In the first two decades of Czechia's membership in the EU, Czech apex courts turned to the Court of Justice 68 times in total. Of these, 50 preliminary references were submitted by the Supreme Administrative Court and 18 preliminary references by the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court has not (yet) submitted a reference to the Court of Justice.

The first 18 years of preliminary references submitted by Czech apex courts have been analysed in an article by N. N. Dřínovská and Z. Vikarská, published (in Czech) in the Journal of Jurisprudence and Legal Practice (Časopis pro právní vědu a praxi). The article is freely available here: Evropská zletilost českých (nejvyšších) soudů aneb prvních 18 let předběžných otázek z Brna.

We have also visualised the activity of both Czech supreme courts on a timeline. Above the line you can find preliminary references submitted by the Supreme Court (in green), while below the line you can see those submitted by the Supreme Administrative Court (in orange). You can explore the timeline directly on the TimeGraphics website. 

Czech lower courts have turned to the Court of Justice with a preliminary reference 49 times in total. 

Depending on the subject area, these references may be divided as follows:

• civil courts: 25 preliminary references;
• administrative courts: 19 preliminary references;
• criminal courts: 1 preliminary reference;
• non-judicial institutions: 4 preliminary references.

Depending on the instance, the situation looks as follows:

• first instance courts: 41 preliminary references;
• appellate courts: 4 preliminary references;
• non-judicial institutions: 4 preliminary references.

We also find it interesting to break down the numbers by regions:

• Prague: 26 preliminary references;
• Brno: 7 preliminary references (notwithstanding the two supreme courts);
• Ostrava: 8 preliminary references;
• the rest of Czechia: 8 preliminary references.

We have also visualised the lower courts' activity on a timeline which you can explore on the TimeGraphics website. Above the line you can see preliminary references submitted by lower civil courts (blue) and criminal courts (purple) while below the line you can see preliminary references submitted by lower administrative courts (yellow). The references displayed in red were submitted by non-judicial institutions.