New Czech Deputy Public Defender of Rights will be Vít Alexander Schorm, MPs chose him over the nominee proposed by President Zeman

MPs gave him priority over two candidates proposed by Czech President Miloš Zeman in secret elections today. Public Defender of Rights Stanislav Křeček described his new deputy as a “reinforcement” for the Office of the Public Defender of Rights.

Schorm won 82 of the 160 ballots cast. Lawyer and former Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) MP Zdeněk Koudelka from the non-parliamentary movement “Tricolor” (Trikolora) got 57 votes.

The lawyer Petr Scholz, who was the Energy Regulatory Office’s internal ombudsman, was voted for by three MPs. Schorm will take up his position within 10 days by taking the oath from the speaker of the lower house, Czech MP Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09).

The Deputy Public Defender of Rights was elected by the Czech Chamber of Deputies to replace Monika Šimůnková, who resigned from the position at the end of August due to disputes with Křeček. She did so after Křeček took away the agenda previously entrusted to her.

“I heartily congratulate colleague Schorm on his election, we know each other from previously working together. We will meet in the near future as soon as he takes the oath and we will agree on some future cooperation. His advantage is his knowledge of the European environment, his knowledge of human rights issues, it will certainly be a strength for us,” Křeček told the Czech News Agency.

“Good news for the protection of human rights in our country,” Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner, commented on the choice on Facebook. Schorm had sought election as Public Defender of Rights two years ago.

He was Křeček’s most serious opponent for the position. Schorma was also nominated by the Senate at that time, while Křeček was promoted by Zeman at a time when the minority government of ANO and ČSSD was in power.

Schorm graduated from the Faculty of Law at Masaryk University in Brno. He also received a diploma in advanced studies in the field of comparative public law of European states at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Between 1996 and 1998, Schorm was an advisor to the then-Chief Justice of the Czech Supreme Court and later to the first Czech Public Defender of Rights, Otakar Motejl. He then worked as the head of the office of former Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Rychetský.

The Government of then-PM Miloš Zeman appointed Schorm to the position of representing the Czech Republic before the ECtHR in November 2021. He handles complaints submitted against the Czech Republic for violations of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The representative prepares written opinions for the Czech Government responding to complaints about violations of the convention. Schorm was one of the favorites in today’s election because his nomination in the Senate was submitted by the chair of the Mayors’ and Independents’ (STAN), Jan Sobotka, by Rostislav Koštial (Civic Democratic Party – ODS), by Miluše Horská from the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) club and by Czech Senator Adéla Šípová (Pirates).