Amendment to criminal law as of 1 January 2026: what has changed and why it matters for everyday practice

18. 02. 2026

As of 1 January 2026, an extensive amendment to criminal legislation entered into force, enacted by Act No. 270/2025 Coll. This change affects not only the Criminal Code, but also the Code of Criminal Procedure and other related laws; at the same time, the amendment has staggered effectiveness, meaning that certain parts take effect later.

This amendment does not merely represent a “softening” or, conversely, a “tightening” of criminal policy. Its significance lies rather in a reconfiguration of the state’s approach to punishment: on the one hand, it strengthens alternative sanctions and responds to minor or less harmful criminality; on the other hand, it introduces new offences and, in certain areas, expands or refines criminal liability.

Strengthening of alternative sanctions and changes in sentencing

One of the main directions of the amendment is a greater emphasis on alternative sanctions and a restorative approach. From a practical perspective, the most important change is the strengthened role of monetary penalties, which may now be imposed for any criminal offence (although not always as a standalone sanction), as well as the modification of the rules for determining the maximum number of daily rates, allowing for a more nuanced differentiation of the impact of monetary penalties depending on the seriousness of the case.

The amendment also expands the possibility of imposing certain prohibitory sanctions on natural persons, particularly in the area of public procurement and the receipt of subsidies. In practice, this may be especially relevant in cases of economic and subsidy-related crime, where the link between the nature of the conduct and the type of sanction imposed is now strengthened.

Addressing the issue of accumulation of alternative sanctions

Another significant practical change addresses the long-criticized problem of the accumulation of alternative sanctions. The amendment aims to enable a more rapid response to repeated criminal conduct following a prior conviction to an alternative sanction, and it also allows for the imposition of short-term unconditional imprisonment in a criminal order; in certain situations, it even permits the imposition of imprisonment below the statutory minimum. The purpose is to reduce situations in which repeatedly imposed alternative sanctions are later converted into disproportionately long terms of imprisonment.

Reduction of repression for selected offences

At the same time, the amendment reduces criminal repression in certain areas. A highly discussed change concerns the offence of neglect of maintenance obligations, which is now focused on cases where non-payment exposes the dependent person to a risk of destitution. This shifts the emphasis from formal non-compliance to the actual endangerment of the protected interest.

Prior to the amendment taking effect, the Ministry of Justice expressly pointed out that the change would also have immediate implications for ongoing or already enforced criminal cases and prepared for an increased number of follow-up judicial decisions. This clearly demonstrates that the amendment is not merely an “academic” change to statutory wording, but one with immediate procedural and enforcement consequences.

Further changes aimed at reducing repression include adjustments concerning recidivist theft and certain forms of online promotion of terrorism. The amendment also significantly affects the area of drug-related crime, including changes concerning cannabis, the boundary between criminal offences and administrative offences, and greater scope for differentiated treatment of less serious cases.

New offences and new forms of liability

Alongside the reduction of repression in certain areas, the amendment introduces new offences and responds to contemporary technological developments. Notably, it introduces criminal liability for non-consensual pornography and the misuse of identity for the production and distribution of pornography (including typical “deepfake” forms), which has been expressly incorporated into the Criminal Code as Section 191a.

The amendment also expands and refines the treatment of bias-motivated (hate) crime and addresses the issue of circumventing international sanctions, now allowing for the confiscation or sanctioning of the object of an international sanction itself, even where it would not previously have qualified as an instrument or proceeds of crime.

Changes in criminal procedure: emphasis on efficiency and electronic data

The changes do not concern only substantive law but also significantly affect criminal procedure. The aim is to accelerate and streamline proceedings, including the introduction of a new ground for terminating criminal proceedings where it is evident that the decisive facts regarding guilt cannot be proven and the proceedings would effectively lead to an acquittal due to lack of evidence.

A highly practical change is also the new regulation of the examination of secured electronic data in mobile phones and other communication devices, including data accessible from cloud storage. The amendment generally requires prior judicial authorization (subject to statutory exceptions), which is important both for law enforcement authorities and for the defence when assessing the legality of evidence.

Further changes extending beyond “classical” criminal law

The amendment also extends into other areas. Of particular importance is the new regulation of special extracts or records from the criminal register for work involving children, which are to include extended information even after expungement of convictions for certain offences relevant to child protection. However, this part of the amendment does not take effect on 1 January 2026, but later.

Similarly, the law includes other partial but practically significant changes (for example, in the area of conditional release, criteria for classification into types of prisons, or certain procedural institutes). In the area of conditional release, it is apparent that the amendment modifies the statutory text in considerable detail and affects both the conditions and the structure of judicial decision-making.

Transitional provisions: why “old” cases will also matter

From a practical perspective, it is essential not to underestimate the transitional provisions. The Ministry of Justice has expressly stated that if, prior to the amendment taking effect, a sentence was imposed for conduct that is no longer a criminal offence as of 1 January 2026, the sentence (or its unserved remainder) shall not be executed; in the case of aggregate or summary sentences, the court must proportionally reduce the sentence with regard to the relative seriousness of the individual offences. This change has a direct impact on the execution of sentences and subsequent judicial practice.

At the same time, it should be noted that this is not an amendment with a single effective date: part of the regulation (e.g., a new diversion for legal entities) takes effect only from 1 July 2026, and the regulation concerning extended criminal register extracts for work with children only from 1 January 2027. For proper legal assessment, it will therefore not be sufficient to know that “the amendment is in force,” but it will be necessary to determine precisely which part applies and from when.

Conclusion

The amendment to criminal law effective as of 1 January 2026 represents one of the most significant changes in recent years. It does not merely introduce isolated adjustments but systematically reshapes the logic of punishment in several areas: it strengthens alternative sanctions, re-evaluates the treatment of certain less serious offences, at the same time responds to new forms of criminality, and adjusts procedural rules to make criminal proceedings more efficient.

For practice, the conclusion is clear: in both new and ongoing cases, it will be even more important to carefully assess the temporal applicability of the law, the transitional provisions, and the specific impact of the amendment on legal classification, the type of sanction, and procedural strategy. In many cases, a properly chosen approach may significantly influence the outcome.

All articles