In the Czech Republic, a high percentage of individuals convicted of rape receive conditional sentences. From 2016 to 2022, 643 people were convicted of this crime, with 57% receiving conditional prison or supervision sentences. The justice system imposed unconditional imprisonment sentences on 40% of the convicted individuals, according to data from the jaktrestame—cz application, which is based on data from the Ministry of Justice.
The law distinguishes between different types of rape. For convictions based on the first degree of the law, which addresses forced sexual intercourse or exploitation of helplessness, 25% of convicted individuals received unconditional imprisonment sentences. This information is according to data from the jaktrestame.cz application.
Second-degree offenses, which pertain to intercourse or the act committed on a child or with a weapon, received unconditional imprisonment sentences in 31% of cases.
In the case of convictions based on the third paragraph, which pertains to the rape of a child under 15 years old, or if the act causes serious harm to health, unconditional sentences were imposed in 74% of cases.
The public debate on this issue has been stirred in recent days by the case of a girl whose stepfather raped her for three years, and the court punished him with a conditional sentence. The redefinition of the crime of rape from forced to non-consensual intercourse is currently being prepared.