CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ THE RIGHTS OF THE ELDERLY IN THE CASEǧLAW OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT … of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 2 of the International Labour Organization Convention on Discrimination. The Czechoslovak Constitutional Court proceeded from the fact that the actual imposition of tax obligation in relation to the income of old-age pensioners cannot be considered a violation or withdrawal of the right to material security in old age. Special standards for certain sectors may establish special criteria of equality that do not arise from a general principle because the application of the principle of equality does not set such precise bounds to exclude any discretion of those who apply them. In the area of taxation, it is necessary to require that the legislature support its decision by objective and rational criteria. It is the matter of state to decide to provide a certain group with fewer benefits than for other groups for the sake of ensuring the state functions. Even here, however, the state must not act arbitrarily. 35 4. The case-law of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic on the constitutionality of laws relating to the issue of old-age pensions and taxation The plenary case-law of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic concerning old-age pensions can be classified under categories arising from individual topics. The case- law repeatedly includes the unequal treatment of men and women caring for children for the purposes of entitlement to an old-age pension, the taxation of the income of working pensioners or pensioners with high income, as well as an important topic of the reduction limit for calculating the pension percentage amount. A. On the reduction limit for calculating the pension percentage amount The Constitutional Court commented on the actual amount of pension income and the fairness of their assessment or proportionality links between income, pension insurance contributions, and the amount of pension income (including the consideration concerning the balance between merit and solidarity in determining pensions) in its crucial judgment of 23 March 2010, file No. Pl. ÚS 8/07 36 , on the reduction limit for calculating the pension percentage amount. The decision dealt with the very essence of the principles of solidarity and equivalence 37 in determining the rules for determining the amount of pension payments and pension insurance contributions. As mentioned above, the characteristic element of social rights is the fact that they are not unconditional in nature and can only be claimed within the confines of law. Article 41 (1) of the Charter gives the legislature the power to set specific conditions for the realisation of social rights. The legal execution should not be contrary to constitutional principles; when realising a constitutional regulation, the legislature must abide by Article 4 (4) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms according to which the nature and meaning of the provisions concerning the limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms must be preserved. 35 Judgment of 8 October 1992, file No. Pl. ÚS 22/92, available in the Collection of Resolutions of the Constitutional Court of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, No. 1, year 1992, p. 41, available at www. usoud.cz. 36 (135/2010 Coll., N 61/56 CC Coll. 653). 37 For the first time, this topic was formulated in the judgment, file No. Pl. ÚS 12/94, of 12 April 1995 (N 20/3 CC Coll. 123; 92/1995 Coll.), in the matter of petition seeking the annulment of certain provisions of Act No. 589/1992 Coll., on social security contributions and contributions to the state employment policy.

257