Amendment to financial penalties: More fines, less prison time?

The financial penalty is set to become a stronger alternative to imprisonment for property and economic crimes. As part of a major upcoming amendment to the Criminal Code, the Czech government has proposed a broader and more universal application of financial penalties. 

The proposed change primarily aims to allow financial penalties to be imposed more frequently for property and economic offences, where they are intended to serve as an effective alternative to custodial sentences. The bill has now reached the stage where MPs have been sent draft amendments, and it will proceed to a third reading.

When can a financial penalty currently be imposed?

Under the current law, courts may impose a financial penalty either on its own or alongside another sentence, provided specific conditions are met:

A court may impose a financial penalty if the perpetrator gained or attempted to gain financial benefit from an intentional criminal offence.

Even if the offence was not profit-motivated, a financial penalty may still be imposed in two situations:

– where the Criminal Code explicitly permits it for a particular offence,

– or where the offence is classified as a misdemeanour (přečin), and in view of the circumstances and the offender's personal situation, an unconditional prison sentence is not necessary.

A financial penalty can also be imposed as the sole punishment, provided that, considering the seriousness of the offence and the offender's personal characteristics, there is no need to impose another type of sentence.

In practice, this means that standalone financial penalties are currently limited to specific types of offences. However, the proposed amendment would significantly expand the scope for their use.

What changes are being proposed?

The government is proposing to remove existing statutory limitations and allow financial penalties to be imposed as a standalone punishment in nearly all cases.

It would no longer be necessary for the Criminal Code to explicitly state that a financial penalty may be imposed for a given offence. Courts would be allowed to impose such a penalty on its own for any criminal offence – with the exception of sexual crimes against human dignity and particularly serious crimes.

What about changes to the amount of financial penalties?

The government has also proposed to adjust the structure of financial penalties to better reflect the severity of the offence and to underline that they are a real alternative to imprisonment.

One important change would be in how unpaid financial penalties are converted into prison sentences. Under the new proposal, each daily fine would correspond to one day of imprisonment – unlike the current system, where one daily fine equates to two days in prison.

Another major change involves how the maximum fine is calculated. Whereas the current law caps the number of daily fines at a fixed level, the new proposal would allow the number of daily rates to match the maximum custodial sentence expressed in days. For example, if the maximum sentence for a particular offence is one year, the court could impose up to 365 daily rates.

This approach ensures that when a financial penalty is converted into imprisonment, the resulting sentence does not exceed the statutory maximum for the offence in question. At the same time, it enables courts to impose financial penalties even for more serious crimes – particularly in the field of property and economic criminality – without necessarily having to impose a custodial sentence. It also opens the door to more lenient imprisonment where appropriate.

The financial penalty is set to play a more significant role than ever before – becoming a more flexible and proportionate tool for punishing offenders without automatically resorting to incarceration. Expanding the availability of financial penalties gives courts greater discretion to tailor sentences to the individual circumstances of each case. However, one should not assume that courts will make use of this option by default.

If you are facing criminal charges, do not hesitate to contact us. We will ensure the court is presented with all relevant circumstances and options that could work in your favour and help achieve a more lenient outcome.

Mgr. Petr Motyčka