page_title: Remand (detention)
section_title: Czech Republic
hierarchical_section_title: Remand (detention) / Detention during trial / Czech Republic
caption_attribution_description: English: The Czech Prison Service seal Čeština: Znak Vězeňské služby České republiky
context_page_description: Remand is the process of detaining a person who has been arrested and charged with an offence until their trial. A person who is on remand is held in a prison or detention centre, or held under house arrest. Varying terminology is used, but "remand" is generally used in common law jurisdictions and in Europe "preventive detention". Detention before charge is referred to as custody and continued detention after conviction is referred to as imprisonment.
  Because imprisonment without trial is contrary to the presumption of innocence, in liberal democracies pre-trial detention is usually subject to safeguards and restrictions. Typically, a suspect will be remanded only if it is likely that he or she could commit a serious crime, interfere with the investigation, or fail to turn up in court. In the majority of court cases, the suspect will be outside custody while awaiting trial, often with restrictions such as bail.
  Research on pre-trial detention in the United States has found that pre-trial detention increases the likelihood of convictions, primarily because individuals who would otherwise be acquitted or have their charges dropped enter guilty pleas.
context_section_description: Under Article 8 (5) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms, which has the same legal standing as the Constitution, nobody shall be taken into custody except on the basis of a court decision, and for reasons and a detention period stipulated by the law.
  Detailed rules of remand custody are contained in the Criminal Procedural Code. A person may be remanded in custody by the decision of a court only when a number of preconditions is met cumulatively:
  he or she has been charged with committing a crime which is punishable by 
  more than two years of imprisonment in case of intentionally committed crime, or
  more than three years of imprisonment in case of negligently committed crime,
  (the 2/3 years rule is subject to certain defined statutory exceptions, e.g. where a suspect has already been evading the proceedings) and
  there are reasonable grounds indicating that the alleged act was committed and it has all features of the given crime, and
  there are apparent reasons for suspicion, that the act was committed by the charged person, and
  because of the personality of the charged person, the nature of the crime and its gravity, the objective of the custody may not be reached by a different measure.
  At the same time, there must be reasonable concern, that the charged person may either
  (a) escape or evade the criminal proceedings, or
  (b) influence witnesses or otherwise similarly frustrate the proceedings, or
  (c) continue criminal activity with which he or she was charged, or finish a criminal act he or she had attempted, or commit a criminal act he or she was preparing or threatening to commit.
  The charged person may be remanded in custody subject to maximum terms as follows: 
  one year in cases of crimes which are dealt with by a single judge,
  two years in cases of crimes which are dealt with by a panel of three judges,
  three years in cases of felony crimes (i.e. intentional crimes punishable by a sentence with an upper jail term of at least 10 years)
  four years in cases punishable by an exceptional penalty (i.e. 20 – 30 years or life imprisonment)
  one third of the maximum detention periods time may be exhausted in pre-trial proceedings and two thirds may be exhausted during the trial. Reaching the maximum time is always reason for immediate release.
  An exception to the time limits above arises in cases of remand due to concern of (b) interfering with witnesses or similar frustration of proceedings, in which case the maximum pre-trial detention period may be only three months, except where the charged person has already been influencing witnesses or otherwise frustrating the proceedings.
  The court must review the reasons for the pre-trial custody every three months and decide either to continue it, or to release the charged person. Both the prosecutor and the person in custody may file a complaint against any decision on custody, which leads to review by an appellate court.
  Special rules of remand pertain to persons who are processed for extradition, e.g. illegal foreigners, those detained due to international (foreign) warrant or the European Arrest Warrant.
caption: Seal of the Czech prison service
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