Trestní příkaz

Under Czech law

A trestní příkaz (penal order) is regulated by § 314e–§ 314g of the Criminal Procedure Code (trestní řád, Act No. 141/1961 Sb.). A single judge may issue it without a hearing when the facts appear reliably established, typically for offences punishable by up to five years. It can impose, among other things, a suspended prison sentence of up to one year, a fine, community service, or a driving ban — never an unconditional prison term above the statutory limit for this procedure.

The defining feature is the remedy: either party may file an objection (odpor) within eight days of delivery. A timely objection wipes the penal order out completely and the case goes to an ordinary trial before the same court. Miss the deadline and the order has the force of a final judgment, including an entry in the criminal record.

A practical example

A driver is caught with a small amount of alcohol and charged with endangerment under the influence. Three weeks later a penal order arrives by post: a suspended sentence and an eighteen-month driving ban. The driver needs the licence for work. Filing an odpor within eight days reopens the case; at trial, the defence negotiates the ban down and argues for a fine instead.

When you need a lawyer

Immediately after the order is delivered — the eight-day window is unforgiving, and objecting is not automatically the right move. A trial can end worse than the penal order (the court is not bound by the original sentence). A criminal defence lawyer will weigh the file against the realistic trial outcome before the deadline runs.