be effective, a decision of the President of the Republic issued according to paragraph 1 and 2 must be countersigned by the Prime Minister or by a member of the Government authorized by him.

(4) The responsibility for the President of the Republic's decision which needs to be countersigned by the Prime Minister or by a member of the Government authorized by him, shall be borne by the Government.

Article 64
(1) The President of the Republic shall have the right to attend the meetings of both the chambers of Parliament, of their committees and commissions. He shall be enabled to take the floor whenever he asks for it.

(2) The President of the Republic shall have the right to atten meetings of the Government, request reports from the Government or its members, and discuss with the Government or its members matters within its or their responsibility.

Article 65
(1) The President of the Republic cannot be detained (arrested) or prosecuted, nor can an action or charge be brought against him for breach of the law or for an offence of an administrative nature.

(2) The President of the Republic can only be prosecuted for high treason and tried by the Constitutional Court on the basis of an action brought by the Senate. The penalty can be the loss of the Presidential Office and of the qualification to regain it.

(3) The prosecution for any criminal offences committed during the exercise of the function of President of the Republic shall be ruled out for ever.

Article 66
If the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant and the new President of the Republic has not yet been elected or has not taken the vow, as well as if the President of the Republic cannot exercise his office for important reasons, and if theHouse of Deputies and the Senate have adopted a decision to that effect, the Prime Minister shall be authorized to exercise the functions specified in Article 63 paragraph 1 items a), b), c), d), e), h), i), j), and Article 63 paragraph 2) At the time when the Prime Minister is exercising the specified functions of the President of the Republic, the Chairman of the House of Deputies shall be authorized to exercise the functions of the President of the Republic specified in Article 62 items a), b), c), d), e), and k); if the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant at a time when the House of Deputies is dissolved, these functions shall be exercised by the Chairman of the Senate..

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