prof. Dr. JUDr. Karel Eliáš

Prof. Dr. JUDr. Karel Eliáš (born 4th May 1955 in Cheb), senior researcher in Institute of State and Law of the CAS- lawyer specializing in Civil and Business Law with overlap in legal philosophy, history and sociology. Grammar school graduate in Carlsbad (1975) and  Faculty of Law Charles University graduate (1979, graduated Doctor of Law in 1981).

After graduation from legal studies, he worked in the corporate sphere. From 1. 1. 1991 he became a researcher at the Institute of State and Law Academy of the CAS. In the years 1993 - 2011 he was pedagogically active at the Faculty of Law University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, where he led the department of Commercial Law, then later he led the department of Private Law and after that he acted as vice dean for science and research. At the Masaryk University in Brno he graduated doctoral studies (1996), also habilitation (1998) even appointment (2002) proceedings and he was gradually appointed associate professor and professor in his field. From 2016 he pedagogically works at the Faculty of Law Trnava University in Trnava; at this faculty he is involved in the solution of two grant projects.

Karel Eliáš is an author, co-author and editor of 20 book publications and a few hundreds magazine articles. In 2000 he was commissioned by Minister of Justice Otakar Motejl as the main author of the draft Civil Code; in cooperation with associate professor Michaela Zunklínová and other collaborators they finished this work in 2012, when the Civil Code was approved.

Apart from the scientific council of Academy of Sciences Czech Republic, Eliáš is a member of scientific councils of Institute of State and Law Academy of the CAS and faculties of Law in Prague and Olomouc. He is also a member of the Legislative Council of the Government. He acts as the chairman of the editorial board of scientific review for State and Law problems Právník (The Lawyer) and he is active in four other editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals.

For his work Karel Eliáš was awarded several times. He received the most significant honor in 2012, when he was inducted into the Lawyer’s Hall of Fame for exceptional lifelong contribution to the law. In 2021, the Rector of the Trnava University in Trnava awarded Karel Eliáš the Antonín Hajduk Prize for outstanding results in scientific and research activities.

 

In 2023, the Štefan Luby Foundation awarded Professor Eliáš a commemorative medal for his contribution to the field of law in Slovakia and the education of young/junior scholars/researchers in the field of civil law.