This thesis discusses the alternatives to unsuspected sentence of imprisonment, as only they can in the long run solve an acute and currently very topical problem of the prison overcrowding. The aim of this thesis was firstly the theoretical definition of alternatives to unsuspected sentence of imprisonment with regard to the Czech legislation and, secondly, an analysis of alternatives that Czech law provides. The introductory part focuses on the importance of alternative punishments in the system of sanctioning institutions. The thesis is divided into two main chapters with regard to the two objectives it focuses on. The first chapter, dealing with the definition of "alternatives to unconditional sentence of imprisonment", is divided into four subchapters. The first subchapter, on the background of the current concept of alternatives available in the Czech doctrinal environment, seeks a theoretical definition through the criteria on the basis of which it is possible to consider a specific institute as such an alternative. The second subchapter explains the preference for alternatives to unsuspended sentence of imprisonment. The third subchapter is devoted to the development of Czech criminal policy towards alternative punishments. Subsequently, in the fourth subchapter, the author explains contemporary...

Globally, the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries has been a period of major reforms in criminal law which are connected with the effort to find new methods to deal with crime and to replace or at least complement some inflexible procedures in administration of criminal cases. More and more attention is being paid to alternative proceedings before the court and alternative punishments in criminal cases. The Czech Republic has not fallen behind in the developments. My work seeks to map the options of alternative punishments, with a focus on community service. My work also deals with the legal framework for punishments in form of community service in selected countries. I will also mention the institute of Probation and Mediation Service. The work also points to the prepared amendment to the Criminal Code in connection with community service punishments. The research in my work is divided into two parts. The first part is a quantitative survey of opinions of the general public and the other part is a qualitative survey of opinions of professionals, such as judges, policemen and officers of the Probation and Mediation Service. The main objective of the work is to learn about the general public attitudes to and awareness of application and implementation of alternative punishments. I tried to find out which punishments would be preferred by the general public. Another objective of this work has been to survey opinions of professionals in respect to application and implementation of alternative punishments. In the first survey three of my hypotheses have been confirmed and two have been disconfirmed. Based on results of the secod part of the survey I have devised three hypotheses. The results of my work have shown that although the general public has a certain level of awareness of the issue, the knowledge is very superficial. The general public has demonstrated a significant degree of tolerance and benevolence to persons with alternative punishments. Professionals mostly approve the existing legal framework for the alternative punishments. They find the definition of these punishments in the Criminal Code adequate and they believe that alternative punishments have been used sufficiently. The work will serve as a general overview of the issue.

1 Abstract Thesis deals with the implementation of elements of restorative justice in the Czech criminal law, especially in the prison system. The work identifies and analyzes the basic problems of the Czech prison system and their impacts on public policies in the Czech Republic, especially overcrowding of jails, and the way, how the state, and especially through the Probation and Mediation Service, solves this problem. This work analyzes, how successful is the implementation of alternative punishments, what tools the state has to reducing the number of people in prisons and how to reduce overcrowding in jails. In the work I also identify the role of the Probation and Mediation Service in the issue of alternative sanctions. In the work I also suggest, how to solve these problems.

Les travaux communautaires sont de manière générale un travail exécuté sans rémunération par un contrevenant pour le compte de la société. Dans ce mémoire, nous cherchons d’une part à appréhender la perception qu’ont les acteurs de la réalisation des travaux communautaires au Québec et d’autre part à savoir si les acteurs judiciaires (avocats, procureurs et juges) et non judiciaires (intervenants des organismes de justice alternative, délégués à la jeunesse et organismes d’accueil) ainsi que les jeunes contrevenants donnent un sens réparateur aux travaux communautaires. Nous abordons ces questions à partir de deux schèmes : le schème fonctionnel pour comprendre la/les fonction(s) des travaux communautaires et le schème herméneutique afin de saisir la valeur symbolique, le sens qui est donné aux travaux communautaires. Les résultats de cette étude montrent des variations entre les points de vue en fonction des différents groupes et cela autour des trois grands thèmes principaux : la nature des travaux, les objectifs des travaux et les effets de ces derniers. Malgré certaines divergences de points de vue et quelques difficultés dans l’application des travaux, les acteurs sont pour la plupart satisfait de cette mesure. / Community work services are usually unpaid work performed by an offender in the interest of the society. In this paper, we seek both to understand the perceptions of actors carrying out the community work services in Quebec and secondly whether legal actors (lawyers, prosecutors and judges) and non-judicial (alternative justice agencies, youth workers and host organizations) and young offenders do give a restorative aspect to community work services. We address these questions using two schemes: the functional scheme to understand the function(s) of community work services and the hermeneutic scheme to capture the symbolic value, the meaning that is given to community work. The results of this study show variations between the points of view of the different groups and that, around three main themes: the nature of community work, community work objectives and effects of the latter. Despite some differences of views and some difficulties in the implementation of the community work services, the actors are mostly satisfied with this measure.

Les travaux communautaires sont de manière générale un travail exécuté sans rémunération par un contrevenant pour le compte de la société. Dans ce mémoire, nous cherchons d’une part à appréhender la perception qu’ont les acteurs de la réalisation des travaux communautaires au Québec et d’autre part à savoir si les acteurs judiciaires (avocats, procureurs et juges) et non judiciaires (intervenants des organismes de justice alternative, délégués à la jeunesse et organismes d’accueil) ainsi que les jeunes contrevenants donnent un sens réparateur aux travaux communautaires. Nous abordons ces questions à partir de deux schèmes : le schème fonctionnel pour comprendre la/les fonction(s) des travaux communautaires et le schème herméneutique afin de saisir la valeur symbolique, le sens qui est donné aux travaux communautaires. Les résultats de cette étude montrent des variations entre les points de vue en fonction des différents groupes et cela autour des trois grands thèmes principaux : la nature des travaux, les objectifs des travaux et les effets de ces derniers. Malgré certaines divergences de points de vue et quelques difficultés dans l’application des travaux, les acteurs sont pour la plupart satisfait de cette mesure. / Community work services are usually unpaid work performed by an offender in the interest of the society. In this paper, we seek both to understand the perceptions of actors carrying out the community work services in Quebec and secondly whether legal actors (lawyers, prosecutors and judges) and non-judicial (alternative justice agencies, youth workers and host organizations) and young offenders do give a restorative aspect to community work services. We address these questions using two schemes: the functional scheme to understand the function(s) of community work services and the hermeneutic scheme to capture the symbolic value, the meaning that is given to community work. The results of this study show variations between the points of view of the different groups and that, around three main themes: the nature of community work, community work objectives and effects of the latter. Despite some differences of views and some difficulties in the implementation of the community work services, the actors are mostly satisfied with this measure.