Basic Conditions of a Guilt and Sentence Agreement

A guilt and sentence agreement is an agreement between a public prosecutor and an accused person in pre-trial proceedings, which may be concluded only in respect of criminal offences that are not particularly serious criminal offences, that is, in respect of misdemeanours (přečiny) and felonies (zločiny) where the upper limit of imprisonment does not reach 10 years. An agreement cannot be concluded in cases where the accused person is prosecuted as a fugitive. The basic condition for commencing negotiations on a guilt and sentence agreement is the fact that the results of the investigation sufficiently demonstrate the conclusion that the act occurred, that this act is a criminal offence and that it was committed by the accused person. If this basic condition is satisfied, the public prosecutor may commence, upon the proposal of the accused person or even without such proposal, negotiations with the accused person on the content of this agreement. In order for the agreement to be concluded, two further basic conditions must be satisfied, namely an express declaration by the accused person that he or she committed the act for which he or she is being prosecuted, and the absence of reasonable doubts as to the truthfulness of this declaration. In the event that the agreement is not concluded or approved, this declaration by the accused person cannot be regarded as a confession to the commission of a criminal offence and cannot be used as evidence in further proceedings.

Position of the Injured Party

Within the framework of the protection of the rights of the injured party, the amendment expressly imposes on the public prosecutor the duty to have regard to the rights of the injured party. The injured party is entitled to be present at negotiations between the public prosecutor and the accused person on the agreement if he or she has not expressly declared that he or she waives procedural rights; however, he or she need not be present and thus need not meet the accused person again. The injured party is entitled to assert, no later than at the first negotiation on the guilt and sentence agreement, a claim for compensation for damage or non-pecuniary harm in money caused to him or her by the criminal offence, or for the surrender of unjust enrichment. If the injured party is present at the negotiation of the guilt and sentence agreement, he or she shall express his or her views in particular on the scope and manner of compensation for damage, non-pecuniary harm or surrender of unjust enrichment. If the injured party, who is not present at the negotiation, has asserted his or her claim, the public prosecutor may, on behalf of the injured party, agree with the accused person on the scope and manner of compensation for damage or non-pecuniary harm or surrender of unjust enrichment up to the amount of the claim asserted. If no agreement is reached on the claim of the injured party, this is not an obstacle to the conclusion and approval of the guilt and sentence agreement, as the court may decide on it when approving the agreement on the basis of evidence arising from the file, or may also decide that the injured party is referred with his or her claim to civil proceedings.

Procedure Following Conclusion of the Guilt and Sentence Agreement

If a guilt and sentence agreement is concluded, the public prosecutor shall deliver a copy thereof to the accused person, his or her defence counsel and the injured party who has duly and timely asserted his or her claims. Subsequently, the public prosecutor shall submit to the competent court a proposal for the approval of the concluded guilt and sentence agreement, whereby if no agreement has been reached within the framework of the agreement on compensation for the claims asserted by the injured party, the court shall draw attention to this fact. The court does not conduct the taking of evidence, but only assesses whether the approved guilt and sentence agreement was concluded in accordance with the law; it must not interfere with its content. The court may reject the proposal for serious procedural defects; the case then returns to pre-trial proceedings. If the court concludes that the concluded guilt and sentence agreement is substantively correct and proportionate from the point of view of compliance with the established facts or from the point of view of the type and level of the proposed sentence, or protective measure, and correct also from the point of view of the scope and manner of compensation for damage, and does not establish a serious violation of the rights of the accused person during the negotiation of the guilt and sentence agreement, it shall approve this agreement by judgment, in which it shall state the decision on guilt and sentence, or protective measure and compensation for damage. An appeal against the judgment may be lodged only in the event that such judgment is not in accordance with the guilt and sentence agreement the approval of which the public prosecutor proposed to the court. Against a judgment by which the court approved a guilt and sentence agreement, the injured party who has asserted a claim for compensation for damage or non-pecuniary harm or for the surrender of unjust enrichment may lodge an appeal for incorrectness of the decision on compensation for damage or non-pecuniary harm in money or on the surrender of unjust enrichment, unless in the guilt and sentence agreement he or she agreed to the scope and manner of compensation for damage or non-pecuniary harm or the surrender of unjust enrichment and this agreement was approved by the court in the form with which he or she agreed. A final judgment approving an agreement has the same effects as any other conviction judgment delivered at the main hearing.

This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.