Statement on the Adoption of the Amendment to the Criminal Code
The legislative process of the amendment to the Criminal Code has been concluded with the President’s signature, introducing a number of positive changes. The Institute for Rational Addiction Policies was involved in the preparation of this amendment.
Brno, July 18, 2025 – The legislative process of the amendment to the Criminal Code has been concluded with the President’s signature, introducing a number of positive changes. The Institute for Rational Addiction Policies was involved in the preparation of this amendment.
The amendment to the Criminal Code and related laws significantly strengthens the protection of children and minors, notably through the introduction of the so-called "child certificate," which will prevent perpetrators of sexual violence from working with children. It also tightens penalties for violations of international sanctions, which is particularly important in the context of the ongoing criminal aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and explicitly prohibits the promotion of the most abhorrent ideologies of the 20th century, namely communism and Nazism.
The amendment also partially fulfils the government's commitment in its programme statement to regulate addictive substances according to their level of harm. A major development is the reduction in penalties for drug-related offences, which until now had been punished significantly more severely than crimes involving violence against children, including acts with a sexual motive. The Government’s Drug Policy Department played a key role in this achievement. Our think tank prepared a new section, § 283a, which recognises cannabis as the least socially harmful substance, therefore removing it from general drug-related crime and setting milder penalties for offenses related to the illegal handling of cannabis. We thank Vladimír Balaš, Member of Parliament, for presenting this.
The new regulation de jure and de facto fully legalises the cultivation of 3 cannabis plants, and the possession of 100 grams of processed cannabis in one's home and 25 grams outside the home. These activities will no longer constitute a criminal offence (the criminal offense threshold is now raised to 5 plants, 200 grams in the home and 50 grams outside), nor will they be treated as an administrative offense.
We would also like to express our gratitude to former Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek, who listened more to experts than to bureaucrats, for his support in securing these positive changes.
We view this amendment as the beginning of a journey towards the implementation of a rational drug policy and are preparing further proposals for expert discussion. One of these is the establishment of a strictly regulated cannabis market, which would protect children and minors in particular and help eliminate the illegal market associated with organised crime.
