Original scientific paper
Punishing perpetrators of the most serious sexual crimes against children in the Republic of Croatia: legislative framework and current case law
Dalida Rittossa
; Pravni fakultet, Sveučilište u Rijeci, Rijeka, Hrvatska
Abstract
The issue of punishing sexual crimes against children has recently once again become very topical in Croatian public space. Clear requests by NGOs and individuals have been expressed in the media for more stringent sanctions to be prescribed in the legislation and for the more severe punishment of sexual crimes against children. In order to assess whether such requests are founded, this paper analyses in detail the criminal offences referred to in Title VII CC/11 and Title XIV CC/97. A comparison of the relevant legal provisions provides an assessment of the legislator’s policy regarding the sanctioning of the most serious crimes against the sexual integrity of children in the last 10 years. One of the objectives of the study was to find to what extent the criminal repression embedded in the legislation differs from that applied by the courts. For this purpose, data were collected and analysed on the punishment of the perpetrators of the most serious sexual crimes against children in the Republic of Croatia in the period from 2008 to 2017. In addition to a macro-level analysis, an analysis of the selection of the type and severity of criminal sanctions was also conducted according to the stated parameters in the jurisprudence of county and municipal courts in Split and Rijeka. On the basis of a normative assessment of the legislative solutions and their specific application in the jurisprudence of the courts, guidelines are suggested on how to improve the punishment of the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of sexual abuse and exploitation of children.
Keywords
sexual crimes against children; legal punishment policy; court sentencing; mitigating and aggravating circumstances
Hrčak ID:
218955
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2018.
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