Theft

Theft is taking movable property belonging to another from where it is kept, without the consent of its possessor, in order to obtain a benefit for oneself or another (TCK 141). If force or threat is used, the offence is robbery, not theft.

Penalty

• Basic form (TCK 141): 1–3 years’ imprisonment.
• Aggravated theft, first group (TCK 142/1): 3–7 years. Theft of property in public institutions, places of worship or allocated to public service; property on public transport or at stops; property prepared for disasters; and property left in the open by custom or by the nature of its use.
• Aggravated theft, second group (TCK 142/2): 5–10 years. The main forms are:
  • taking advantage of a person’s inability to protect their property or of their death,
  • snatching property carried in the hand or on the person, or using special skill (pickpocketing),
  • taking advantage of the disorder caused by a disaster or social unrest,
  • opening a lock with a counterfeit key or a tool, or preventing it from being locked,
  • using information systems,
  • taking measures to avoid recognition or assuming an official capacity,
  • in respect of cattle or small livestock,
  • in respect of property that is locked up or kept secured inside a building and its annexes.

If theft by snatching or special skill is committed against a person unable to defend themselves, the penalty is increased by up to one third.

Other forms

• At night (TCK 143): the penalty is increased by one half. Night is the period from one hour after sunset until one hour before sunrise (TCK 6/1-e).
• Theft of energy (TCK 142/3): 5–12 years in respect of liquid or gaseous energy and its installations.
• Entering a dwelling and damaging property: if the inviolability of a dwelling is breached or property is damaged in order to steal, no complaint is required for those offences (TCK 142/4).
• Theft between co-owners or to collect a debt (TCK 144): on complaint, 2 months to 1 year’s imprisonment or a judicial fine.
• Low value of the property (TCK 145): the judge may reduce the penalty or decide not to impose one.

Prosecution

• Theft in its basic form (TCK 141) is eligible for mediation; aggravated theft is not (CMK 253).
• Theft (TCK 141, 142) is a catalogue offence for which grounds for pre-trial detention may be presumed (CMK 100/3).

In the data

Theft incidents are available in the institutional API as location-level records (data access). Thefts reported in the press are a small share of official records, so theft is not published on the site as a rate or ranking.