Senate (Czech Republic)

Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Senát Parlamentu České republiky
Type
Type	Upper house
Leadership
President	Milan Štěch, ČSSD Since 24 November 2010
1st Vice-President	Miluše Horská, KDU-ČSL Since 16 November 2016
Vice-President	Ivo Bárek, ČSSD Since 19 November 2014
Vice-President	Jaroslav Kubera, ODS Since 19 November 2016
Vice-President	Jiří Šesták, STAN Since 19 November 2016
Structure
Seats	81 members
Political groups	Source      ČSSD (25)      KDU-ČSL (16)      STAN+TOP 09 (11)      ODS (10)      ANO (7)      Group of Independent Senators (5)      non-inscrits (7)
Elections
Voting system	Two-round system
Last election	7–8 October 2016 14–15 October 2016
Meeting place
Wallenstein Palace, Prague
Website
www.senat.cz

Source

The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (Czech: Senát Parlamentu České republiky), usually referred to as Senate, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague.

The Senate has 81 members, elected for six years, every two years one third of them, in one-seat constituencies through two rounds majority system (the second round is between two candidates with highest number of votes from the first round – if no candidate obtains 50+% majority in the first round). A candidate for the Senate does not need to be on a political party's ticket (unlike the lower chamber).

The senate has one President and four Vice-Presidents. Its members participate in specialised committees and commissions.

The Senate Chancellery has been created to provide professional, organisational and technical services. The Senate occupies several historical palaces in centre of Prague, in Malá Strana quarter. In 2005 its budget was 561.2 million CZK.

The Senate can delay a proposed law which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies but this veto can be overridden by an absolute majority (i.e. at least 101 of all 200 members) of the Chamber of Deputies in a repeated vote. The Senate, however, cannot be overridden when it votes on constitutional law and on international treaties.

Senate decides on confirmation of judges of the Constitutional Court, proposed by the President. It often uses this power to block unacceptable nominees and may propose new laws. However, the Senate does not get to vote on the country budget and on confidence in the government, unlike the Chamber of Deputies.