Authoritarian riders

A notable part of yesterday's Constitutional Court ruling against the use of legislative riders is Art. 101, which quotes author Viktor Kazai as saying that riders to unrelated bills can undermine the rule of law and open the way to the rise of authoritarian rule. The rapporteur for the case in question, Justice David Uhlíř, told Czech Radio that his motivation for preparing the opinion in the way he did and for pushing for its acceptance by the Court was his concern for the fate of the rule of law. "The devious ways legislation is handled in a Parliament are often at the beginning of the rise of autocratic rule," he said, "and I think it is very important for the Constitutional Court to oversee the legislative process in these fundamental issues." Strangely, though, the six dissenting justices (of 15) wrote that yesterday's ruling deviates significantly from the Court's established case law with regard to the legislative process in general, and specifically to riders, and will make the Court's case law difficult to understand going forward. Which is precisely the kind of reprimand that is often leveled against court rulings in countries on their way to authoritarian rule.