ENGLISH
LAW AND TOURISM
SHORTENED VERSION OF THE WEBSITE IS AVAILABLE HERE ALSO IN ENGLISH. IT IS ONLY PRELIMINARY VERSION WHICH SHALL BE ADDITIONALLY PROCESSED
This website is dedicated to legal regulation of tourism, a set of various rules of both public and private law governing the tourism. Those regulations interfere especially with commercial, civil, European, administrative but also financial and international law. In the Czech Republic (and similarly in Slovakia as well) it is not really unambiguous area which does not have a clear designation, hence we speak of travel law or tourism law. Expert literature is on the rise only for the last approximately five years; even though abroad it is a recognized and distinctive area termed mostly as Reiserecht, Tourismusrecht, Tourism Law.
Legal regulation in the CR but to a certain extent in the whole EU is not very stable and often develops in the last decades without older historical traditions (protection of package tour customer, timeshare). IN THE PRESENT (SPRING 2017) A WHOLE RANGE OF CHANGES INCLUDING CARDINAL ONES ARE UNDER PREPARATION.
Before the end of 2017 it will be necessary to carry out implementation of new key European directive 2302/2015 which will lead to adjustments of the sole Czech special Act on Tourism No. 159/1999. Furthermore, novelisation of the Act on Local Fees is a debated issue, new Act on Monument Care is being prepared, the position of tourist guides is discussed and among all these, the legal regulation of tourism may be fundamentally altered through new consumer code and it may also come to reopening of legislative efforts on the new Act on Support of Tourism Development, whereas it has not been officially counted on its adoption (since the end of 2014). The legal regulation in CR is therefore very unstable.
LEGAL REGULATION OF TOURISM IS VERY COMPLICATED, CURRENTLY IT CHANGES OFTEN AND THE CZECH LEGAL SCIENCE HAS BEEN SHOWING INTEREST IN IT ONLY FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS. Probably for the first time, it is taught at Czech law faculties within the frame of the course Law and Tourism, which has been taught at the Faculty of Law of Charles University (PFUK) (in the winter semester, tuition by dr. Petráš) only since the year 2014. THIS WEBSITE IS INTENDED TO DEVELOP THIS PECULIAR LEGAL AREA.
The latest overview of the issue is covered in the monothematic number of the magazine Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016 published by the Law Faculty of CU (PFUK) which is available also in the electronic version – see http://www.prf.cuni.cz/res/dwe-files/1404054467.pdf. Abstracts of the articles are available in English.
AT THE FACULTY OF LAW OF CHARLES UNIVERSITY (PF UK), THERE ARE CONFERENCES HELD ON THE ISSUE CALLED „AKTUÁLNÍ OTÁZKY PRÁVNÍ ÚPRAVY CESTOVNÍHO RUCHU“ („PRESENT QUESTIONS OF LEGAL REGULATION OF TOURISM“): I. CONFERENCE 10. 2. 2015, II. 7. 10. 2015, III. 8. 11. 2016, IV. WILL TAKE PLACE 9. 11. 2017
This website serves rather for overall information about the issue and as an overview of basic publications and scientific worksites. Topical information in the form of articles and statements are published mainly in magazines such as COT (www.icot.cz).
HOW CAN THE LEGAL REGULATION IN CR BE DEFINED AND CLASSIFIED?
THE EXPERTS ENGAGED IN THE LEGAL REGULATION OF TOURISM AND STATE OF RESEARCH IN CZECH REPUBLIC
INFORMATION ABOUT CERTAIN AUTHORS DEVOTED TO LEGAL REGULATION OF TOURISM
CZECH UNIVERSITIES ENGAGED IN TOURISM
CONTACT
HOW CAN THE LEGAL REGULATION IN CR BE DEFINED AND CLASSIFIED?
Opinions on this matter are very varied. For basic orientation, the legal regulation of tourism can be basically divided into three or four parts. It is, however, quite simplified and should serve especially for the needs of tuition.
The first part is comprised of special regulations of basically private (commercial and civil) law of tourism which is the core of the Czech legal regulation of tourism contained in the special Act No. 159/1999 Coll (in Czech Sb.), on some conditions for conducting business in the area of tourism (zákon o některých podmínkách podnikání v oblasti cestovního ruchu). The Act No. 159/1999 Coll. brought also amendment of the Trade Act (živnostenský zákon) and chiefly of the former Civil Code (občanský zákoník) No. 40/1964 Coll., into which it incorporated a brand new and in many ways specific contractual type – the travel contract. The model for this solution was the German legal regulation and the CR has been followed by Slovakia with local Act No. 281/2001. The Act No. 159/1999 Coll. and the Trade Act have then regulated especially the operation of key travel offices but the rights of the customer were contained mainly in the travel contract (cestovní smlouva) in the Civil Code (in the new Civil Code No. 89/2012 Coll., there is a parallel regulation – package tour contract smlouva o zájezdu pp. 2521 – 2549). Concurrently, the regulation originated from the European law, primarily from the Directive No. 90/312/EHS. By the end of 2015, new Directive 2302/2015 has been adopted which had to be implemented by the end of 2017 and that brings up great discussions in the CR and other EU states.
Along the package tour contract (formerly travel contract) and Act No. 159/1999 Coll., based mostly on European directive No. 90/314/EHS, the peculiar issue of timeshare can be added as it is now embedded in the new Civil Code No. 89/2012 Coll. as “Temporary use of accommodation facility and other recreational service”s according to pp. 1852 – 1867. The regulation also arises from the European directives.
The general regulations of commercial law can be regarded as the second part of legal regulation of tourism. It is undoubtedly disputable whether to count this second group of legal regulations of tourism at all – that is why we speak here of three or four groups – because with certain exceptions these are not special norms regarding tourism but general legal treatment of conducting business. It is mentioned especially for the reason that this area is often understood in the CR as the basis for tourism. In many schools with tourism specialization the students familiarize only with general commercial law on the basis of ordinary textbooks, which include nothing about tourism. The tourism regulations are oftentimes just marginally mentioned.
Very important act is the Trade Act (živnostenský zákon) No. 455/1991 Coll. Here we can find important provisions regarding business in the area of tourism, thus the basic definition of travel bureau, travel agency, travel guides and other trades. Categorization of individual trades in the area of tourism is unstable and moreover quite problematic. In the present Trade Act, the travel bureau (cestovní kancelář) is delimited undoubtedly correctly as a licensed trade, while the trade agency (cestovní agentura) and tourist guide (průvodce v cestovním ruchu) is a free trade, even though demands on its conduct used to be higher (bound trade).
Regarding the third part of tourism regulation, it encompasses especially the Act on Support of Tourism Development (zákon o podpoře rozvoje cestovního ruchu) which is being prepared and obviously falls within the administrative law. The third and fourth part of legal regulation of tourism, as they are specified in here, fall into public law – mostly administrative law while the first two parts include private law. It is also necessary to mention the regulation of taxes that includes special norms regarding the tourism, so this part includes marginally financial law as well. It is mostly about the Act No. 565/1990 Coll., on Local Fees (zákon o místních poplatcích), novelisation of which, from the point of view of tourism, is under preparation now. Contrary to the first two groups, i.e. the regulations falling basically within commercial and civil law which are significantly influenced by the European law, the influence of the EU is far weaker here.
The newly-created Act on Support of Tourism represented a whole new phenomenon, at least in the CR. It sought, in a way, to coordinate tourism on regional and local level which otherwise falls within self-administration of regions and municipalities. The subject-matter proposal of the bill of the Act on Support and Management of Tourism was prepared by the Ministry for Regional Development in October 2011 and in subsequent negotiations the proposal was renamed to the Act on Support of Tourism Development. The Slovakian, Austrian and partly Swiss legal regulation served as an inspiration. The Ministry for Regional Development, which is in charge of tourism, prepared new concept of the Czech Republic´s tourism policy for the period 2014-2020 which already partly counted with the unfinished act. By the end of 2014, the Ministry officially seized to plan for this Act and this decision raises discussions up till now. In Slovakia, similar act was adopted in March 2010 – the Act on Support of Tourism No. 91/2010.
As the fourth and last group, there are delimited the pieces of legislation related to tourism. Its numbers are very high and they involve remarkably various problems such as transport, monument care, nature conservation but also more specific issues such as wine-making or travel documents. These issues can be most often attributed to administrative law. Some elements raise considerable interest among Czech legal experts, such as specific environmental law, although aspects related to tourism are often overlooked. Traffic law is particularly complicated but in Czech, in contrast to German-speaking countries, there had not been presented until recently any professional works that would follow the issue in terms of tourism. Many questions are related to tourism only in part. For example, spas or viticulture can be mentioned. To many questions lawyers have only published a handful of posts in recent years. These sub-sectors often have very specific approaches.
The above-described system is, of course, a great simplification, yet it presents significant contribution for informing non-lawyers and helps them orientate in this very complicated issue. Apart from the three or four groups mentioned here, international treaties can also be mentioned. Tourism is directly influenced by international treaties on cooperation in the field of tourism which have been concluded by the CR with many countries – in the recent years for example with Russia or Lebanon. Their normative significance is however very limited as we can only find here proclamatory commitment to cooperation or creation of a joint commission.
Thus, the legal regulation of tourism does not represent any traditional and relatively closed legal sector such as e.g. criminal or civil law, whose basis, in addition, is in the CR and usually in other countries of continental legal culture formed by extensive code. It is a set of diverse regulations falling within very different sectors with often specific traditions that concern tourism. The definition of what to assign to this area, as well as how to name it and define it, differs greatly among the authors. At the same time, many elements of the legal regulation are sharply debated or are even subject to rough severe criticism which is not customary in legal science. The very definition of this issue is also a complicated problem for an expert. Moreover, legislation is also changing frequently.
THE EXPERTS ENGAGED IN THE LEGAL REGULATION OF TOURISM AND STATE OF RESEARCH IN CZECH REPUBLIC
There are only a handful of authors publishing on tourism legislation in the CR while older literature is almost inapplicable and its scope is minimal. More publications have been published only by Klára (Havlíčková) Dvořáková, attorney, and René Petráš from the Faculty of Law of Charles University (PFUK). Among others, there is for instance work of Renata Králová, currently the Director of the Tourism Department at the Ministry for Regional Development. Jan Štermberk from the University of Business has published number of highly regarded works about the tourism development but he addresses the legal aspects only in a limited way. Also publications of non-lawyers are of utmost importance, especially works of economists in terms of the broad context of the many years forthcoming Act on Support of Tourism Development, where number of books are e.g.by Šárka Tittelbachová, Petr Studnička or Lucie Plzáková, who works at the Institute of Hospitality Management in Prague. Interesting works on specific legal aspects of tourism were also elaborated by Petr Houška.
In spite of the fundamental development of tourism law research in recent years and apart from rather isolated articles, there are only a few useful books dealing with issue complexly, namely Petráš: Law and Tourism (Právo a cestovní ruch, 2013), which contains rather textbook-like presentation, more detailed Havlíčková – Králová: Travel law (Cestovní právo, 2015), also Linderová: Tourism / theoretical and legal bases (Cestovní ruch / teoretická a právní východiska, 2015) can be mentioned. The major role has the monothematic issue of the magazine Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016 which is also available in an electronic version – see http: // www.prf.cuni.cz/res/dwe-files/1404054467.pdf. Abroad, the Czech legislation is described only exceptionally (e.g. an article by Eva Dobrovolná in Tourismusrecht Jahrbuch 16, 2016). In Slovakia, whose legislation on tourism is very similar to the Czech one, the situation with expert literature is even worse when only rare articles can be found. Probably the only extensive publication is the Tourism Law (Právo cestovného ruchu, 2014) prepared by experts from Trnava University.
INFORMATION ABOUT CERTAIN AUTHORS DEVOTED TO LEGAL REGULATION OF TOURISM:
JUDr. PhDr. René Petráš, Ph.D. Since 2000 he has been working at the Law Faculty of Charles University (PFUK). Since 2009 he has also been teaching at the University of Jan Amos Comenius, Prague, among other subjects also the field of tourism management. He studied law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University and also history, specializing in international relations, at the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University. He mostly focuses on the development of legal status of national minorities in the Czech Lands of the twentieth century (author of a number of books – e.g. Minorities in inter-war Czechoslovakia – Menšiny v meziválečném Československu, 2009, Minorities in Communist Czechoslovakia – Menšiny v komunistickém Československu, 2007, Foreigners in Their Own Country – Cizinci ve vlastní zemi, 2012, Minorities and Law in Czechoslovakia 1918-1992, in English 2017, and dozens of articles). Author of more than 160 publications in Czech, but also in German, English, French, Russian, dozens of them are dealing with the legal regulation of tourism (e.g. COT magazine).
Selection from publications:
– Právo a cestovní ruch [Law and Tourism], Prague 2013, 224 pages
-Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016, monothematic issue of magazine dedicated to law and tourism, 182 pages (editor) see http://www.prf.cuni.cz/res/dwe-files/1404054467.pdf
– Současné změny právní úpravy cestovního ruchu [Recent changes in tourism legislation], in: Aktuální problémy cestovního ruchu / Nové trendy a technologie v cestovním ruchu [Present problems of tourism / New trends and technologies in tourism], Jihlava, Vysoká škola polytechnická 2012, pp. 192-202
– Problémy právní úpravy cestovního ruchu, Studia turistica [Problems of tourism legislation, Studia turistica] (online magazine www.vspj.cz/tvurci-cinnost/casopisy-vspj/studia-turistica) July 2012, pp. 54-61
– Nový občanský zákoník a jeho dopady na společnost a cestovní ruch [New Civil Code and its impact on society and tourism], in: Aktuální problémy cestovního ruchu / Cestovní ruch a jeho dopady na společnost [Present problems of tourism / New trends and technologies in tourism], Jihlava, Vysoká škola polytechnická 2014, s. 204-211
– Transformace právní úpravy cestovního ruchu a lázeňství [Transformation of tourism and spas legislation], in: Aktuální trendy lázeňství, hotelnictví a turismu [Present trends of spas, hotel industry and tourism], Tábor, Slezská univerzita v Opavě 2015, pp. 221-229
– Právní problematika ve vztahu k cestovnímu ruchu [Legal issues in relation to tourism], in: Marketing a management cestovního ruchu na národní a regionální úrovni [Marketing and management of tourism on national and regional level], Praha, UJAK 2015, pp. 117-127
– Transformace právní úpravy cestovního ruchu v České republice a v Evropské unii [Transformation of tourism legislation in the Czech Republic and in the European Union], in: Aktuální problémy cestovního ruchu / Cestovní ruch: vývoj – změny – perspektivy [Recent issues of tourism / Tourism: development – changes – perspectives], Jihlava, Vysoká škola polytechnická 2015, pp. 351-360
– Tradice právní úpravy cestovního ruchu a současnost [Tradition of tourism legislation and presence], Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016, pp. 11-27
– Současné změny právní úpravy cestovního ruchu [Current changes in tourism legislation], in: Aktuální problémy cestovního ruchu / Místní bohatství a cestovní ruch [Recent issues of tourism / Local wealth and tourism], Jihlava, Vysoká škola polytechnická 2016, pp. 336-345
JUDr. Klára Dvořáková (née Havlíčková), M.A. Attorney-at-law, partner at Holubová advokáti s.r.o. She has been involved in tuition of the subject Law and Tourism since its beginning at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in 2014. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Political Science of the State University of Kansas (2004) and the Faculty of Law of Charles University (2008). She specializes in travel law, damages and cross-border disputes. Author of dozens of publications on tourism legislation, especially in the COT magazine.
Selection from publications:
– Cestovní právo [Travel law], Praha,C.H.Beck, 2015, 474 pages (together with Králová, R.)
– Odčinění újmy za narušení dovolené – inspirace v praxi německých a britských soudů, Rekodifikace a praxe 3/2016 [Injury atonement for breaking holiday – inspired by the practice of the German and British courts, Re-codification and practice]
– Význam rozsudků soudů ČR při zajištění nároků klientů v případě úpadku cestovní kanceláře [The importance of judgments of the Czech courts in ensuring the claims of clients in the event of bankruptcy of a travel agency], Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016, pp. 101-122
JUDr. Renata Králová. She works at the Ministry for Regional Development where she currently runs the Department of Tourism. She has been pursueing the travel law for more than ten years, among others through publishing articles and giving occasional lectures. She took part in negotiations on the draft of the EU directive on package travel and linked travel arrangements in the working bodies of the EU Council. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Charles University. She specializes in issues of European law.
Selection from publications:
– Cestovní právo [Travel law], Praha,C.H.Beck, 2015, 474 pages (together with Havlíčková, K.)
– Nová směrnice EU o souborných cestovních službách a spojených cestovních službách – co je nového a co zůstává? [New EU directive on package travel and linked travel arrangements – what is new and what remains?], Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016, pp. 29-35
– Bariéry cestovního ruchu: sborník příspěvků z kulatého stolu konaného dne 5. listopadu 2013 [Tourism barriers: Proceedings of the roundtable held on 5 November 2013], Praha, Havlíček Brain Team 2014 (contribution)
– Cestovní ruch ve světle nové právní úpravy: sborník z kulatého stolu 11. listopadu 2014. [Tourism in the light of the new legislation: Round Table Proceedings 11 November 2014.] Praha, Havlíček Brain Team 2014 (contribution)
– Právo a cestovní ruch: sborník příspěvků z kulatého stolu konaného dne 15. listopadu 2012. [Law and Tourism: Proceedings of the Round Table held on 15 November 2012.] Praha, Havlíček Brain Team 2013 (contribution)
Doc. PhDr. et JUDr. Jan Štemberk, Ph.D. He studied history and Slovak philosophy at Charles University’s Faculty of Philosophy. At the Faculty of Law of Charles University he graduated from the branch of law. In 2011 he habilitated at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University in the field of economic and social history. Since 2004 he has been working at the University of Business in Prague. As one of the few historians, he deals with the history of tourism in the wider context of the development of partial services, as well as with the question of legal regulation of tourism. Author of three monographs and several dozens of articles in Czech but also in German, English, Slovenian and French, especially on the history of tourism.
Selection from publications:
– Fenomén cestovního ruchu. Možnosti a limity cestovního ruchu v meziválečném Československu [The phenomenon of tourism. Possibilities and Limits of Tourism in the Interwar Czechoslovakia], Pelhřimov – Praha 2009, 298 pages
– Štemberk a kol. Kapitoly z dějin cestovního ruchu [Chapters from the History of Tourism], Pelhřimov – Praha 2012, 224 pages
– Czechoslovakia as the Tourist Destination 1918-1938, Prague Papers on the history of International Relations 2008, pp. 355-374
– Tourism in Economy of the Interwar Czechoslovakia, Prager wirtschafts- und sozialhistorische Mitteilungen / Prague Economic and Social History Papers, vol. 11, 2010, pp. 96-108
– Československo-polská turistická konvence 1925 [Czechoslovak-Polish Tourist Convention 1925], Slovanský přehled 97, 2011, No. 1-2, pp. 217-231
-Tourismus als soziale Kategorie. Struktur und Haupttendenzen des Tourismus in der Tschechoslowakei der Zwischenkriegszeit, in: Kapiteln aus der Geschichte des Sozialstaates, München, Verlag Lang 2012, pp. 45-55
– Technické novinky v československé dopravní legislativě [Technical innovations in Czechoslovak transport legislation], in: Věda a technika v českých zemích mezi světovými válkami [Science and technology in the Czech lands between the world wars], Praha, NTM 2014, pp. 283-290
– Meziválečné návrhy právní úpravy cestovního ruchu a současnost [Inter-war proposals on tourism legislation and the present], Acta Universitatis Carolinae Iuridica 3/2016, pp. 147-156
CZECH UNIVERSITIES ENGAGED IN TOURISM
While the tourist regulation is directly an area of focus for a handful of practitioners in the Czech Republic, who can be basically counted on fingers, the interest in tourism in general is relatively large. From the point of view of legal science, which is highly concentrated in the Czech Republic on the four faculties of law, however, it is surprising that there is a great fragmentation of professional workplaces where regional or private higher education institutions play a significant role. Central research institute has not been in existence since 1993. Some workplaces will be mentioned here, especially if they regularly publish collections or magazines that are freely available on the Internet. However, articles on legal issues are rare.
VYSOKÁ ŠKOLA POLYTECHNICKÁ JIHLAVA -KATEDRA CESTOVNÍHO RUCHU
COLLEGE OF POLYTECHNICS JIHLAVA – TOURISM DEPARTMENT (https://kcr.vspj.cz/o-katedre)
organizes annual large-scale conferences „Aktuální problémy cestovního ruchu“ („Current Tourism Issues“) at the end of February – conference proceedings can be found at https://www.vspj.cz/tvurci-cinnost-a-projekty/obecne-informace. It publishes the Studia turistica electronic magazine, which is fully available at https://www.vspj.cz/tvurci-cinnost-a-projekty/casopisy-vspj/studia-turistica.
MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA – EKONOMICKO-SPRÁVNÍ FAKULTA – KATEDRA REGIONÁLNÍ EKONOMIE A SPRÁVY
MASARYK UNIVERSITY – ECONOMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE FACULTY – DEPARTMENT OF REGIONAL ECONOMY AND ADMINISTRATION
(http://www.econ.muni.cz/fakulta/katedry/katedra-regionalni-ekonomie-a-spravy)
organizes annual „Mezinárodní kolokvium o cestovním ruchu“ („International Colloquium on Tourism“) – Proceedings are fully available (see http://www.econ.muni.cz/veda-a-vyzkum/konference-seminare-a-kolokvia-na-esf/mezinarodni-kolokvium-o-cestovnim-ruchu/sborníky). The department publishes renowned magazine in English called the Czech Journal of Tourism, see http://www.czechjournaloftourism.cz/.
VYSOKÁ ŠKOLA HOTELOVÁ V PRAZE
UNIVERSITY OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT IN PRAGUE
organises regular conferences in Mid-October – proceedings available in electronic version see http://www.vsh.cz/cs/veda-a-vyzkum/konference-vsh/. It also publishes magazine in English Czech Hospitality and Tourism Papers – newer editions are fully available also in electronic version – see http://www.vsh.cz/cs/veda-a-vyzkum/recenzovany-casopis-vsh/.
VYSOKÁ ŠKOLA OBCHODNÍ V PRAZE
UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS IN PRAGUE
publishes English magazine Journal of Tourism and Services – fully available in electronic version see http://www.vso.cz/en/archive/.
JUDr. PhDr. René Petráš, Ph.D. petras@prf.cuni.cz
He devotes himself to tourism law within the framework of: Mezioborové centrum rozvoje právních dovedností PFUK (Interdisciplinary Center for Development of legal skills PFUK) (head of which is JUDr. Tomáš Horáček, Ph.D. horacek@prf.cuni.cz)
Univerzita Karlova, Právnická fakulta (Charles University, Faculty of Law)
Nám. Curieových 901/7, 116/40 Praha 1