Jiří Pospíšil was born on 14 November 1975 in Chomutov, in the Czech Republic. In 1999, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of West Bohemia. Between 2009-2010, he was Dean of the same faculty. From 2002 to 2014 he was a Member of the Parliament, Chamber of Deputies, of the Czech Republic. He served twice - from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2012 - as Minister of Justice. In that role he pushed through the adoption of the new Criminal Code. He was also responsible for the new Civil Code and the new Business Corporations Act in the government of Petr Nečas. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 with the most preferential votes of all Czech candidates in the elections.