Judikatura prvorepublikového Nejvyššího soudu týkající se popuzování k zášti, násilnostem a jiným nepřátelským činům

The aim of the present article is to analyse the First Republic case law of the Supreme Court of the Czechoslovak Republic related to the provisions of Article 14(2)–(4) of Act No. 50/1923 Sb., on the Protection of the Republic, criminalizing manifestations inciting violence or hatred against an individual or a group of citizens. It examines whether these facts have been interpreted in the spirit of bound or free judicial discretion and whether the approach of the highest judicial authority to this issue has changed over time. It examines the case law relating to the concept of incitement and its forms, as well as conclusions relating to the question of the object and the material object of the offence. Particular attention is paid to the notion of the public as a feature of the facts in question, the interpretation of which was crucial in the application practice of the First Republic judicial authorities and was thus further examined and elaborated in the case law. Although primarily legal-historical, the issue under examination is also of relevance today, as it offers theoretical basis and interpretive guidelines that are applicable also in the contemporary judicial application of the provisions of Section 356 of Act No. 40/2009 Sb., the Criminal Code, which punishes incitement to hatred against a group of persons or restriction of their rights and freedoms.