A. Is the investigation affected by the fact that I am a foreign citizen?

Only persons enjoying privileges and immunities under the law or international law are excluded from the jurisdiction of law-enforcement authorities. Hence the fact that you are a foreign citizen does not per se affect the investigation.

Unless requested by the law-enforcement authority for a specific task where your presence is required (in particular, to give a witness statement), your presence in the course of the investigation is generally not necessary unless you wish to be present for the investigation. However, you must maintain contact with the law-enforcement authorities and indicate the address at which you will be receiving documents.

However, if criminal prosecution is brought for an intentional crime punishable by imprisonment with the upper range exceeding two years, or for a crime committed through negligence that is punishable by imprisonment with the upper range exceeding three years, the court – or the judge at the request of the public prosecutor in the preparatory process – may impose a restriction consisting in a ban on travelling abroad if this is necessary to achieve the purpose of the criminal proceedings. The restriction will be lifted by the chamber’s president – and by the public prosecutor of its own motion in the preparatory process – if the grounds for imposing it no longer apply. If such a restriction has been imposed, you have the right to ask for it to be lifted at any time. Such a restriction may also be imposed on you as a substitute for remand in custody pending trial.

If you lack sufficient knowledge of the Czech language, you have the right to have certain important documents translated (e.g. order to start criminal prosecution, the charge, the judgment) and the proceedings before the law-enforcement authorities will be interpreted into the language of your nationality or into another language that you master. Any consultation of your defence counsel during or in direct connection with the criminal proceedings will also be interpreted at your request.

B. What are the stages of investigation?

Rather than stages, we should refer to types of investigations, since the Criminal Procedure Code distinguishes between abbreviated preparatory process, standard investigation and extended investigation.

However, the investigation stage is preceded by the examination stage aimed at verifying and detecting whether or not a crime has been committed, and at identifying the perpetrator. At that stage the person against whom the criminal proceedings are being conducted does not yet have any formal designation, but the persons interrogated have the right to legal aid provided by a lawyer. If you are being interrogated as a suspect at that stage (i.e. on suspicion that you have committed a crime), you have the right to remain silent - a right of which you must be advised in advance.

During the investigation, the person against whom the criminal proceedings are being conducted already has a formalised status and has the right to be aided by a defence counsel. The purpose of this stage is to obtain and document evidence for the purposes of filing a charge and conducting proceedings before a court. This includes, for example, the taking of witness statements, examination of an item, provision of expert opinions and other acts.

In doing so, the police authority seeks both incriminating and exculpatory evidence.

Abbreviated preparatory process

The abbreviated preparatory process takes place in the case of less serious crimes (crimes tried
in the first instance by a district court, punishable by imprisonment with the upper range not exceeding five years) is quick and less formal. Such a process may take place unless this is prevented by some other obstacle (e.g. there are grounds for detention), provided that

• you were caught in the act or immediately afterwards; or
• during the examination of a criminal complaint or another petition to prosecute, facts have been found that otherwise justify the initiation of criminal prosecution and you may be expected to be brought to justice within two weeks of the date on which the police authority informed you of the act you are suspected to have committed and what specific crime the act is deemed to be.

The abbreviated preparatory process starts with the notification of a suspicion during the first interrogation.
In the abbreviated preparatory process you have the same rights as a defendant, including the right to a defence counsel. The main dissimilarity from standard investigation as regards your rights is that the abbreviated preparatory process is not initiated by a formal order to start criminal prosecution (which you could challenge by means of a complaint) and that you do not have the right to inspect the criminal file and to propose additional evidence at the end of the abbreviated preparatory process; this does not prejudice your right to inspect the criminal file (unless the police authority denies you this right for serious reasons) and your right to propose additional evidence in proceedings before the court.

Unless the abbreviated preparatory process is concluded otherwise, it ends with a motion to sentence
(in principle, a simplified charge without reasoning). The motion is lodged with the court by the public prosecutor.

Standard investigation

This type of investigation begins with the service of the order to start criminal prosecution against you; you have the right to challenge the order by means of a complaint. You have the right to a defence counsel in the investigation. Unlike in the abbreviated preparatory process, the investigation is carried out with regard to more serious crimes (however, standard investigation also takes place if there is an obstacle to conducting an abbreviated preparatory process or if that process is not completed within the prescribed time limit), and it is longer and more formal than an abbreviated preparatory process. As already mentioned, you and your defence counsel have the right to inspect the criminal file and submit additional evidence at the end of the investigation. Unless the investigation is concluded otherwise, it ends with filing a charge; the charge is filed with the court by the public prosecutor. Unlike a motion to sentence, a criminal charge contains reasoning.

Extended investigation

Extended investigation takes place in respect of the most serious crimes, which are tried before the competent regional court in the first instance (crimes punishable in accordance with the Criminal Code by imprisonment with the lower range of at least five years if they are punishable by an exceptional sentence, or certain listed crimes). This type of investigation is expected to be the longest and evidence is therefore gathered and taken to a wider extent than in standard investigation. This is the only aspect that sets extended investigation apart from standard investigation. Extended investigation is initiated by an order to start criminal prosecution and ends with the filing of a criminal charge unless it is concluded otherwise.

i. Evidence-gathering phase / Investigators’ powers

This stage of criminal proceedings is conducted by a police authority under the supervision of a public prosecutor, who may give binding instructions to the police authority, participate in the acts performed, refer the case back to the police authority with instructions for supplementation, cancel the authority’s unlawful or unjustified decisions
and measures, etc. You have the right to ask the public prosecutor to review the steps taken by the police authority (unless this is a decision against which you have the right to lodge a complaint).

Some acts may be carried out in the preparatory process only by the public prosecutor (e.g. discontinuation of the preparatory process) or subject to the public prosecutor’s prior approval (e.g. seizure of assets unless there is a need for urgent action). The most serious interferences with fundamental rights and freedoms are then decided by a judge (e.g. remand in custody, issuance of an arrest warrant, a search warrant and interception).

ii. Detention by the police

If you have already been accused and there are grounds for remand in custody pending trial, the police authority may detain you. However, the police must immediately inform the public prosecutor about the detention and provide the prosecutor with written documents needed by the latter to file, if necessary, a motion for remand in custody. The motion must be filed so as to ensure that you can be turned over to a court within 48 hours of the detention; otherwise, you have to be released.

If you have not yet been accused but are suspected of having committed a crime, and if there exists any of the grounds for your remand in custody, the police authority may detain you in urgent cases, even if your criminal prosecution has yet to start (e.g. if it is impossible to serve you with the order to start criminal prosecution). Detention requires the public prosecutor’s prior consent in these cases. Without such consent, detention is possible only if the matter is urgent and the prior consent cannot be obtained. You will be interrogated by the police authority that detained you. You have the right to ask for a defence counsel of your choice (if available) to be present at your interrogation and you have the right to consult the counsel without the presence of a third party. You have the right to have the consular post of the country of which you are a citizen notified of your detention.

The police authority will release you immediately if the suspicion that you might have committed a crime is dispelled. If you are not released, the police authority will submit a record on your interrogation to the public prosecutor (including the order to start criminal prosecution and further evidence), so that the public prosecutor can if necessary file a motion for remand in custody. The police authority must file the motion so that you can be turned over to the court no later than 48 hours after your detention; otherwise, you have to be released.

If there are grounds for taking you into custody and you are avoiding criminal proceedings, the judge may issue an arrest warrant. If you are arrested by the police, you have rights similar to those vested in detainees. The police authority must bring you to the court within 24 hours of the arrest. The judge will hear you
and make a decision on remand in custody; you must be notified of that decision within 24 hours after you were brought
to the court. You have the right to have your defence counsel present at the hearing if the counsel is available within the time limit laid down for the court to issue a decision.

iii. Interrogation

Before you are interrogated for the first time as a defendant, the law-enforcement authorities must establish your identity, clarify the substance of the accusation and advise you of your rights and the criminal repercussions of a false accusation and defamation. If proceedings are pending for a crime in respect of which an agreement on guilt and punishment can be negotiated, you must also be advised of the fact that you may negotiate an agreement on guilt and punishment with the public prosecutor in the preparatory process (the agreement is subject to court approval) and of the consequences of negotiating such agreement.

You must not be pressured to testify or confess in any way during the interrogation. In the course of the interrogation, you must be given the opportunity to comment in detail on the accusation, in particular to provide a coherent statement concerning the facts that are the subject of the accusation, to state any circumstances that mitigate or refute the accusation, and to offer evidence regarding such circumstances. Questions may be asked to supplement the statement or to remove any incompleteness, ambiguities and contradictions. Questions must be asked in a clear and comprehensible manner, without presenting any misleading and false circumstances, and without indicating what the answer should be.

The record on the interrogation must be submitted to you for you to read it or, if you so request, it must be read out to you (in the case of interrogation by videoconference, the record will be read out to you). You have the right to ask for the record to be supplemented or for corrections to be made to it in accordance with your statement.

iv. Custody

You may be taken into custody only if you have been accused of a crime. It is up to the judge to decide whether or not you will be remanded in custody.

The grounds for being taken into custody are as follows:

• a well-founded concern that you will abscond or hide in order to avoid criminal prosecution or punishment;
• a well-founded concern that you will obstruct the investigation, for example by encouraging witnesses to give false testimony; or
• a well-founded concern that you will repeat the crime for which you are being prosecuted, that you will finish the crime that you have started to commit or that you will commit a crime that you have been preparing or threatening to commit.

If there are no grounds for your remand in custody, the court will not take you into custody; if the grounds have ceased to exist, you will be released. You must also be released upon the expiry of the statutory maximum period of custody. In the case of remand in custody to prevent potential influencing of witnesses, this period is three months (this does not apply, however, if it has been established that you have already obstructed the clarification of facts relevant to the criminal proceedings). Depending on the seriousness of the crime being prosecuted, the total duration of custody may be between one and four years. However, only one-third of the above period is allotted for the preparatory process and two-thirds are reserved for proceedings before the court.

The reasons for holding you in custody must be reviewed from time to time by the court and the custody must always be extended by the court after a certain period of time, if need be. You also have the right to request your release from custody. Remand in custody pending trial may be replaced by a measure not connected with deprivation of liberty (by imprisonment), e.g. by depositing a certain amount of money (bail), by ordering supervision by a probation officer, by imposing the requirement to stay in a certain dwelling during a set period of time, etc. You have the right to ask the court to replace custody with any such measure.

C. What are my rights during the investigation stage?

When exercising your rights of defence, you have the right to:

• be advised by the law-enforcement authorities of your rights and be able to fully exercise those rights;
• comment on the accusation against you and on the evidence produced;
• refuse to testify;
• inspect files, take extracts and notes from the files, and make copies of the files or parts thereof at your own expense (this right may for serious reasons be restricted during the investigation);
• produce evidence for your defence;
• submit motions and applications;
• lodge appeals;
• use your mother tongue or another language that you master before the law-enforcement authorities if you declare that you do not master the Czech language;
• choose a defence counsel (if you do not choose a counsel yourself, your family member or somebody else may choose a counsel for you);
• ask to be assigned a defence counsel free of charge or at a reduced fee if you lack sufficient funds to pay for your defence;
• speak with your defence counsel without the presence of a third party;
• ask to be interrogated in the presence of your defence counsel and ask for your counsel to participate in the preparatory process.

i. Have I the right to an interpreter and to translations? To what extent?

If you declare that you do not master the Czech language, you are entitled to use in your communication with the law-enforcement authorities your mother tongue or the language that you claim to master.

If there is a need in the proceedings to interpret the content of a document, testimony or any other procedural act, or if you declare that you do not master the Czech language, an interpreter will be appointed to interpret the acts carried out with you in the criminal proceedings. At your request, the appointed interpreter may also interpret your consultation with a defence counsel if the consultation is directly related to procedural acts; the interpreter may also interpret any consultation during procedural acts.

In such a case the law-enforcement authorities must provide a written translation of the documents defined by law (e.g. order to start criminal prosecution, remand order, order for you to be observed in a medical institute, charge, agreement on guilt and punishment and application for approval thereof, motion to sentence, decision to conditionally discontinue criminal prosecution, etc.) unless you waive this right. If you have been arrested or detained, you will also receive a written translation of the notice concerning your rights. You have the right to ask the law-enforcement authority to translate or interpret in addition any other document that is relevant in terms of the exercise of your right of defence.

ii. What are my rights regarding information and access to the file?

At the examination stage you have the right to inspect the criminal file if this is necessary for the exercise of your rights; this is subject merely to approval by the police authority.

If you are accused of having committed a crime, you have the right to inspect the criminal file, to take extracts and notes from the file, and make copies of the file or parts thereof at your own expense.

Nevertheless, the public prosecutor or the police authority may, for important reasons, deny your right to inspect the files and other above-mentioned rights associated therewith in the preparatory process. You cannot be denied these rights once you have been informed of the possibility of inspecting the files, and when negotiating an agreement on guilt and punishment. You cannot be denied access to the order to start criminal prosecution and you have the right to acquaint yourself with the parts of the file relevant to the decision on remand in custody.

iii. Have I the right to access a defence counsel and to have a third party informed of my situation?

If you are accused of having committed a crime, you have the right to a defence counsel. If you do not choose a defence counsel yourself, a family member may choose a counsel for you or you may defend yourself on your own. In certain cases, however, you must have a defence counsel (this is known as ‘mandatory defence’); in such a case, the judge will assign you a defence counsel unless you choose one of your own within a specified time limit. You must already have a defence counsel in the preparatory process in the following cases:

• if you are remanded in custody, serving a prison sentence or subject to a preventive measure associated with deprivation of liberty, or under observation in a medical institute;
• if your legal capacity has been restricted (e.g. owing to a mental disorder);
• in proceedings against a fugitive (if you have absconded and the proceedings are being conducted in your absence);
• if the proceedings concern a crime punishable by imprisonment with the upper range exceeding five years;
• if the public prosecutor considers this necessary because, in the light of your current situation, the public prosecutor has doubts as to your capacity to defend yourself properly;
• if you are a young offender (between 15 and 18 years of age).

In proceedings concerning a crime punishable by imprisonment with the upper range exceeding five years, you may waive the right to a defence counsel unless the crime is punishable by an exceptional sentence (life sentence or imprisonment exceeding 20 years and up to 30 years).

If you have been detained or remanded in custody, you have the right to have the consular post of the country of which you are a citizen, and also a family member or any other natural person you designate, informed of the situation. You have the right to communicate with your consular post; if you do not have enough money, you will be enabled to do so free of charge. You must be advised accordingly.

iv. Am I entitled to legal aid?

As part of the examination stage - i.e. before the start of criminal prosecution (investigation) - you have the right to legal aid provided by a lawyer during your interrogation (provision of explanation).

If you have been accused of a crime, you have the right to a defence counsel, who must provide you with the necessary legal aid. You have the right to choose a defence counsel; if you do not choose one, you will be assigned one if defence is ‘mandatory’. If you do not have enough money to pay the defence counsel’s fees, you can ask the judge to issue a decision that you are entitled to a defence counsel free of charge or at a reduced fee.

v. What there is to know about:

a. Presumption of innocence

The principle of the presumption of innocence applies at four basic levels in criminal proceedings:

• your guilt has to be proved; until your guilt is proved, you must be regarded as innocent;
• where there are doubts about your guilt, the case should be decided in your favour;
• you cannot be designated as guilty before your guilt has been proclaimed through a final convicting judgment;
• during the criminal proceedings, your rights may be restricted only to the strictly necessary extent.

b. Right to remain silent and not to incriminate oneself

You are not obliged to testify in criminal proceedings and you must not be compelled in any manner whatsoever to testify or confess. Nor are you obliged to produce any evidence against you. The law-enforcement authorities cannot fine you if refuse to hand over to them an incriminating document or other evidence.

c. Burden of proof

The law-enforcement authorities must clarify both incriminating and exculpatory circumstances to the same level of detail. The public prosecutor must prove your guilt before the court. You are not required to prove your innocence. However, this does not prevent you from exercising your right to present facts and produce evidence to defend yourself.

vi. Are there any special safeguards for children?

If you have committed an offence that has the elements of a crime and you are a child under the age of 15, you are not criminally liable for the offence, and measures aimed at your rehabilitation may only be imposed in civil proceedings by a specialised juvenile court. In such proceedings you must have a lawyer paid by the State unless, for special reasons, the State decides that you or your family should contribute to the lawyer’s fees.

As a rule, the Act on Juvenile Justice will apply as a special law (lex specialis) if you have committed a crime as a young offender (aged 15 to 18). When investigating and hearing offences that you have committed, the law-enforcement authorities must take into account your age, health, and mental and moral maturity, so as to compromise your future development as little as possible. The law protects your personal data and your privacy, the public is excluded from the court hearing if you do not wish the public to be present, and the judgment is published without indicating your name and other information leading to your identification (e.g. address of residence). You have the right to a defence counsel starting from the first act taken against you in the criminal proceedings (i.e. as early as the examination stage). Your natural guardian (typically your parents) or legal guardian, the competent child social- and legal-protection authority, and the Probation and Mediation Service are informed without delay of the start of criminal prosecution against you, of your detention, arrest or remand in custody. The law-enforcement authorities cooperate with the child social- and legal-protection authority, the Probation and Mediation Service, and associations and institutions engaged in child protection.

vii. Are there any specific safeguards for vulnerable suspects?

If the court – and the public prosecutor in the preparatory process – considers it necessary (in particular, because it has doubts about your ability to defend yourself properly owing to your current physical or mental condition), it will assign you a defence counsel from the start of the criminal prosecution.

If you are deaf or blind and deaf, the manner of communication is governed by Act No 155/1998
on communication systems for deaf and blind and persons. In criminal proceedings, you have the right to services providing interpreting in the communication system of your choice.

If your legal capacity has been restricted, you are represented in the criminal proceedings by a guardian, typically a family member, provided that his or her interests are not in conflict with your interests.

D. What are the legal deadlines during the investigation?

Criminal matters must be heard by the law-enforcement authorities speedily without any unnecessary delays; matters of remand and matters where property has been seized will be heard with the greatest urgency if this is required in view of the value and nature of the property seized.

As regards the examination stage (before criminal prosecution), the police authority must end the stage

• within two months, for matters in the jurisdiction of a sole judge without the abbreviated preparatory process;
• within three months, for other matters in the jurisdiction of a district court;
• within six months, for matters in the jurisdiction of a regional court acting in the first instance.

The public prosecutor may also extend the deadline repeatedly upon a justified request.

The abbreviated preparatory process must be concluded within two weeks of the date on which the police authority informed you of the act that you are suspected of having committed and what specific crime the act is deemed to be. If the abbreviated preparatory process is not concluded within the set deadline, the public prosecutor may extend the deadline by no more than ten days or by no more than thirty days if an agreement on guilt and punishment is being negotiated.

The police authority must conclude standard investigation within

• two months of the start of criminal prosecution if the matter is in the competence of a sole judge;
• three months of the start of criminal prosecution if this is another matter, in the competence of a district court.

The public prosecutor may also extend the deadline repeatedly upon a justified request. The public prosecutor then must carry out a review of the case as part of supervision at least once a month.

Extended investigation must be concluded within six months of the start of criminal prosecution. The public prosecutor may also extend the deadline repeatedly upon a justified request. The public prosecutor then must carry out a review of the case as part of supervision at least once a month.

In relation to certain acts, the Criminal Procedure Code lays down further specific legal deadlines (the court must decide on remand in custody pending trial within 48 hours of your detention or 24 hours of your arrest, the maximum duration of remand in custody, the time limit for compulsory review of the justification for remand in custody, etc.).

E. What is the preparatory process (including an alternative to custody and possible transfer to the home country - the European Supervision Order)?

The preparatory process is the first stage of the criminal process. The purpose of this stage is to establish whether the suspicion that you might have committed a crime is justified to a degree that makes it possible to file a charge with the court. At this stage, incriminating evidence must be found and obtained, as must other evidence refuting your guilt.

The objective of the preparatory process is especially to:

• provide the basis for a decision as to whether a charge should be filed and the case should be heard by a court, or whether further criminal prosecution should be waived;
• identify all the circumstances relevant to the decision on the crime, its perpetrator, punishment or preventive measure, as well as to decide on the victim’s entitlement to damages and secure the necessary evidence;
• identify the causes of criminal activity and the enabling or facilitating circumstances.

If one of the grounds for remand in custody is present, the judge deciding on the custody may refrain from taking you into custody or may release you if he or she adopts one of the following substitute measures:

• where a special-interest civic association or a credible person offers a guarantee regarding your future conduct and regarding the fact that you appear in court, before the public prosecutor or at the police authority if so requested, and that you always report, in advance, your departure from the place of stay, and the authority deciding on the remand considers the guarantee sufficient in view of the defendant’s personal status and the nature of the case at hand and accepts it;
• you promise in writing to lead an orderly life, especially to refrain from criminal activity, appear in court, before the public prosecutor or at the police authority if so requested, to always report, in advance, your departure from the place of stay and to comply with the duties and restrictions imposed on you, and the authority deciding on the remand considers the promise sufficient and accepts it;
• if you are supervised by a probation officer;
• if any of the provisional measures is imposed on you;
• if the judge accepts bail (a specified amount of money); however, bail cannot be accepted if you have been accused of certain serious crimes.

In relation to replacing remand in custody by one of such measures, the authority deciding about the remand may decide to perform an electronic check on the fulfilment of the duties imposed in relation to this measure using an electronic ankle monitor if you promise to provide the necessary assistance. The authority deciding on remand in custody may also impose restrictions prohibiting you from travelling abroad.

If you are a citizen of or have some other relationship to one of the EU Member States, you have the right (in accordance with Council Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA of 23 October 2009 on the application, between Member States of the European Union, of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions on supervision measures as an alternative to provisional detention, which has been transposed by Act
No 104/2013 on international judicial cooperation in criminal matters) to ask to be allowed to comply with the measure replacing remand in custody in your country of habitual residence or in some other Member State specified by you (subject to the latter's agreement). It must be possible to supervise compliance with such substitute measures or ensure supervision in some other way in the Member State concerned. If you fail to comply with the substitute measure imposed, you will be transferred back to the Czech Republic.