Impact of the Proposed Amendment to the Rules of Procedure

This policy paper analyses the significant increase in the length of parliamentary debates in the Czech Chamber of Deputies between the 7th and 9th electoral terms, highlighting a 46 % rise in total speech time driven primarily by MPs with preferential speaking rights. This policy paper was supported by the project “Beyond Security: The Role of Conflict in Strengthening Resilience” funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Using statistical simulations, the study evaluates the impact of the proposed amendment to the Rules of Procedure (ST 72), predicting that the new limits could reduce the overall duration of debates by approximately 29 %. While the author recommends adopting the amendment to curb extreme obstructions, the paper concludes that more comprehensive changes are necessary to fully normalize the legislative process and address structural shifts in the parliamentary agenda.

Doc. Robert Zbíral, Ph.D., J.D., works at the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science of the Faculty of Law at Masaryk University in Brno, and also serves as the Vice-Dean for Research and Development.

You can read the whole paper in Czech here.

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