Phases of Proceedings

Pre-trial proceedings

After a criminal offence is reported or a criminal complaint is filed, the police examine the actual circumstances of the offence. Together with the evidence, the criminal complaint is then submitted to the state prosecutor who may dismiss the complaint, request an investigation before the court or file a direct indictment.

Investigation

Criminal proceedings commence by means of the investigation conducted by the investigating judge. Based on the police material and request of the state prosecution service, the court additionally investigates the circumstances of the criminal offence and collects evidence to be used in the next phases of criminal proceedings.

Proceedings before local or district courts

Whether the next phase will take place at the local or district court depends on the extent of the prescribed sanction for a certain criminal offence.

	Local court	District court
Length of prescribed prison sentence	Up to 3 years of imprisonment, fine	More than 3 years of imprisonment, criminal offences against honour and reputation committed by means of the media, all proceedings against juvenile criminal offenders
Investigation	No investigation (only individual investigative acts)	Investigation
Prosecution commences based on	Bill of indictment	Indictment
As a rule, the case will be decided on by	Single judge	Panel composed of: Judge (president of the panel) and two lay judges Two judges and three lay judges (when an imprisonment of 15 years or more is prescribed)

Appeals procedure

Clients may appeal against the judgment issued at first instance (judgment of a local or district court) within 30 days of the receipt of the written judgment. A higher court renders a decision on such an appeal.

For the Customers