Original Scientific Paper
Vol.11, No 1, 2013 pp. 23-38
UDC 343.22:347.191]:343.241
SENTENCING LEGAL ENTITIES AS PEPRETRATORS OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES:
Analysis of the Normative Framework of the Republic of Serbia
Dušica Miladinović-Stefanović
Faculty of Law, University of Niš, Serbia
E-mail: dusica@prafak.ni.ac.rs
The criminal liability of legal entities became an integral part of the Serbian criminal law system by adopting the 2008 Act on the Liability of Legal Entities for Criminal Offences. Under the formerly existing legislation, the criminal liability of legal entities had been based on the subjective liability of natural persons. However, this Act has not been put into effect yet, probably due to the extensive scope and depth of the envisaged reform. In that context, this paper is an attempt to elaborate on one segment of this Act – the legal framework for sentencing legal entities. In particular, the author focuses on all the stages involved in this process, the system of sanctions and the range of sentences, the purpose of sanctioning, the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, as well as the degree of the criminal liability of legal entities, the size of legal entities, the position and number of responsible persons in the legal entity who have committed a criminal offence, the measures that the legal entity has undertaken to prevent and uncover a criminal offence, and the measures undertaken against the responsible person after the commission of the criminal offence. Each of these factors has been examined with an aim to assist competent courts in interpreting and applying this Act, to identify possible drawbacks in the regulation of this issue and to propose adequate solutions to overcome these flaws.
Key words: criminal liability of legal entities, mitigating and aggravating circumstances, sentencing
ODMERAVANJE KAZNE PRAVNIM LICIMA KAO UČINIOCIMA KRIVIČNIH DELA –
analiza normativnog okvira u Republici Srbiji
Donošenjem posebnog zakona 2008. godine krivična odgovornost pravnih lica je postala integralni deo našeg krivičnopravnog sistema, koji se do tada zasnivao na individualnoj subjektivnoj odgovornosti fizičkih lica. Dubina izvršenog reformskog zahvata je verovatno uticala na to da se ovaj Zakon još uvek ne primenjuje. U tom smislu rad predstavlja pokušaj da se detaljno objasni jedan njegov segment – pravni okvir za odmeravanje kazne pravnim licima. Tako je pažnja posvećena svim smernicama ovog procesa, sistemu kazni i kaznenim rasponima, ciljevima kažnjavanja, olakšavajućim i otežavajućim okolnostima, a posebno stepenu odgovornosti pravnog lica, veličini pravnog lica, položaju i broju odgovornih lica u pravnom licu koja su učinila krivično delo, merama koje je pravno lice preduzelo u cilju sprečavanja i otkrivanja krivičnog dela, i merama koje je nakon učinjenog dela preduzelo prema odgovornom licu. Svaki od ovih faktora je ispitivan sa ciljem da se pomogne sudovima u tumačenju i primeni, kao i da se otkriju eventualni propusti u regulisanju i predlože adekvatna rešenja za njihovo prevazilaženje.
Ključne reči: krivična odgovornost pravnih lica, olakšavajuće i otežavajuće okolnosti, odmeravanje kazne.