Czech Senate passes constitutional amendment for life immunity abolition

Czech Senate, the upper house of parliament, passed on Wednesday a constitutional amendment to abolish MPs and constitutional judges' life immunity, which the president cannot veto.Although it was against by the senior ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the Senate passed the amendment with support by 58 out of the 71 presented senators, which is more than the required three-fifth majority of senators present.The amendment does not allow criminal proceedings to be launched against a Chamber of Deputies member or a senator without agreement of the respective house of parliament. In cases where the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate would not agree with extraditing an MP for criminal prosecution, the MP could be prosecuted after his/her mandate' end.This also applies to judges of the Constitutional Court whose prosecution requires agreement of the Senate.The amendment will take effect on the first day of the calendar month following its promulgation in the Digest of Laws. If Czech President Milos Zeman signs it by the end of March, the effective date will be on April 1