Report on the Security Situation in the Czech Republic in 2000
(in comparison with 1999)

Contents  

1. Introduction

The Report on the Public Order and Internal Security Situation in the Czech Republic in 2000 (hereinafter ”the Report”) was drawn up within the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and was compiled from the documents of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, National Security Authority, Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, State Information System Office, Patent Office, and the Personal Data Protection Office.

In terms of internal security policy its principles are defined in the Security Strategy of the Czech Republic as approved by State Security Council’s No. 141 dated 19 December 2000. The Report aims to:

At the same time, the Report should be "live" material mainly for the needs to correct activities in the field of public order and internal security of all responsible ministries on the basis of a published set of information

The Report is divided into two parts. The first one contains the data on developments in individual types of criminal offences and security risks, offenders and crime victims (including sociological survey results aimed at security risks, citizen’s trust in security policy institutions, their feelings of being endangered, victimisation trends) as well as a part notifying the basic measures adopted or proposed or important aspects of co-operation respectively. It does not deal with a range of well functioning mechanisms. The first part also includes fire protection, the Integrated Rescue System and crisis management bearing in mind that all these areas form an integral part of public order protection and help to ensure the internal security of citizens. As some measures can be applied across the whole area of public order and internal security (in particular, the Act on the Police of the Czech Republic, the Draft Amendment to the Criminal Code, the Draft Amendment to the Act on the State Prosecutor’s Office, etc.) the Report also contains summary information on the Government’s policy relating to public order and internal security. The Conclusion of the first part lists the proposal of security policy priorities in terms of public order and internal security for the next period. The Annexes to the Report are tables, the text often refers to, information concerning the continuous research of victimisation and citizens’ feelings relating to their security "The Security Risks and Their Perception by the Czech Public" and "Brief Information on Internal Security Situation in Some Central and Eastern European Countries in 2000".

The second part deals in full detail with the public order situation and internal security in individual regions of the Czech Republic in 2000 1 (in comparison with 1999); it describes specific features of a region, its risk areas and risk factors.

The statistic data used (in both the first and the second parts) is based on the criminal statistics (unless a different source is indicated, e.g. the Ministry of Justice statistics). Crime records are based on the lists of crimes elaborated partially by criminal law aspects, and partially by criminological aspects. The crimes are recorded in the criminal statistics on the basis of notifications from citizens or facts ascertained by the Czech police indicating that a crime has been committed. The police statistics record cleared up cases where criminal law qualification has been ascertained and a suspect is detected 2 - in other words, in those cases where a charge has been lodged or would have been lodged if the person was not a juvenile. The amount of damage caused stated in police statistics is ascertained mainly from the aggrieved person by a relevant police body or an investigator, an authorised appraiser, a sworn expert, and an insurance company. When the investigation is commenced, the first ascertained damage is recorded. Provided the crime investigation has not been closed, the value of damage caused is included for information only.

On the other hand, court statistics do not deal with offences or offenders that were suspended under Sec.159 of the Code of Criminal Procedure prior to penal prosecution (e.g. because of the age of an offender, amnesty or insanity), discontinued under Sec.172 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (e.g. the crime has not been proven to be committed by the accused) or the prosecution was recessed. A convicted person is a person against whom a judgement which came into effect was delivered. Under this kind of statistics a prosecuted person is understood to be a person whose penal proceedings were brought to a close under Sec. 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the year monitored.

The criminal statistics are not directly comparable with those of the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the State Prosecutor’s Office and court statistics. This is caused by time differences. In some cases, there are differences of several years between the termination of the actual case in individual phases of prosecution. The police statistics record the cases at their very beginning, while the court statistics record them once they are closed.

Court statistics record numbers of prosecuted persons and defendants while police statistics also record crimes where the offender is unknown which allows a wider view of the criminality status especially when we take into account a traditionally low detection rate of crimes against property. To provide the most comprehensive picture of criminality police statistics also include cleared up crimes committed by children who have not yet reached the decisive age for the liability of crime.

Criminal statistics provide an official picture of crime in society. They only reproduce a certain part of the actual extent of crime and do not express so-called latent crime. The range of crimes, which are not recorded, depends on the kind of crime and can be changed in time under the influence of variable factors (e.g. citizens’ willingness to report crimes, police work intensity, insurance aspect, inspection, etc.). The police statistics do not cover and cannot cover the differences in efforts made, resources and time used for clearing up crimes. In assessing offenders’ crime we must take into account the fact that the data only refers to the proportion of crimes cleared up.

The results of police statistics indicate some security trends and they are the base basis for the formulation of security policy. They however cannot be overestimated since citizens’ attitudes are also essential for the formulation of a successful security policy and evaluation of how successful it is, therefore the Report also contains the results of sociological surveys. The priorities of European integration and international co-operation, the state’s economic interests, etc. should also be taken into consideration while drawing up the security policy. In preparing the Report’s recommendations and proposals arising from the discussions in the Defence and Security Committee of the Chamber of Deputies (e.g. the aforementioned sociological surveys, court statistics, crime development in neighbouring states and measures adopted in individual areas).

 


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