Details
Legal instruments & key provisions
| Legal instrument | Key provision |
|---|---|
| Rules of Procedure of the Exercise of Detention (vyhláška, kterou se vydává řád výkonu trestu odnětí svobody) | Special rules apply to pregnant women and to mothers of young children (for example, some disciplinary punishments are forbidden in their case. Different hygienic standards apply to women. The internal rules and the offer of preventive educational, hobby, and sports programmes take into account the special needs of pregnant women, women in the period of six weeks after childbirth, and breastfeeding mothers. |
| Criminal Procedure Code (trestní řád) | The court will postpone the start of a custodial sentence if a woman is pregnant or is the mother of a child under one year of age and has been convicted of a crime, except in the case of a particularly serious crime, for a period of one year after the child’s birth (there is no such rule regarding women in pre-trial detention). |
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS
| Year | Recommendation | Report |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | In the past, the Ombudsman has dealt with an individual case of a woman in detention who, well in advance (3 weeks), requested to be placed with her newborn child after giving birth, but was informed (by a social worker at the prison) that she could only apply after the birth. She was separated from her child for 3 days on the day of delivery. The correct procedure would have been for the mother-to-be to have applied well in advance for placement together with her child in a specialised ward at Světlá nad Sázavou Prison and then, after a reasonable period of time after the birth (after hospitalisation in a civilian medical facility was no longer necessary), she and her child would have been escorted to a prison with a specialised ward [...]. I find it totally unacceptable that (as in the present case) a child can be separated from their mother immediately after birth unless there is a really compelling reason to do so. The Prison Service has already issued a new internal regulation which reflects the above-mentioned misconduct and the situation should not arise in the future. Recommendation: Pay increased attention to the set-up and implementation of processes relating to pregnant female detainees and their ability to be with their child after delivery. | Report details |