Kulínský, head of the world-renowned Bambini di Praga children's choir, is accused of sexually abusing 49 girls linked to the choir over a number of years. Following his much-publicized release from jail July 1 pending trial, Justice Minister Pavel Němec ordered a review into the number of people taken into custody in recent years and the reasons for their detentions.

"Minister Němec's opinion is that custody procedures are being overused," said Justice Ministry spokesman Petr Dimun. "However, only concrete figures will show whether such a problem really exists."

Němec's review will examine if courts place too many suspects into custody before trial. Němec also wants information from the Supreme State Attorney's Office on how many suspects kept in custody later won acquittal, how many have demanded compensation, and which category of alleged offenders gets detained most often.

He will then consider if pretrial detention laws need to be changed, Dimun said.

Kulínský has been head of Bambini di Praga since 1976. The choir itself has performed in countries around the world for more than 60 years.

Authorities took Kulínský into custody in November because of fears he could influence witnesses.

After the Prague 4 district court refused to release him, Kulínský successfully challenged the decision before the Constitutional Court.

In a July 4 interview with radio station Frekvence 1, Kulínský said that whatever the outcome of the charges, it remains unlikely he will continue to lead the Bambini di Praga.

He also questioned the way authorities have interpreted evidence from some witnesses.

Meanwhile, lawmakers on both ends of the political spectrum have accused judges of placing suspects in custody too eagerly.

Miroslava Němcová, of the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS), said that the Kulínský case highlighted failings by judges and had shaken her faith in the judiciary, the Czech News Agency reported.

Jaromír Jirsa, president of the Czech Judges Union, said he does not oppose stricter standards for detaining people who might influence witnesses. Jirsa argued that this would force police to work faster, rather than taking their time to investigate, knowing that a suspect remains locked away.

However, Jirsa also accused politicians of jumping on a bandwagon to grab media attention.

If authorities detained fewer suspects, he said, judges "would hear shouts of the exact opposite: 'Why hasn't this person been taken into custody?'"

The main reasons cited for imposing custody are to prevent a suspect from fleeing, continuing criminal activities, or tampering with witnesses.

The state attorney's office, police and even judges often fail to realize that custody should represent an exceptional measure for only the most serious cases, Jirsa said.

According to the Supreme State Attorney's Office, 4,990 people received pretrial detention in 2004, down from 5,968 the year before and below 2002's 5,890.