Constitution of the Czech Republic

The Constitution of the Czech Republic was adopted by the Czech National Council on 16 December 1992, ratified on 28 December 1992 and entered into force on 1 January 1993, replacing the 1960 Czechoslovak Constitution upon the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Its preamble and eight chapters establish the country's legislative, executive and judicial powers, including a bicameral Parliament of a 200-member Chamber of Deputies and an 81-member Senate, and it incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms as part of the constitutional order, with an entrenched eternity clause shielding democratic principles and the rule of law from amendment. As of December 2022 it had been amended eight times, most significantly by the 2001 Euro-amendment enabling European Union accession and a 2012 amendment providing for direct popular election of the president rather than parliamentary selection.