The Constitutional Court has confirmed that the benefit derived from a criminal offence may also be non-pecuniary. However, courts must carefully justify this.
The Constitutional Court has confirmed that the term “significant benefit” within the context of a criminal offence does not always have to be financial. In other words, the perpetrator may derive “significant benefit” from a criminal offence even if they do not obtain direct financial or material gain, but, for example, an advantage in that they avoid criminal prosecution, conviction or punishment. According to the Constitutional Court, this interpretation is in line with constitutional principles. At the same time, however, the court emphasised that the authorities (courts) handing down such decisions must always provide compelling reasons as to why a given immaterial (non-pecuniary) benefit is being considered “significant”.
The case before the Constitutional Court
In October 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled in the case of a father convicted of aggravated obstruction of justice. The father had attempted to persuade a witness to withdraw their criminal complaint, thereby allowing his son to escape prosecution for robbery. The lower courts found that this conduct qualified as an attempt to secure a significant advantage for his son (avoiding prosecution and punishment), corresponding to the “significant benefit”.
However, the Constitutional Court stated that the courts had not explained why the said advantage had reached the level of “significant benefit”. It therefore partially upheld the constitutional complaint and criticised the courts for insufficient reasoning. At the same time, hit confirmed that the concept of a non-pecuniary benefit fulfilling the elements of a criminal offence is not contrary to the law or the Constitution.
The broader implications for legal practice
This ruling is also significant for other criminal offences. The term “benefit” appears in a number of criminal offences as their basic or qualified (aggravating) element.
This usually means financial gain (quantifiable in monetary terms), but it has now been confirmed that it may also (in part or in whole) be non-pecuniary (immaterial) gain.
The courts must therefore clearly justify the extent to which such non-financial benefit is sufficient to establish criminal liability or, as applicable, aggravating circumstances.
Source:
Constitutional Court ruling Ref. No. III. ÚS 2032/25