V taláru napříč dobou - 13. komnata české justice – Kučera Pavel, Švehla Martin (2021)

An open and controversial story from the highest echelons of justice. JUDr. Pavel Kučera, a long-time vice-president of the Supreme Court with a rich judicial and legal background, recounts the behind-the-scenes judicial practices and media cases across different eras and regimes. Martin Švehla, who briefly served as the spokesperson for the Supreme Court, combines the stories, observations, and opinions of this experienced lawyer and respected judge with historical facts, presenting them to the reader as the life story of a person, but also as a story of Czech justice and its practical functioning during totalitarian times and at the turn of the millennium. With Pavel Kučera, we glimpse into the presidential office during Václav Havel's era and reflect on generally controversial topics such as the still-valid verdicts from political trials, the death penalty, or the career ladders of judges. Do we still respect the presumption of innocence? How can rape be proven in court? How do the media influence the course of criminal proceedings and what pressure do they exert on judicial decisions? The narrative does not shy away from its own judicial experience, during which, towards the end of his career, JUDr. Kučera, along with other personalities, was labeled as the 'behind-the-scenes judicial mafia' influencing the course of criminal cases. This serves here (not only) as a starting point for...