on 2 February 2024
The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which is a part of the constitutional order of the Czech Republic, stipulates that the Czech Republic provides asylum to foreigners persecuted for exercising political rights and freedoms. However, asylum may be denied to those who have acted in violation of basic human rights and freedoms (Art. 43). Based on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, the Asylum Act regulates the granting of asylum and the asylum procedure in detail. Czech legislation in this area fully respects international obligations, especially the Geneva Convention on the Legal Status of Refugees and the European asylum acquis. The Asylum Act includes both substantive and procedural legislation.
Even though the basic legislation is called the „Asylum Act”, the subject of its regulation is the international protection, which is a broader term.
International protection includes both asylum and so-called supplementary protection. Asylum is granted in the Czech Republic to a foreigner who proves that he/she is persecuted for exercising political rights and freedoms or has a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, gender, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or for holding certain political opinions in the state of which he/she is a citizen. Another reason for granting asylum is reunification with a family member who has already been granted asylum. Finally, the last reason for granting asylum is humanitarian reasons. However, there is no legal right to humanitarian asylum and it is purely at the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, to whom it will be granted.
If the asylum seeker does not meet any of the above-mentioned reasons, but proves that in the event of his/her return to the homeland, he/she would be in danger of being imposed or executed the death penalty, torture or inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, or if he would find himself in serious danger to life or human dignity in situations of international or internal armed conflict by returning to the homeland, he/she may be granted additional
