Final Word from Monday, February 7, 2022

Senate Pres. Miloš Vystrčil told Czech TV that he's satisfied with the changes that were made to the amendment to the pandemic law and that it's now a reasonable compromise. However, another influential senator, Václav Láska, said that he can't vote for the bill, in part because of how it addresses judicial review of measures imposed by the government under the law. Originally, legal complaints filed against the pandemic measures would not get priority status at the Supreme Administrative Court if the measures had already expired, and Láska said that a fix to this that was proposed by MP Jakub Michálek of the Pirates still doesn't go far enough in correcting the problem. Priority status would still apply if the expired measures were replaced "simultaneously" by similar measures. This leaves a lot of room for the government to maneuver. So much effort to evade prompt judicial review of what could be very harsh pandemic restrictions should set off alarm bells everywhere. [ Czech Republic Television ODS president emergency powers crisis ]