On 1 January 2026, a significant amendment to criminal law regulations implemented by Act No. 270/2025 Coll. will come into effect. These changes mainly concern the Criminal Code, but also the Criminal Procedure Code and ancillary criminal laws, i.e. the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and the Act on Justiciary in Suits of Youth.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the references to legal provisions below refer to the wording effective as of 1 January 2026.

1. Explicit enshrinement of the principle of restorative justice

Section 2(16) of the Criminal Procedure Code ¹ expressly enshrines the principle of restorative justice as one of the fundamental principles of criminal proceedings. Restorative justice is an important modern concept in criminal justice policy, which focuses on redressing the harm caused, taking into account the needs of those affected by the crime, ensuring that the perpetrator takes genuine responsibility, and restoring social relations affected by the crime. A specific manifestation of this should be, in particular, the mediation of contact between the offender and the victim in criminal proceedings through the more frequent use of probation and mediation services.

2. Protection of the confidentiality of communication between the accused and their defence counsel

The Criminal Procedure Code, in its new provision of Section 35a, clarifies the rules on protecting the confidentiality of communications between the accused and their defence counsel. The two most significant new rules are 1) that the protection of confidentiality of communications does not apply to cases where the content of the communications does not concern the provision of legal services, and 2) that information obtained by breaching the confidentiality of communication may not be used in criminal proceedings, except in cases where the suspect/defendant invokes the use of such information.

3. Inspection of the contents of devices

Section 113a adds the inspection of device content as a special means of evidence consisting of the inspection of data in “seized portable devices that enable two-way communication between end users” (laptop, smartphone, etc.), including the inspection of data stored on remote storage, if it is accessible from the device without overcoming additional security measures.

Such a search is only possible if there are reasonable grounds to believe that it will reveal facts relevant to the criminal proceedings and the purpose of the search cannot be achieved otherwise or would otherwise be significantly more difficult to achieve.  In principle, a search is only possible with the permission of a judge.

4. New grounds for optional discontinuation of criminal proceedings

According to the new Section 172(2)(d) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the public prosecutor may (but is not obliged to) discontinue criminal proceedings if, after obtaining all available evidence, the results of the investigation do not sufficiently justify bringing the accused before the court and it is unlikely that the facts necessary to prove the accused’s guilt of committing the act will be established in court proceedings.

5. Amendment of the conditions for approval of a settlement

According to Section 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code, in proceedings concerning a misdemeanour ², the court may, with the consent of the accused and the injured party, and the public prosecutor may, in preliminary proceedings, decide to approve a settlement if certain conditions are met. One of these conditions is that the accused must compensate the injured party for damage, non-pecuniary harm or surrender any unjust enrichment obtained through the offence, or take other appropriate measures to redress or surrender them.

Under the current legislation, the prerequisite for the approval of a settlement is the payment of damages or the surrender of unjust enrichment in full, or the taking of steps to achieve full redress. The amendment, which will come into force in 2026, relaxes this condition.

A settlement may be approved if at least 30 % of the damage, non-pecuniary damage or unjust enrichment has been compensated or surrendered, and the defendant has undertaken to compensate or surrender the remainder to the injured party in instalments within an agreed period.

6. Extension of the list of penalties that can be imposed by a penalty order

According to Section 314e(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, it will now be possible to impose an unconditional prison sentence of up to six months by means of a penalty order, as well as penalties prohibiting the performance of public contracts or participation in public tenders and prohibiting the acceptance of subsidies and grants for up to five years.

7. Amendments to the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and Proceedings against Them

The Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities will also undergo partial amendments at the beginning of 2026.

First and foremost, the rules for considering the appropriateness of the penalty imposed on a legal entity are being clarified so that when deciding on the type and severity of the penalty, the court is obliged to take into account the number of employees of the legal entity, the subject of its activities, and whether the legal entity has an effective set of preventive measures in place to ensure compliance with legal regulations and to prevent criminal activity (legal compliance). In the case of a financial penalty, the court is obliged to take into account the net turnover for the last completed accounting period, if it can be determined.

Furthermore, the scope for the public prosecutor to defer the case and discontinue criminal proceedings is expanded. These reasons include the fact that the legal entity is unable to carry out its activities for a period longer than one year, that criminal proceedings would be ineffective in view of its circumstances, or that proceedings under another legal regulation (e.g. the Civil Code) allowing for the dissolution of the legal entity can be considered sufficient.

Conclusion

In the two parts of our overview of changes, we have attempted to present a clear overview of the most important changes that the beginning of 2026 will bring to Czech criminal law. The described changes to the Criminal Procedure Code mainly improve the position of accused persons, whether natural or legal persons, and strengthen their legal certainty.

In the case of legal entities, there is an increased emphasis on preventive measures to prevent criminal activity, which is particularly relevant in practice for business companies. If you are unsure whether the measures in place in your company are sufficient, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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¹ Throughout the proceedings, law enforcement authorities shall ensure that, where appropriate, conditions are created for the voluntary and active participation of the victim and the accused in resolving the consequences of the crime and restoring the relationships affected by the crime.

² I.e. any negligent criminal offence and intentional criminal offence with a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment.

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This material is for general information on current topics only, it is not advice. It does not take into account any special circumstances, financial situations or special requirements of the addressees. Recipients should therefore always seek appropriate professional services for the information provided. Notwithstanding the careful compilation of this material, bpv Braun Partners s.r.o. advokáti, its partners, associates or co-operating solicitors and tax advisers cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein and accepts no responsibility for acting or refraining from acting on the basis of the information contained in this material.