Bodily harm is a crime of a single second. An argument, a shove, a fist. The court then spends months dissecting whether it was intentional, whether the injury crossed the line of "bodily harm" and whether you were not, by any chance, the one defending yourself. The answers to these three questions decide between a suspended sentence, prison and acquittal.
Three questions
- Intent. Bodily harm under § 146 is an intentional offence. You do not have to have wanted a specific injury; it is enough that you wanted to strike and were reconciled with the possibility that it might end in injury. If the result is more serious than you intended (serious bodily harm), the more serious result is assessed as negligence, but still within § 146.
- The injury. Bodily harm is an impairment of health that noticeably restricts the usual way of life, as a rule for at least seven days. A bruise is a misdemeanour; a fracture is a crime.
- Self-defence. Someone who repels an imminent or ongoing attack is not criminally liable, provided the defence is not quite obviously disproportionate. This is the most common and most effective defence, but it has to be proved.
What you are facing
Six months to three years; for serious bodily harm, two to eight years. Plus compensation: treatment, lost earnings, pain and suffering. An apology and compensation before the main trial open the way to settlement or conditional discontinuation, and the courts are glad to use it for people with no record.
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
- § 146 tr. zákoníkubodily harm: intentional, six months to three years; for serious bodily harm, two to eight years
- § 122 tr. zákoníkuwhat bodily harm and serious bodily harm are
- § 29 tr. zákoníkuself-defence
- § 309 tr. řádusettlement with the victim
Case law
- 11 Tdo 1115/2023 (Nejvyšší soud, 17. 1. 2024)bodily harm under § 146(1) is an intentional offence; the objection that intent was missing failed
- 6 Tdo 407/2024 (Nejvyšší soud, 23. 5. 2024)intent relates to the basic offence, negligence to the aggravated form (the more serious result); intent as to a specific injury is not required
- I. ÚS 2636/24 (Ústavní soud, 15. 1. 2025)intentional active conduct, serious harm through negligence: the court changed the classification in the accused's favour from § 145 to § 146(1), (3)
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
- Criminal complaint: you want to file one, or one has been filed against you
- 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
- 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