The accumulation of sanctions is possible: natural or legal persons can be punished both for an administrative offence by the administrative authority and for a criminal offence by the courts. Slovakia’s criminal code includes one of the world’s most stringent penalties for water- and waste-related offences: imprisonment for up to eight years. However, such penalties are seldom applied in practice. If a fine was the only penalty imposed and the offender paid the fine, the offender is considered as not convicted. When a fine is imposed, the courts usually provide for an alternative prison sentence to ensure that the criminal act is still punished if the fine is not paid on time, a system of conversion of prison sentences into fines also exists.