[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”9px|||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
It is summer. It is hot. Even though research has shown that the warm weather does apparently not affect sentencing outcomes, at least not prison sentences in Prague,[1]<\/span><\/a> one might still get in trouble with the law due to the specific circumstances of this time of the year \u2013 and be sanctioned. Besides sunshine and sizzling temperatures, summer apparently brings with it a criminogenic peculiarity. It makes people do things they would in their right minds never contemplate at any other time of the year: lying down in the shade, wearing swimsuits (in public!) or even taking a nap on the bench. If the circumstances are right, such innocuous activities may be treated as dangerous acts towards society that call for punitive intervention. Even though most, if not all, of such deeds are not legally considered criminal but merely an administrative, minor offence, they nevertheless may incur a hefty fine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||26px|||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_cta button_text=”Click Here” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#E02B20″ background_enable_image=”off” custom_margin=”3px||||false|false” custom_padding=”60px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-primary-color%22:%91%22button_text_color%22,%22button_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_cta][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”1px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n For example, walking or lying down or placing objects such as sun loungers or towels on public green areas along one of Slovenia\u2019s lakes may translate into a 200 EUR fine.[2]<\/span><\/a>Romans take this a step further: a comparable fine may be imposed for sitting \u2013 including while consuming food and\/or beverages \u2013 on certain culturally significant public areas.[3]<\/span><\/a> So sitting down to eat a gelato at the Spanish Steps in Rome is out of the question.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||6px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Portofino, meanwhile, has enacted the so-called \u201cred zones<\/em>\u201d where it is forbidden for pedestrians to linger during the day. These include some of the town\u2019s most picturesque locations overlooking the colourful buildings that stack straight above the sea. The reason being to make space for passengers from cruise ships. One local news portal jokingly labelled the measure \u201ca ban on taking selfies<\/em>\u201d[4]<\/span><\/a> \u2013 a selfie that may cost up to 332 EUR.[5]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Albufeira has apparently taken fashion police rather seriously. Its municipal Code of conduct strictly prohibits \u201cany act or behaviour which, by its nature or effects, jeopardises the legally protected rights and interests of third parties or the safety of persons and property<\/em>\u201d, including \u201cremaining or moving about in a state of partial nudity, which, for the purposes of this Code, shall mean a person partially exposing their body and even whilst wearing any item of clothing or accessory, without exposing their sexual organs<\/em>\u201d in public places. Put into layman\u2019s terms: wearing bikinis or swimsuits in town is punishable by a fine that ranges from 300 EUR to 1,500 EUR.[6]<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/inst-krim.si\/sentrix\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/23.png” title_text=”23″ align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Mojca-123-slo|–et_global_heading_font_weight|||||||” header_3_font=”Mojca-123-slo|–et_global_heading_font_weight|||||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||26px|||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_cta button_text=”Click Here” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#E02B20″ background_enable_image=”off” custom_margin=”3px|||||” custom_padding=”53px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{%22gcid-primary-color%22:%91%22button_text_color%22,%22button_text_color%22%93}”]<\/p>\n The aforementioned rules point to two broader issues: one of a social nature and the other of a legal one.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_cta][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”1px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Taken in isolation, such actions, apparently perceived as \u201cantisocial behaviour<\/em>\u201d truly do not seem to be the most pressing issues in contemporary society. Some of the presented punishments may appear bizarre and, if words are not spared, occasionally outright ridiculous \u2013 especially when compared with sanctions imposed for life-threatening conduct such as driving under the influence.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Yet the aforementioned rules point to two broader issues: one of a social nature and the other of a legal one.<\/p>\n Regarding the first, it cannot be denied that modern mass tourism, by concentrating an enormous influx of people over relatively short periods, presents a significant nuisance to the local populace, particularly in smaller communities whose infrastructure was not designed to accommodate such numbers. The result is overcrowding and severe hindrances to residents in their daily outs and abouts.<\/p>\n Tackling this problem legally by imposing sanctions raises several issues of its own. First, it contributes to over-regulation, which is becoming a general defining legal characteristic of our times \u2013 prescribing where to sit, where to posit a towel, where not to eat, as well as delving into matters that should arguably be better addressed in the moral and not the legal sphere.<\/p>\n Furthermore, some of these rules impose heavy fines for actions that cannot be considered mala in se<\/em> and would therefore hardly be recognised as unlawful through common sense alone. These rules are also highly particular \u2013 they are not state law but are enacted by individual towns and municipalities and may therefore significantly differ when passing from one town to another in just a few dozen kilometres. So much for legal certainty. Besides health insurance and road regulations, such rules are becoming something the tourist-of-today should also be mindful of.<\/p>\n Most importantly, the punitive response is problematic in its very conception. The social harms of mass tourism that the regulation aims to prevent arise only when the conduct occurs collectively on a significant scale<\/em>. The law, however, necessarily operates against the individual. This raises an important and uncomfortable question as to the proportionality of these fines, regardless of whether the conduct is legally classified as a minor offence rather than a criminal offence. Can imposing such penalties on a lone, unsuspecting individual, acting in isolation without causing any disturbance, in the name of ensuring \u201clocal homeland security<\/em>\u201d still be considered legitimate?<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Mojca-123-slo|–et_global_heading_font_weight|||||||” header_3_font=”Mojca-123-slo|–et_global_heading_font_weight|||||||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [1]<\/span><\/a> Dr\u00e1pal, J. and Pina S\u00e1nchez, J. (2019) Does the weather influence sentencing? Empirical evidence from Czech data. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 56.: pp 16-17.<\/span><\/p>\n [2]<\/span><\/a> Article 6\/II-1 and<\/em> article 31\/I Odlok o javnem redu, Ob\u010dina Bled.<\/span><\/p>\n [3]<\/span><\/a> Article 4-1 Regolamento di polizia urbana, Giunta Capitolina n. 132\/2019, Tabella delle sanzioni in misura ridotta, Roma.<\/span><\/p>\n [4]<\/span><\/a> https:\/\/www.ilmugugnogenovese.it\/divieto-di-stazionamento-selfie-a-portofino\/<\/span><\/p>\n [5]<\/span><\/a> Ordinanza n\u00b0 17, Comune di Portofino; Article 7-14., Nuovo codice della strada.<\/span><\/p>\nSummer apparently brings with it a criminogenic peculiarity.<\/h3>\n
What can we take from all this?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Footnotes<\/strong><\/h3>\n