Workshop on the International Criminal Court
The Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democratization is hosting workshop named "International Criminal Court - Perspectuves of Judging of the International Crimes". Workshop will be held on 3rd May 2010 at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno.
Papers on following topics are welcome:
- International Criminal Court practice up to now
- changes in the Rome Statute
- challenges for the Czech Republic
The Conference ‘60 Years of the Council of Europe – 50 Years of the European Court of Human Rights‘ Took Place at the Faculty of Social Studies
The conference ‘60 Years of the Council of Europe - 50 Years of the European Court of Human Rights‘, organized by Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democratization, took place at the Faculty of Social Studies on 3rd December 2009.
The visitors have been provided with insights by experts on various practical issues nowadays related to the functioning of European Court of Human Rights.
Conference on the Council of Europe and European Court for Human Rights
Conference "60 Years of the Council of Europe - 50 Years of the European Court for Human Rights" is going to take place on 3rd December 2009 at the Masaryk University in Brno. The conference is organized by the Czech Centre on Human Rights and Democratization, which operates under International Institute of Political Science, in cooperation with the Council of Europe and with the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University. The aim of the conference is to cross-analyze the functioning of both important European institutions and to identify biggest challenges that are to be faced by these institutions in upcoming years.
International Conference on the US Foreign Policy and T. Jefferson
The conference 'The United States of America - Jeffersonian Roots, Ideas, Policy. Continuity or Change?' will be held on 30th November 2009 in Brno. Papers will be given by Bradley A. Thayer (Professor of Political Science, Baylor University, Texas), Frank Cogliano (Professor of American History, University of Edinburgh) and Roman Joch (Director, Civic Institute, Prague), among others.
Caspian Region Between Europe and Russia
The conference 'Caspian Region Between Europe And Russia' will be held on 25th November 2009 in Brno. Papers will be given by Vakhtang Darchiashvili; Vladimir Simonak, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, author of the book:'Azerbaijan: Between the East and the West', reporter and ex-spokesman of the UN mission in the Republic of South Africa, Angola and Namibia Vladimir Sigov, and the director of the International Institute of Political Science of the Masaryk University, Oldrich Krpec, among others. Program is available here.
Czech-Polish Cooperation With IIPS Participation
The conference named 'Poland and the Czech Republic: Fields of Cooperation' aimed to identify and analyze essential issues in which both countries share common interests when it comes to foreign policy and to prepare proposals for its more effective pursuing, was held in Warsaw from 9th to 10th November. The event took form of the round table with limited access of the public. It was attended by Tomas Pojar, under-minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic, and Maciej Wozniak, the advisor in the questions of energetics to Polish prime minister, among others. IIPS was represented by Filip Cernoch and Petr Ocelik with paper 'LNG and Its Contribution to the Energy Security of the V4 Countries'.
Winners of Best Essay Competition Have Been Announced
Winners of the best essay competition on the topic 'Twenty Years of Freedom or Democracy Is Not for Granted' have been announced on 5th November in Prague. The competition was organized by International Institute of Political Science of the Masaryk University, CEVRO Institute, PANT and Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung.
Czech-German Day Successfully Took Place In October
Czech-German Day, the event aiming at analyzing the role of Germany in the Central Europe from political, economic and cultural point of views, took place in the middle of October at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University. The event consisted of two parts, first being the scholarly conference on reforms in Central Europe an their political consequences, and the second presenting the organizations dealing with Czech-German relations. Brief lectures on the possibilities for work mobility between Czech Republic and Germany, study and funding opportunities and also on practical experience with life, work and study in Germany were also an important part of the program.
"Communist Law" Publication Has Been Awarded the "Most Important Contribution in the Field of Political Literature" Prize
European Academy for Democracy has awarded the publication 'Communist Law in Czechoslovakia' (edited by Michal Bobek, Pavel Molek and Vojtěch Šimíček) the prize for the most important contribution in the field of political literature during 19th Fall Book Expo. More information on the book is available on www.komunistickepravo.cz. The publication is available for order here.
Oldrich Krpec Participated in Salzburg Global Seminar
Oldrich Krpec participated in Salzburg Global Seminar, prestigious event dealing with the topic of protectionism in international trade. Seminar was named 'Confronting Protectionism: How Business and Governments Can Build Support for Open Markets' and it was 464th event within the Global Seminar series held at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg from 1947. The seminar was attended by important figures such as David O'Sullivan (Director General for Trade, European Commission), Patrick Low (Chief Economist WTO), Kari Tapiola (Executive Director ILO) or professors Merit Janow (Columbia), Jean-Pierre Lehman (Lausanne), Jeffrey Schott (Peterson Institute), among others. Oldrich Krpec participated in the debate on the solving of the problem of U.S. trade deficit, where he acted as a chair of the discussion group. He also presented the findings of the working group dealing with policies of economic adaptation in the time of world financial and economic crisis.
Transatlantic Relations in Times of Crisis: Hegemony of the USA and Emancipation of Europe after 9/11
The book 'Transatlantic Relations in Times of Crisis: Hegemony of the USA and Emancipation of Europe after 9/11' is dealing with the nature of contemporary power settings of the international politics, which is dominated by the USA and where Europe is also trying to strenghten its role. Terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 9/11 did not weaken US dominant position, however they had precedeed new era of the power balancing between two sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The book illustrates the crisis of the relationship between USA and European powers during George W. Bush administration and attempts to characterize transatlantic rift from several points of view. The book has been published in Czech and can be ordered here.
Common European Currency
The birth of the common European currency and building of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is one of the biggest and most ambitious projects, in which European Union has been involved. When it comes to the impacts of this step, settings of the entire system and the stage of the European integration in times of its launching, it is also quite controversial step. Europe has never experienced such an important breakthrough. The book has been published in Czech and can be ordered here.
Legitimacy of Power in the Post-Modern Era
This book is dealing with the topic of justification of the existence of political systems and decision processes which take place within them in contemporary era. It analyzes classical concepts of legitimacy of power, including their relations with terms concerning modern state, such as the idea of sovereignty and representation. It also takes their relevance in the relation to contemporary social and political system into account. The book has been published in Czech language and can be ordered here.
February Bulletin of the Czech Centre of Human Rights and Democratization
Third bulletin of the Czech Centre of Human Rights and Democratization has been published in February. It contains lots of news, commentaries, and articles dealing with contemporary human rights issues. In the February issue, you may find interview with Petr Preclík, who is currently employed at the delegation of the European Commission to the United Nations in New York. Bulletin is available here in Czech.
Czech Political Parties and European Integration: Europeanization, Europeanism, Euroskepticism?
Political parties and party system in the Czech Republic have been evolved dynamically after 1989. One of the biggest challenges for not only party actors has been represented by European integration process portrayed by the European Union. The term Europeanization has become a part of the contemporary political science reflection on mutual functioning of the European and domestic, national politics.The book can be ordered here.
Human Rights in the European Union
Hubert Smekal's book on "Human Rights in the European Union" aims to theoretically describe whether and how does the influence of supranational governance join traditional sphere of national interest - human rights adjustment and pursuing. How does the supranational authority enter the state monopoly of deciding on dealing with subjects in state's jurisdiction?The book can be ordered here (in Czech).
Values and Evaluations in Inocenc Arnošt Bláha’s Sociology. Study from History of Classical Czech Sociology
What to do with sociology classics in the new millennium? What is the role and the importance of the first republic sociologist I. A. Bláha for constituting of sociology in the Czech Republic and in what does his concept lie? Is the criticism of social phenomena legitimate part of scientific activity or is it, at the very best, just a non-scientific activity conducted by scientists?The book can be ordered here (in Czech).
Second Bulletin of the Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democratization
In January 2010, second Bulletin of the Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democratization was published. We would like to bring to your attention the interviews in January issue which were conducted with the candidates for the positions of judges at the European Court for Human Rights for the Czech Repulic. Bulletin can be found here in Czech.
