Vox populi

Czech Department of Justice under the guidance of young minister Jiri Pospisil did something really unexpected. A draft of a new Penal Code was made available for download on the ministry's website and citizens of the Czech republice were asked to comment on it, in whatever way they saw fit. More than 350 remarks were made, and many of them allegedly made it to the final text, although as of this moment it is still unavailable. One of the things people wanted most is altering the sentencing guides in some cases, such as murder in the first degree. At the moment, a murderer can spent at most 25 years in prison (or, in some cases, lifetime, but that is deserved for the worst of the worst), the new maximum should be 30 years. Second frequent request regarded sentencing guides as well, demanding adding up sentences as it is done in the US. In Czech penal law de lege lata the harshest sentence sort of consumes the others. If one steals something, for example, and then breaks someone's leg while running from the police, he or she basically gets sentenced only for the battery and not for the theft (there are some modifications but they are quite irrelevant here). While the first request will almost certainly be implemented in the new Code, the second is quite controversial and in my view it should discarded. In general, however, this step deserves nothing but praise, and praise I do, especially Mr Pospisil whose work can be clearly seen behind this.