The code, which was returned to the Chamber of Deputies for changes Feb. 8, met objections mainly from the senior opposition Civic Democratic (ODS) senators.

As currently written, the code lowers the age of sexual consent from age 15 to 14 and classifies euthanasia, or "killing a person on his request" as a lesser crime than murder. Those changes have fueled outrage among religious groups and conservatives.

The ODS were joined in opposing the bill, a long-delayed update of the 1961 Criminal Code, by three independent senators and both Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia senators, with 42 of 74 senators present voting no.

The bill's fate is again in the hands of the Chamber of Deputies, which will decide March 7 whether to draft a new version or override the Senate with 101 chamber votes, something likely within the chamber's grasp, say most observers.

Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek's Social Democrats have rallied around the code as currently written, saying it lists offenses more explicitly than existing criminal law, adding a more crimes classed as serious.

Under the 1961 code, still technically in effect, crimes against the socialist state, such as stealing from an agricultural cooperative, have as much weight or more than what most countries classify as felonies: violent crimes against individuals. The revised criminal code reverses many such legal definitions

Top Czech police authorities have urged the passage of the code reform as necessary to move beyond socialist dictates and into modern criminal law. The reforms, if passed, will increase police powers by lowering the age of criminal culpability from age 15 to 14.

Another controversial point is making hidden-camera recordings criminal, something vigorously opposed by the media. ODS Senate group deputy chairman Jiří Sneberger criticized this provision while ODS Senator Marek Benda defended the decriminalization of asset stripping, known as "tunneling" for being overly invasive.