The Right to Food around the Globe

  Czech Republic

The Constitution of the Czech Republic does not explicitly guarantee the right to adequate food. 

The Czech Republic has become a State party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1993 by way of succession.

CONSTITUTIONAL RECOGNITIONS OF THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD

National status of international obligations

Article 10: “Promulgated treaties, to the ratification of which Parliament has given its consent and by which the Czech Republic is bound, form a part of the legal order; if a treaty provides something other than that which a statute provides, the treaty shall apply.”

Article 10a:

(1) Certain powers of Czech Republic authorities may be transferred by treaty to an international organization or institution.

(2) The ratification of a treaty under paragraph 1 requires the consent of Parliament, unless a constitutional act provides that such ratification requires the approval obtained in a referendum."

Article 49: "The assent of both chambers of Parliament is required for the ratification of treaties: a. affecting the rights or duties of persons; b. of alliance, peace, or other political nature; c. by which the Czech Republic becomes member of an international organization; d. of general economic nature; e. concerning additional matters, the regulation of which is reserved to statute.

 

 

Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food

Article 1: (1) The Czech Republic is a sovereign, unitary, and democratic state governed by the rule of law, founded on respect for the rights and freedoms of man and of citizens. (2) The Czech Republic shall observe its obligations resulting from international law."

Article 26: “(3) Everybody has the right to acquire the means of her livelihood by work. The State shall provide an adequate level of material security to those citizens who are unable, through no fault of their own, to exercise this right; conditions shall be provided for by law.”

Article 30: 
(1) Citizens have the right to adequate material security in old age and during periods of work incapacity, as well as in the case of the loss of their provider.
(2) Everyone who suffers from material”

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) – 1948

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – 1966

Status: Succession (1993)

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) – 1979

Status: Ratification (1993)

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – 1989

Status: Ratification (1993)

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – 2006

Status: Ratification (2009)

Legislation and policies recognizing the right to adequate food

Guidance on how to progressively realise the human right to adequate food in contexts of national food security has been provided by the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO Council and endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security.

Considering that the human right to adequate food can be implemented through a variety of legal and policy actions, we invite you to visit the FAOLEX Country Profile database for a wide-ranging collection of measures that have been taken at national level. Some of the documents you may find are legislation and policies that touch on a number of relevant Guidelines, such as those on Access to resources and assets (Guideline 8), Food safety and consumer protection (Guideline 9), Support for vulnerable groups (Guideline 13) and Natural and human-made disasters (Guideline 16).

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