AI Watch: Global Regulatory Tracker – Czech Republic

Laws/regulations directly regulating artificial intelligence (hereinafter “Artificial Intelligence Regulations”)

Currently, there are no specific laws, regulations or decrees in the Czech Republic that directly regulate artificial intelligence (AI). The Czech Republic is not expected to enact its own complex AI legislation, as the EU AI Act is expected to fulfill this function for all EU Member States. However, the Czech Republic is active at the AI policy level and will adopt national AI legislation where the EU AI Act provides for its adaptation (similarly to other EU Member States).

In May 2019, the Czech Republic published the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS), which aims to support the development and use of AI.¹ The strategy was developed in cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade, various research institutions, the private sector and industry professionals from the general public based on the Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic for 2019–2030² and Resolution No. 629 of 3 October 2018 of the Government of the Czech Republic on Digital Czechia (i.e. the digitalisation strategy in the Czech Republic, which is based on three pillars – EU cooperation with the Czech Republic on the digital agenda; digitalisation of public administration; and preparing society and economy for digitalisation through joint efforts).³

The NAIS is divided into seven chapters and focuses on, among others, the promotion of science, research and development, investment support, financing and development of AI systems in industry and services, legal and social aspects, as well as human capital and the education system. To reflect the rapid technological development and trends and the growing use of AI tools, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently preparing an update of the NAIS, which will set priorities and goals in this area until 2030.

In 2022, the government published the Strategic Digitalization Plan of the Czech Republic until 2030. One of its goals is for 75% of businesses to use at least one of these technologies by the end of the decade: cloud computing, big data or artificial intelligence.⁴

Status of AI regulations

The EU Artificial Intelligence Act is discussed separately here.

As mentioned above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in the Czech Republic that directly regulate AI. The main goal of the Czech Republic is now to successfully implement the EU AI Act into national law, which has the following four priorities:

Appropriate changes in the Czech legal framework
Active participation in the negotiation of secondary legislation at EU level
Establishing an enforcement mechanism, including ensuring the necessary professional capacity
Active awareness and communication

From the perspective of the Czech Republic, this means taking the following steps at national level (where appropriate in the form of AI regulations):

Establishing an exception to the prohibitions in Article 5 of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act to enable the use of real-time remote biometric identification for law enforcement purposes
Creating an AI Regulatory Sandbox
Establishing a system of administrative sanctions and penalties
Testing in real-world conditions and supervising such tests
Implementation of measures for suppliers and implementers, especially to support SMEs and start-ups
Supporting the creation of voluntary codes of conduct
Designation of notifying authorities and market surveillance authorities
Nomination of Czech Republic representatives to the AI Board
Establishing market surveillance and control of AI systems
Identification of bodies supervising the protection of fundamental rights⁵

Other laws relating to artificial intelligence

There are various laws that are not intended to directly regulate AI, but may have an impact on the development or use of AI in the Czech Republic. A non-exhaustive list of key examples includes:

Civil Code
The Personal Data Processing Act, implementing the GDPR
Consumer Protection Act
Copyright Act, in particular Articles 39c and 39d concerning required licenses for text and data mining and other intellectual property rights
Anti-discrimination act
Antitrust and anti-monopoly regulations, in particular the Competition Protection Act
Law on security and cybersecurity, including the Cybersecurity Act

Definition of “AI”

As there are currently no specific laws or regulations in force in the Czech Republic directly regulating artificial intelligence, Czech national legislation does not currently contain any definition of artificial intelligence.
The definition of AI system contained in Article 3(1) of the EU AI Act will likely be the key definition used in the Czech Republic.

Territorial scope

There are currently no specific laws or regulations in force in the Czech Republic directly regulating artificial intelligence, therefore no specific territorial scope has been defined at this stage.

Sector scope

As mentioned above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in the Czech Republic that directly regulate AI. Therefore, there is no specific sectoral scope at this stage.

Compliance Roles

Since there are no specific laws or regulations in the Czech Republic yet that directly regulate AI, there are also no specific or unique obligations imposed on developers, users, operators and/or implementers of AI systems. The standards will be set by the EU AI Act once it enters into force.

Key Issues to be Addressed by AI Regulations

As mentioned above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in the Czech Republic that directly regulate AI. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned NAIS tries to address, within the framework of AI regulation, issues related to discrimination and data protection and calls for the creation of an administrative and legal framework for AI that would prevent any form of misuse of AI, discrimination or disadvantage, with a special emphasis on the protection of rights and privacy.

Risk categorization

As mentioned above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in force in the Czech Republic directly regulating AI, and the aforementioned NAIS does not provide any categorization of AI-related risks.

Key Compliance Requirements

As there are currently no specific laws or regulations directly regulating AI in the Czech Republic, there are no specific national AI compliance requirements.

Regulators

The Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinates the overall AI strategy, while the relevant ministries and other state bodies in each area should participate in the internal regulatory processes. These include, among others, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

In addition, discussions are ongoing on which Czech authority will be designated as the national supervisory authority required by the EU Act on Artificial Intelligence. Potential candidates include the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Czech Government Office, the Office for Personal Data Protection or the Czech Telecommunications Office.

Important factors taken into account when awarding the distinction are:

Advantages of a more or less centralized supervision solution
Existing Expertise Opportunities
Linking with other regulations in the areas of the digital agenda and cybersecurity
Total number of entities subject to supervision⁶

Executive powers and penalties

As mentioned above, there are currently no specific laws or regulations in the Czech Republic that directly regulate AI. Therefore, enforcement and penalties related to the creation, dissemination and/or use of AI are regulated by: (i) the EU AI Act; and (ii) relevant provisions in non-AI-specific regulations.

₁_{NAIS 2019 is available here}_.
2_{The Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic for 2019–2030 can be found here}_.
3_{Digital Czech Republic is available here}_.
4_{The Czech Republic’s Digitalization Strategic Plan until 2030 is available here}_{.
5 Public presentation of the Czech Government Office at the Lawfit conference held on May 27, 2024 in Prague.
6 Public presentation of the Czech Government Office at the Lawfit conference held on May 27, 2024 in Prague.}

_{White & Case means the international law firm which includes White & Case LLP, a New York limited liability partnership, White & Case LLP, a English limited liability partnership, and any other related companies, firms and entities.}

_{This article has been prepared for the purpose of general information for interested persons. It is not, and does not attempt to be, exhaustive in nature. Due to the general nature of its content, it should not be considered legal advice.}