Prague, April 20 (CTK) – The Czech Senate approved an amendment to the Penal Code, which introduces the electronic monitoring of suspects who would have otherwise been taken into custody, at its session on Wednesday.
But the electronic monitoring cannot be applied in the country so far because several tenders for a supplier of electronic bracelets have failed.
Justice Minister Robert Pelikan told the senators on Wednesday that the ministry is negotiating with six firms about the production of the bracelets.
The new amendment still needs to be signed by the president into law.
The current legislation enables to use electronic tags only in the case of house arrest and for the prisoners released on parole who are ordered to stay at home.
Newly, this form of monitoring would also apply to people remanded in custody. The advantage is that the accused will not interrupt their social bonds and they can be in touch with their families and go to work, Pelikan said previously.
If the electronic tag sends a signal that the monitored person violated the duty to stay in a certain place at a certain time, the respective state attorney, judge and police will be informed about it immediately. The police will detain the person then.
The new amendment also introduces changes related to community work and outpatient protective treatment.
People sentenced to community work would have to execute the punishment within one year, instead of the current two years. Regular court revisions of the reasons for continuing the outpatient protective treatment will be abolished because it turned out that they are only formal.
