Total of 21 Thousand People Convicted Last Year, Mostly with Suspended Sentences

Bratislava, 16 August (TASR) - Last year, Slovak courts convicted 21,204 people of 24,068 criminal offences and 24,962 acts committed, most frequently imposing imprisonment with suspended sentences, TASR reported earlier this week based on the Justice Ministry's 2024 Statistical Yearbook published on its website. In addition, 57 people were sentenced to house arrest and 1,282 to community service. Of the total number of convicted people, 3,342 were women, 873 were juveniles and 8,461 were repeat offenders. The courts also acquitted 803 people, while criminal proceedings were discontinued in 367 cases and plea bargains were accepted in 1,108 cases. Offences under the influence of alcohol were committed by 4,093 people, i.e., 19 percent of all convictions in 2024, while 891 people, or 4 percent of all convictions, were convicted of offences carried out under the influence of narcotic or psychotropic substances, the ministry noted. For all cases in which a final decision was issued, the average duration of proceedings held before district courts was 7.54 months. When it came to criminal proceedings before the Specialised Criminal Court, the average time-frame was 13.19 months. In criminal matters, there were 20,482 incoming cases at district courts involving 23,442 prosecuted people, a slight decline on the previous year. jrg/df/ko