Status of experts in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The growing use of forensic science in criminalistics resulted, in practice, in the need that the parties in criminal procedure, particularly the defendant and the injured party (acting as a prosecutor), increasingly hire experts as consultants. With the introduction of the concept of prosecutorial and police investigations in criminal procedure in the Republic of Serbia, it is evident that assistance based on the knowledge from different fields and disciplines of science, technology, arts or crafts is essential to the public prosecutor. There is also no doubt that the subsidiary prosecutor, defense counsel and the defendant increasingly needed such assistance. The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code introduced the concept of an expert advisor. Modeled after similar solutions in comparative law, the expert advisor has wider options when it comes to helping the parties in the proceedings. Participation of expert advisors can realistically contribute to the quality of professional expertise in court proceedings, in order not to miss important details relevant to the proceedings as a whole. In this paper, the authors deal with the status of experts in criminal proceedings in the Republic of Serbia. The form and content of their expert assistance deserves further analytical analysis and critical examination.

Sve izraženija primena forenzičkih disciplina u kriminalistici rezultirala je potrebom da krivično-procesne stranke, a naročito okrivljeni i oštećeni kao tužilac, u praksi sve češće angažuju stručna lica kao konsultante. Sa uvođenjem tužilačko-policijskog koncepta istrage u krivičnu proceduru u Republici Srbiji Srbiji, evidentno je da se pomoć bazirana na poznavanju različitih struka i disciplina nauke, tehnike, umetnosti ili zanata ne može poreći ni javnom tužiocu. Nesporno je, takođe, da je takva pomoć sve potrebnija i oštećenom kao tužiocu, braniocu i okrivljenom. Izmenama Zakonika o krivičnom postupku (2014) uvodi se stručni savetnik koji po ugledu na slična rešenja u uporednom pravu ima šire mogućnosti kada je u pitanju pomoć stranci. Učešće stručnog savetnika realno može doprineti da veštačenje bude temeljnije obavljeno, tj. da ne promaknu važni detalji od značaja za postupak u celini. U ovom radu autori se bave statusom stručnih lica u krivičnom postupku čija forma i sadržina pružanja stručne pomoći zaslužuju dodatno analitičko sagledavanje i kritičko preispitivanje.