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Czechoslovakia Criminal Procedure Code
The 1961 Criminal Procedure Code states that a person will
not be prosecuted for acts not established as crimes in law and
will not be considered guilty until tried by competent authority.
An accused may select his or her own attorney and, if in
detention, may consult privately with counsel. During trial
defendants may not be prohibited from making statements on all
charges and on evidence brought against them; they may describe
circumstances, exhibit evidence, and make motions in their
defense. The code provides that the accused be informed of his
rights at appropriate times during preliminary investigations,
detention, and trial. Trials are conducted in the language of the
defendant and in a manner suited to the person's educational
background or ability to understand court proceedings. Only
evidence submitted during the trial can be considered in
determining the verdict and sentence.
Police are restricted by the provisions of the Criminal
Procedure Code, but violations occur. In cases of search and
seizure, for example, a warrant is required before police may
enter a home. The only exceptions are emergency situations when
an official cannot be found and when evidence may be lost or
destroyed. Despite the provision, house searches have been
conducted without warrants, and even though the practice declined
during the 1970s and 1980s, people continued to complain that
they did not feel secure in their own homes. Pretrial detention
is another area where the code has been violated. Two months is
the legal limit, but some cases have extended for six months and
longer despite the law. For the protection of arrested persons,
the code provides that they may be held for no longer than
forty-eight hours, at which time a government prosecutor must
make a decision concerning release or holding for investigation.
However, according to reports from many who had been arrested on
political charges, the forty-eight-hour limitation was frequently
circumvented.
Another article of the Criminal Procedure Code that was
violated with seeming impunity dealt with the conduct of trials.
Although the code states that trials must be open, in many cases
involving political charges courtrooms have been packed with
spectators selected by the authorities, and in most cases foreign
correspondents have been barred. Amnesty International reported
that in 1976 a courtroom in which four young musicians were tried
was literally filled with people invited by officials, leaving
only ten spaces for the families, friends, and supporters of the
defendants. In that case, the prosecutor also made changes in the
case file without notifying defense lawyers, and the judge
refused the defense lawyers' request for a postponement that
would enable them to study the changes. The defense was also
refused permission to call witnesses who had given testimony in
the pretrial investigation. In a similar fashion, during the socalled Jazz Section trial in early 1987, the court did not allow
the section's long-time counsel to participate or even to attend
the trial.
Data as of August 1987
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