The Czech Parliament supported fundamental changes in criminal law. The reform introduces alternative punishments, releases cannabis cultivation rules and introduces new protective measures.
On Friday, Czech deputies approved an amendment to the Criminal Code, which, according to the petitioners, should lead to a reduction in the number of prisoners and savings in the budget. It emphasizes more frequent imposition of alternative punishments, prohibits working with children who have committed violence, whether it releases cannabis cultivation rules for their own use. Czech Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek believes that the reform will relieve overloaded prisons and reduce state spending, says TASR newsletter in Prague.
MEPs submitted dozens of amendments to the amendment, which voted on Friday for about an hour. Of the 159 deputies present, they supported 142, including representatives of opposition pirates and YES movement, against 16 MPs from the SPD movement. Blažek justified the need for a reform of criminal law in the past by the fact that the punishment in the Czech Republic is, according to him, is out of fashion and outdated and the Czech Republic is diverting from the rest of the EU.
Alternative punishment
The amendment prefers alternative punishment, including money. This should be imposed on any crime, but this cannot be the only punishment in the case of serious acts in which violence has been used.
It brings significant release in the area of cannabis cultivation. If the amendment goes through the Senate and signed by the President, in the Czech Republic the legal cultivation of three cannabis plants and holding 100 grams of cannabis for its own use will be. Growing four to five plants will be an offense and the crime will be above this number. According to the former chairman of pirates Ivan Bartoš, this change will solve the high punishments that people received for a small number of plants.
Child protection
The reform also contains a so -called children’s certificate. Persons who have committed serious sexual or other violent crimes on children should, according to the approved proposal, have a century -old entry in a new record that will prevent them from working with children. In the case of less serious acts, this should be a twenty -year enrollment. Another tightening brought by the amendment is the punishment of Deepfake pornography. It should be criminal not only to create it, but also to spread.
The opposition failed to enforce the abolition of the crime of unauthorized activity for foreign power. MEPs also rejected the opposition proposal to ban the names of prosecuted persons.
The amendment will now be dealt with by senators. It should be effective from January.
