Professor Jaroslav Fenyk, one of the Czech Republic’s premier criminal lawyers, has joined Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice in Prague as an Of Counsel. The eminent lawyer was previously the deputy at the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office and, Vice President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic.
“Dentons is the only global law firm with an independent team of criminal lawyers in the Czech Republic. The arrival of Professor Fenyk — a renowned lawyer with experience at the highest levels of prosecution, constitutional law and international institutions — is a significant boost for our Firm and our clients,” said Petr Zákoucký, Czech Republic Managing Partner at Dentons.
Professor Jaroslav Fenyk is among the most respected figures in criminal law in the Czech Republic and the European Union. From 2013 to 2023, he served as a judge and deputy chairman of the Constitutional Court, and from 1999 to 2006, as a deputy at the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office. He has also worked in criminal law as a public prosecutor, lawyer and university professor. In 2010 he was named “Lawyer of the Year” in the field of criminal law in the Czech Republic in the competition organized by the Czech Bar Association Chamber of Lawyers and the epravo.cz joint stock company.
As a member of expert committees of the Council of Europe and the European Union, he has participated in the harmonization of criminal law, served in the International Association of Prosecutors, collaborated in the development of the European Union’s model criminal law opus Corpus Juris, and served as chairman of the International Association for Criminal Law.
Jaroslav Fenyk is a professor in the Department of Criminal Law at the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University in Brno and has also lectured at a number of foreign universities. He has worked with the US Department of Justice, the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Law in Freiburg, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London, the Academy of European Law in Trier, and the Universities of Chicago, Ghent, Nijmegen, Trento, Rotterdam, Miskolc and Vienna, among others. He has published numerous monographs, scientific and professional papers and university textbooks.
“Jaroslav will offer our clients deep expertise in criminal law matters, including the criminal liability of legal entities, compliance, constitutional law the protection of human rights, and proceedings before the Constitutional Court. He will also represent clients in proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office,” added Ladislav Smejkal, Head of Litigation and Criminal Law (White Collar) practice.
“I am looking forward to joining the world’s largest global law firm, and working with the excellent professionals in Prague and around the world,” added professor Jaroslav Fenyk. “I will make good use of the knowledge and experience I have gained in criminal and constitutional law to serve the needs of clients both nationally and internationally.”
