Justice Ministry proposes special certificate to prevent child offenders from working with children

The Ministry of Justice has proposed a measure that would increase the protection of children against sexual abuse from people working in the sphere of education, sport and hobby groups. The ministry wants to introduce a special certificate, which school principals and camp leaders could request to see, that would warn them about potentially problematic candidates. Under the present legislation courts may impose a ban on activities with children and young people in addition to a prison sentence, but the maximum period for which it can be imposed under the law is now ten years. The proposed certificate would thus prevent convicted offenders from ever again working with children. There are hundreds of cases of sexual abuse of children under 15 in the Czech Republic every year.