Czech politician and lawyer; one of the fi rst signatories of Charter 77. In 1990, he was appointed as Attorney General; later, he served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak government, the Minister of Justice, and a senator (from 1996 to 2003). Since 2003, he has been the President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. In 2005, he was awarded the French order of the Legion of Honour.