KDH: Justice Ministry's Response to Increase in Petty Theft Late and Ineffective

Bratislava, 19 November (TASR) - The Justice Ministry's response to the massive increase in petty theft is late and ineffective, deputy chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDH) and former justice minister Viliam Karas stated in response to the amendment to the Penal Code adopted by the cabinet earlier on Wednesday. According to him, the changes to the Penal Code are only a consequence of the government's poorly designed criminal policy, whose main goal "was not to solve crime, but to take care of its own people". Karas admits that returning repeated petty theft to the Penal Code is not a systematic solution, but in the current situation it's the only immediately feasible measure. "It's an emergency measure, not a conceptual policy. It was created because the government doesn't have the capacity to come up with high-quality, expert solutions," he said in a statement sent to TASR by KDH's communications department. According to Karas, publicly available data clearly show an increase in crime, but the government has long ignored warnings from municipalities, towns, shops and the public. The government has approved reintroducing the three-strikes rule for petty theft to the Penal Code, with repeat offenders becoming criminally liable in the case of repeated thefts. Offenders should be sent to prison for two years after committing a similar offence against property three times within one year. The amendment is also set to change the Distraint Code. Distraint offices will be able to impose coercive measures to recover compensation for damage caused by a crime or misdemeanour. The government has proposed that Parliament should deal with the amendment via a short-track legislative procedure. am/df