Crime prevention and some issues of substantive criminal law of the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The paper analyzes certain solutions given in the criminal legislation of the Republic of Serbia resulting from the amendments and modifications of the Penal Code of Criminal Law enacted in December 2012. The first part of the paper which includes introductory remarks focuses on the contemporary issues dealing with the harmonization of the substantive criminal law with European standards. It is of great importance for Serbia as the country which is trying to become a full member of the European Union, to follow the activities of the EU and its members in the field of crime prevention. The most useful thing for all countries, including Serbia, is to revise certain incriminations in criminal legislations covering the issues which international agreements consider important as to be included in national criminal laws. The second part of the paper analyzes the institute and other legal solutions of the substantive criminal law regarding the criminalization of terrorism. Daily we witness terrorist incidents escalating all over the world. In the past few decades the international community has been intensively trying to create efficient mechanisms for the prosecution and punishment of offenders committing serious crimes such as terrorist acts. Countries are more and more focused on the harmonization of national criminal legislations with international documents with the aim of unifying the incriminations of terrorism and relevant criminal acts. In spite of increasing readiness and consensus among countries with regard to the reform and further development of legal solutions, this process has been facing a number of challenges. The third part of the paper deals with the issues concerning the harmonization of the Penal Code of the Republic of Serbia with the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The fourth part offers a more thorough analysis of the legal regulation of binding aggravating circumstances for hate crimes. Taking into account the relevant international documents, the aim of the new provision of Article 54a of the Penal Code is to provide more severe penalties and thus strengthen criminal law protection of extremely vulnerable social groups whose members are victims of various hate crimes. The conclusion of the paper includes the author’s suggestions for viable legal solutions de lege ferenda.