Part One
GENERAL PART

Chapter VII
EVIDENCE

2. Evidentiary Actions

a) Interrogation of the Defendant

Confession of the Defendant
Article 88

When a defendant confesses to having committed a criminal offence, the authority conducting proceedings is required to continue collecting evidence about the perpetrator and the criminal offence only where there exists grounded suspicion about the veracity of the confession or if the confession is incomplete, contradictory or unclear and contrary to other evidence.

Part Two
COURSE OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Chapter XVI
INVESTIGATION

2. Agreements of the Public Prosecutor and the Defendant

a) Plea Agreement

Concluding an Agreement
Article 313

A plea agreement may be concluded by the public prosecutor and the defendant from the moment of issuance of an order to conduct an investigation until the defendant states his position in relation to the charges at trial.

A defendant must have a defence counsel (Article 74 item 8)) during the conclusion of the agreement referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Plea agreement, done in writing, shall be submitted by the public prosecutor to the judge for the preliminary proceedings before an indictment is confirmed, and after the confirmation of the indictment to the president of the panel.

If a plea agreement is concluded before an indictment is filed, the public prosecutor will together with the agreement, file with the court the indictment, which constitutes an integral part of this agreement.

Provisions relating to examination of the indictment (Articles 337 to 341) are not applicable to the indictment referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article.

If the authorised person (Article 253 paragraph 1) has not filed a restitution claim, the public prosecutor will invite him to file the claim before the agreement is concluded.

Contents of the Agreement
Article 314

Plea agreement contains the following :

1) a description of the criminal offence which is the subject-matter of the charges ;
2) a confession of the defendant that he committed the criminal offence referred to in item 1) of this paragraph ;
3) an agreement on the type, extent or scope of the penalty or other criminal sanction ;
4) an agreement on the costs of the criminal proceedings, on confiscation of the pecuniary benefits from the crime and the restitution claim, if one has been submitted ;
5) a statement on the parties’ and defence counsel’s waiver of the right to appeal against a decision with which the court has accepted the agreement in its entirety, except in the case referred to in Article 319 paragraph 3 of this Code ;
6) the signatures of the parties and defence counsel.

In addition to data referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the plea agreement may also contain :

1) a statement of the public prosecutor on desisting from criminal prosecution for criminal offences not covered by the plea agreement ;
2) a statement of the defendant on acceptance of the obligation referred to in Article 283 paragraph 1 of this Code, provided that the nature of the obligation makes it possible to commence its execution before submitting the agreement to the court ;
3) an agreement in respect to the proceeds from the crime which will be confiscated from the defendant.

Deciding on the Agreement
Article 315

The judge for the preliminary proceedings decides on the plea agreement, and if the agreement was submitted to the court after the confirmation of the indictment – the president of the panel.

The decision on the plea agreement is rendered at a hearing to which the public prosecutor, defendant and his defence counsel are summoned.

The hearing referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article is held in a closed session.

Dismissing an Agreement
Article 316

The court will dismiss a plea agreement by a ruling if :

1) the agreement does not contain the data specified by Article 314 paragraph 1 of this Code ;
2) a duly summoned defendant has not appeared at the hearing and failed to justify his absence.

Accepting the Agreement
Article 317

The court will accept a plea agreement by a judgment and declare the defendant guilty if it determines :

1) that the defendant has knowingly and voluntarily confessed to the criminal offence or criminal offences which are the subject-matter of the charges ;
2) that the defendant is aware of all the consequences of the concluded agreement, especially that he has waived his right to a trial and that he accepts a restriction of his right to file an appeal (Article 319 paragraph 3) against the decision of the court based on the agreement ;
3) that the other existing evidence do not run contrary to the defendant’s confession on having committed the criminal offence ;
4) that the penalty of other criminal sanction or other measure in respect of which the public prosecutor and the defendant had reached an agreement was proposed in line with the criminal and other law.

In addition to elements referred to in Article 428 paragraphs 2, 3 and 5 of this Code, the judgment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article also contains the reasons which led the court to accept the agreement.

Rejecting an Agreement
Article 318

The court will reject a plea agreement by a ruling if it determines :

1) that the reasons referred to in Article 338 paragraph 1 of this Code exist ;
2) that one or more of the conditions referred to in Article 317 paragraph 1 of this Code have not been fulfilled.

When the ruling referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article becomes final, the plea agreement and all file documents related to it are destroyed in the presence of the judge who issued the ruling and a transcript is made thereof, while proceedings return to the stage which preceded the conclusion of the agreement.

The judge referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may not participate in the further course of the proceedings.

Appeal against the Decision on the Agreement
Article 319

The court’s decision on the plea agreement is delivered to the public prosecutor, the defendant and his defence counsel.

A ruling dismissing (Article 316) or rejecting (Article 318) the plea agreement is not appealable.

The persons referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may within eight days if the date of delivery of the judgment appeal against the judgment accepting the plea agreement (Article 317) for the existence of reasons referred to in Article 338 paragraph 1 of this Code, or if the judgment does not relate to the subject-matter of the agreement (Article 314).