The central issue that the master's thesis is exploring on the example of the Slovenian and Czech
constitutional systems is the ability of the President of the Republic to autonomously interpret the
established law. The President's exercise of power is strictly governed through the definition of his
competences by established law, which consists of abstract legal norms. The latter are written in
legal language, which means that their true meaning can only be discerned through appropriate
legal interpretation. For the President's exercise of his powers this entails the need to define the true
meaning of the applicable legal norms.
In constitutional systems based on the principle of separation of powers, no state organ can have the
power to ex officio authoritatively determine the correct interpretation of all legal norms. For this
reason, the President of the Republic is forced to independently interpret the established law within
the process of applying it. In the theoretical part of this master's thesis, the author proves that in the
Czech and Slovenian constitutional systems there exists an area of established law that is
autonomously interpreted by the head of state. However, its interpretative activity can be monitored
by other state organs by relying on certain legal mechanisms. The central position among them is
reserved by the Constitutional Court, which is the only state organ with the power to impose its own
interpretation of legal norms on the President of the Republic and thus narrowing the boundaries of
the area of established law that the President can autonomously interpret. The master's thesis then
confirms the results of the theoretical discussion by analyzing the normative position and historical
practice of the Slovenian and Czech presidents.
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