Amendment to the Minor Offences Act as of 15 July 2026: Higher Fines, Community Service and New Municipal Powers

On 15 July 2026, a comprehensive amendment to Act No. 372/1990 Coll. on Minor Offences (the “Minor Offences Act”) entered into force. The amendment introduces changes not only to the levels of fines, but also to the general part of the Act, the system of sanctions, the rules applicable to juveniles, the limitation of liability for minor offences, selected categories of minor offences, and several procedural provisions governing minor offence proceedings. It also amends the Criminal Code and the Municipal Establishment Act.

The most significant change is the introduction of community service as a separate type of sanction. The amendment also increases both the general and offence-specific maximum fines and grants municipalities new powers to address neglected land and the pollution of public spaces.

According to the explanatory memorandum, the previous legislation lacked regulation of certain legal instruments and several existing provisions required clarification. The amendment also reflects practical experience gained by the authorities responsible for investigating and adjudicating minor offences.

One of the main reasons for increasing the fines was that the statutory maximum amounts for most minor offences had remained largely unchanged since the Act was adopted in 1990, apart from adjustments related to the introduction of a new currency. According to the legislator, many of these sanctions no longer reflected current economic conditions and were no longer sufficiently effective in fulfilling their preventive and punitive functions.

However, the amendment is not limited to increasing monetary penalties. It introduces a new type of sanction, clarifies a number of provisions of the Minor Offences Act in light of practical experience, and includes several legislative and technical amendments.