Final Word from Thursday, August 10, 2023

Pavel Rychetský made an important statement on his last day on Mon. as the chief justice of the Constitutional Court: "The Constitutional Court exists not only to protect the Constitution, but more importantly to protect the citizens of this country from public authorities that sometimes tend to interfere with their rights and freedoms, especially when enabled to do so by a covid pandemic or the like." He was alluding to the trade-off between protecting the public good and protecting human freedoms. Most everyone has some recollection of what the government did to interfere with their rights during covid, but very few people know how much of the government interference was subsequently declared illegal or even unconstitutional. Rychetský would do a great service to the citizens of this country if he used his knowledge and experience to issue a comprehensive report of which agencies of government overstepped their authority during covid and how their transgressions were remedied. [ Czech Republic covid-19 coronavirus ]