The Czech Senate has approved an amendment to the Criminal Code that the government says will lead to a reduction in the number of prisoners and repeat offenders, as well as savings for the state budget.
The changes were approved yesterday despite objections from some Senators to proposals to impose separate financial penalties for serious crimes or misdemeanours. The amendment gives greater priority to alternative punishments and partially decriminalises some offences, such as non-payment of child maintenance.
Rules on cultivation and possession of cannabis will also be loosened. The draft, which will now be presented to the President for signature, also introduces explicit criminalisation of Nazi and Communist movements.
Under the amendment, courts could impose a fine for any offence except for particularly serious crimes, abuse of a person in the offender’s care, or abuse of a person living in a shared home. Some senators, including the constitutional law committee, wanted to restrict this possibility to offences other than cruelty.
Misdemeanours are offences punishable by a maximum of five years’ imprisonment. Courts would not be allowed to impose separate penalties for offences punishable by five to ten years’ imprisonment, according to those in favor of limiting financial penalties.
In addition to expanding the possibility of alternative sentences, the amendment reduces penalties for repeated theft or for online support for terrorism.
In the case of maintenance neglect, only cases where non-payment of maintenance puts the dependent person in danger of destitution will now be treated as criminal offences.
The amendment tightens the punishment of certain other acts, such as deep fake pornography created by artificial intelligence. Courts will also be able to punish deep fake material created with the intention of causing serious harm to another person’s rights. Courts will be able to impose an unconditional prison sentence on an accelerated basis by criminal warrant, i.e. without ordering a main trial.
Under the amendment, it will be legal to cultivate up to three cannabis plants and to possess up to 100 grams of cannabis at home or 25 grams outside. Growing four to five plants would be a misdemeanour, and more plants a criminal offence, as could possession of more than 200 grams of cannabis in a dwelling. Cannabis-related offences will have a separate passage in the code, with the rates intended to better reflect the social impact of cannabis, according to the reasoning. It will no longer be a criminal offence to possess a certain amount of cannabis on behalf of another person.
The amendment also expands the list of motives for “bias crimes”, i.e. hate crimes. For example, targeted attacks on the disabled should now be punished more severely.
