Ministries
The Ministry of Interior is a central authority of the state administration for internal affairs, in particular for: public order and other matters relating to internal security within its defined scope of competence, including supervision of road traffic protection, first names and surnames, registers of births, marriages and deaths, nationality, identity cards, residence reporting, register of inhabitants and personal identification numbers, the right of association and the right of assembly, registration of organizations with international links, public collections, maintaining archives, firearms and ammunition, fire protection, travel documents, granting residence to foreign nationals and refugee status, the territorial structure of the state, national borders, their surveying, maintenance and documentation, state symbols, state, economic and service secret.
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
The Ministry of labour and Social Affairs is a authority of the state administration for social and labour relations, safety of labour, employment and retraining, collective bargaining, wages and other remuneration for work, pension security, health insurance, sickness benefits, social care, working conditions of women and youths, legal protection in maternity, family and children care, care for citizens with special aid requirements and other wage and social policies.
Ministry of Regional Development
The ministry was established and started its activities on 1 November 1996. Its activities are focused on the areas as follows: regional policy including regional business support, housing policy, housing and business accommodation development, territorial planning, housing-related legislation, investment policy, tourism.
The Ministry of Health is a central authority of the state administration for the health care, public health protection, health research activities, directly controlled health facilities, handling with drugs, preparations, and other agents, search, protection and use of natural health resources, natural spas and mineral water resources, medicaments and technical equipment for prevention, diagnostics and treatment of people, health insurance and health information system. Part of the Ministry of Health is also the Czech Spa Inspectorate. The organizational part of the Ministry of Health is also the Inspectorate of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
The Ministry of Finance is a central authority of the state administration for the state budget of the republic, the final state account, the state treasury of the Czech Republic, financial market with the exception of the security market supervision in the scope of activities of the State Securities Commission, taxes, fees and customs, financial management, financial control, audit and tax consulting, foreign currency affairs including state obligations towards other countries, foreign investments protection, for raffles, lotteries and other games, state property administration, state property privatization, affairs related to insurance companies, pension funds, and for prizes awarded for activities against legalization of revenues resulting from criminal activities.
The Ministry of Defence is a central authority of the state administration for ensuring the defence of the Czech Republic; it controls the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic and administers the military training areas. As an authority for ensuring the nation’s defence, it contributes to the formation of a strategy for the military defence policy of the country, prepares concepts for operations planning of the state territory's defence, and suggests necessary defence arrangements to the government, to the Defence Council of Czech Republic, and tothe President of the Czech Republic. In addition to other duties related to the defence of the country it calls up citizens of the Czech Republic to military service. It organises co-ordination with the armed forces of other countries within the framework of European security structures.
The Ministry of Justice is a central authority of the state administration for courts and public prosecutor's offices. The Ministry of Justice issues legal judges concerning credit and guarantee agreements in which the Czech Republic is one of the agreement parties. The Ministry of Justice is a central authority of the state administration for penitentiary system; the Prison Service of the Czech Republic is subordinated to the ministry. The Ministry of Justice acts for the Czech Republic in the course of complaints settlement concerning breach of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols. The ministry fulfils tasks connected with the legislative activities of the government.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a central authority for the area of foreign policy, in the scope of which it prepares concepts and coordinates the development assistance and external economic relations. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains relations of the Czech Republic with other states, international organizations and integrative blocks; it coordinates activities resulting from bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Ministry of Industry and Trade
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is a central body of the state administration involved in: the national industry policy, trade policy, foreign economic policy, integrated raw material policy, use of mineral resources, energy, gas and heat production, mining, crude oil, natural gas, solid fuels, nuclear materials, ores and non-ore treatment and conversion, metallurgy, machinery, electrical engineering and electronics, chemical industry, crude oil processing, rubber and plastic materials industry, glass and ceramics industry, textile and clothing industry, leather and print industry, paper, cellulose and wood-working industry, building materials production, building industry production, medical production, waste, domestic trade and the protection of consumers' interests, foreign trade and supporting exports, small and medium-sized companies' issues with the exception of regional business support and trading issues, technical standardization, metrology and state quality control, industrial research, engineering and technology development, electronic communication and postal services. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is a central body of the government administration responsible for commodity exchange, except of issues relating to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Act no. 2/1969 Coll. on establishing ministries and other central bodies of the Czech Republic as amended lays down in the Article 17 that the Ministry of Transport is a central authority of the state administration for transport issues; it is responsible for the preparation of the state transport policy and, within its competence, for its implementation.
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
The Ministry of Education, Youths and Sports is a central authority of the state administration for pre-school facilities, school facilities, elementary schools, secondary schools and universities, for science policy, research and development including international cooperation in this sphere, for science degrees, for the state policy related to children, youths, sports, tourism and sport representation.
The Ministry of Agriculture is, pursuant to acts no. 2/1969 Coll. and no. 272/1996 Coll., a central authority of state administration for agriculture with the exception of the preservation of the agricultural land fund, for water management excepting preservation of natural water accumulation, preservation of water sources and preservation of water quality, and for food industry. It is also a central state authority administrating forests, hunting, game management, and fishing outside the territory of national parks.
Ministry of Environment is a central authority of the state administration for: natural water accumulation, water resources protection, ground and surface water quality protection, air protection, nature and landscape protection, farmland protection, activities of the state geological service, mineral resources and ground water protection, geological activities and environmental supervision over mining, waste management, assessment of activities and their impact on environment including cross-boarder activities, hunting, fishing and forest management in national parks, and the state environmental policy.
Pursuant to the Article 8 of the Act on Establishing Ministries and other Central Bodies of the State Administration of the Czech Republic, as amended, the Ministry of Culture is a central authority of the state administration for the arts, cultural and educational activities, cultural monuments, matters relating to churches and religious societies, matters relating to the press, including publication of non-periodical press and other information means, for the preparation of bills and other legal regulations in the area of radio and television broadcasting, for implementation of the Copyright Act, and for production and trade in the culture area.
