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Tax crime in the Czech Republic has become increasingly important in recent years. This article focuses on an unintended consequence of tax crime, namely the issue of double jeopardy. In the Czech legal system, tax proceedings and criminal proceedings are conducted separately. The aim of this article is to determine whether it is possible to impose a tax penalty and a penalty in criminal proceedings at the same time without violating the ne bis in idem principle. The hypothesis assumes that the concurrence of these sanctions is possible if the penalty is not considered as a punishment in the sense of criminal law. For these purposes, the legal framework that defines tax and criminal proceedings in the Czech Republic is first analysed. Subsequently, the conditions under which it is possible to conduct these proceedings in the same case are identified, using an analysis of the case law of European and domestic courts. The authors conclude that tax penalties are punitive in nature and therefore the sanctions imposed must be considered. However, the current legal framework in the Czech Republic makes this very difficult, as the tax administrator is not granted discretionary powers when imposing penalties. Therefore, the following solutions are proposed: 1) change the legislation and allow discretion in imposing penalties, 2) do not impose penalties at all if a punishment has already been imposed in criminal proceedings, 3) merge the two proceedings and impose one sanction.

The Covid-19 pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine represent the biggest hit to the Czech economy since the Great Recession. In the Czech Republic, several tax measures are being used to help economic entities overcome the current crisis and keep their businesses running. One of them is the tax instalment plan. This article aims to identify why the tax instalment plan could be an appropriate fiscal measure in times of economic crisis. The author presents a classical legal instrument in the tax area – the tax instalment plan – and analyses it from an innovative point of view rather than the usual perspective, that is, from the macroeconomic point of view. The article analyses the legal conditions for the use of this instrument in the Czech Republic, points out the difficulties of interpretation in practice and evaluates it in the context of the theoretical background of desirable fiscal crisis measures. The conclusions of the research confirm the hypothesis that this legal instrument is an effective and used tool for facilitating the sustainability of private and public finances in times of crisis. It combines the desirable aspects of both automatic stabilisers and discretionary measures.

The aim of this article is to investigate the possibilities for tax offices in the Czech Republic to control recurrent property tax returns and the data contained therein. The hypothesis that the recurrent property tax control in the Czech Republic is unproblematic and that there is no need for any amendments in related tax law regulation has been mostly confirmed. However, there are still several minor issues (e.g. the renewal of cadastral records) where amendments to the existing legal regulation would be helpful There are also other much more problematic issues in the property tax regulation to be improved. The role of the immovable property tax in the Czech Republic is mostly marginal; the revenue is very low. The paper follows the IMRaD structure; in the research part, we firstly summarise recurrent property tax regulation de lege lata from the theoretical perspective. Secondly, we describe existing practical problems of recurrent property tax control as these problematic issues have been identified from structured interviews with tax office clerks. In the discussion, we critically analyse substantive and procedural tax law concerning the recurrent property tax with regard to controls carried out by the tax office, combining the theoretical background with practical experience. Synthesising the knowledge gained, we identify the strengths and weaknesses of de lege lata regulation and suggest amendments de lege ferenda.

The study discusses changes in the relationship between local journalists and local politicians in the Czech Republic as a consequence of the professionalization of political communications at national as well as local levels following the so-called Velvet Revolution of 1989. This phenomenon has been studied widely in Western democracies but is relatively new in the Czech Republic. Politicians’ improved communication skills and the employment of communication professionals in politics influence trust – a key component in the relationship – between politicians and journalists. The article is based on semi-structured interviews with 10 journalists and 11 politicians from different Czech localities, which aim to explore how these actors understand and maintain levels of mutual trust. First we describe key components of trust and explain why in the era of professionalized political communication trust is perceived as more threatened than in the 1990s and we conclude by exploring the three most important threats to trust as identified by our interviewees.

Německo se po havárii jaderné elektrárny ve Fukušimě rozhodlo urychleně ukončit provoz všech svých jaderných elektráren. Jaderná energie přitom po řadu desetiletí představovala nepostradatelný zdroj elektrické energie. Monografie Německo bez jádra? představuje v Česku výjimečný pohled na jadernou energetiku. Nespatřuje v ní jen technický problém, spadající pouze do kompetence inženýrů a techniků, nýbrž jedno z klíčových politicko-společenských témat posledních desetiletí. Autoři zasazují rozhodnutí vlády Angely Merkelové o ukončení provozu jaderných elektráren do širšího kontextu, sledují vývoj problematiky od počátku civilního využití jaderné energie v Německu a věnují se řadě aktuálních otázek, např. motivům pro rozhodnutí o opuštění jádra, reakci německé veřejnosti, následkům ukončení provozu jaderných elektráren a také tématu radioaktivního materiálu a jeho následného uložení. Publikace představuje téma využití jaderné energie v souvislostech, a neměla by proto chybět v knihovně zájemců o společenskou problematiku související s otázkami energetického hospodářství, díky svému průřezovému charakteru je ovšem určena i pro zájemce o moderní dějiny Německa.

In both mitosis and meiosis, metaphase to anaphase transition requires the activity of a ubiquitin ligase known as anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C). The activation of APC/C in metaphase is under the control of the checkpoint mechanism, called the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), which monitors the correct attachment of all kinetochores to the spindle. It has been shown previously in somatic cells that exposure to a small molecule inhibitor, prodrug tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester (proTAME), resulted in cell cycle arrest in metaphase, with low APC/C activity. Interestingly, some reports have also suggested that the activity of SAC is required for this arrest. We focused on the characterization of proTAME inhibition of cell cycle progression in mammalian oocytes and embryos. Our results show that mammalian oocytes and early cleavage embryos show dose-dependent metaphase arrest after exposure to proTAME. However, in comparison to the somatic cells, we show here that the proTAME-induced arrest in these cells does not require SAC activity. Our results revealed important differences between mammalian oocytes and early embryos and somatic cells in their requirements of SAC for APC/C inhibition. In comparison to the somatic cells, oocytes and embryos show much higher frequency of aneuploidy. Our results are therefore important for understanding chromosome segregation control mechanisms, which might contribute to the premature termination of development or severe developmental and mental disorders of newborns.

Příspěvek seznamuje s nejčastěji praktikovanými aktivitami využívanými při skupinové canisterapii s dětmi. V úvodu jsou přiblíženy cílové skupiny dětí, u nichž členové Výcvikového canisterapeutického sdružení HAFÍK provádějí skupinovou formu canisterapie a plní cíle stanovované u dětí. V hlavní časti příspěvku jsou představeny již konkrétní canisterapeutické a kynologické aktivity praktikované u dětí.

Jerry Z. Muller: Tyranie metrik Praha, Academia 2020, 188 s.