The criminal complaint is the most searched-for criminal law term in the Czech Republic. People want to file one against a neighbour, an ex-partner, a supplier, an official. And just as often they fear that someone has filed one against them. Both have rules worth knowing before anything is sent.
You want to file one
- There is no set form. In writing, orally into a record, at a police station or at the public prosecutor's office. No prescribed form exists.
- Describe what happened, when, where and who. You do not have to classify it legally; that is the job of the law enforcement authorities, not yours.
- Ask to be notified. If you request it, they must tell you within one month what they have done with the complaint.
- Stick to the truth. Knowingly and falsely reporting that someone has committed a crime is the offence of false accusation. Emotions are not a defence.
One has been filed against you
First, calm: the complaint itself means nothing. The police will look into it and either shelve it or begin the steps of criminal proceedings. Usually you find out when a summons to give an explanation arrives. At that point everything on the page about the summons applies: you can come with a lawyer, you can refuse to give an explanation, sign nothing without reading it. And if the complaint was plainly made up, you can also defend yourself actively.
What this rests on
No advice on this page is an opinion. Each one has a section of the law and a court decision behind it. Click through, the full text is on Europaius.
Statute
- § 158 tr. řádureceiving complaints, instructing the complainant, notification within one month on request
- § 159a tr. řádushelving the matter where there is no suspicion of a criminal offence
- § 345 tr. zákoníkufalse accusation: falsely accusing another of a criminal offence is itself a criminal offence
Case law
- 21 Cdo 3346/2017 (Nejvyšší soud, 15. 12. 2017)the public prosecutor and the police are obliged to accept a complaint, instruct the complainant and, on request, notify them within a month
- III. ÚS 1017/15 (Ústavní soud, 5. 9. 2017)anyone has the right to file a criminal complaint and no regulation prescribes its contents; its merit is assessed by the law enforcement authorities
- 7 Tdo 926/2010 (Nejvyšší soud, 15. 9. 2010)to accuse falsely means to knowingly give untrue information about when, where and how a criminal offence was supposedly committed
Related cases
- Podávala trestní oznámení znovu a znovu. Nakonec soudili ji. 2021 (in Czech)
Related articles
A different situation?
- You or someone close to you has been detained
- Pre-trial detention is looming, or someone is already in it
- A police summons has arrived
- You have been charged with a criminal offence
- A penal order has arrived
- Alcohol or drugs behind the wheel, driving ban
- Plea agreement, conditional discontinuation
- House search
- You have become the victim of a crime
- European arrest warrant, extradition abroad
- Charged with embezzlement
- Disorderly conduct: a brawl, a pub, the street
- Dangerous threats and stalking
- You drove while banned from driving
- Charged with bodily harm
- Damage to property
- Violation of the inviolability of the home
- Defamation
- Conditional release from prison
- Negligent homicide: a fatal accident
- Credit fraud and subsidy fraud