Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.54070/hljk.31.1.2
Normative and Practical Aspects of the Prohibition of Reformatio in Peius in Criminal Procedure
Nevena Aljinović
orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-2796
; Sveučilište u Splitu Sveučilišni odjel za forenzične znansosti
*
Ivana Bilušić
; Općinski sud u Splitu, Split, Hrvatska
*
* Dopisni autor.
Sažetak
The prohibition of reformatio in peius is an indispensable component of the rule of law, which rests on the postulate of the fairness of punishment in the form of a guarantee to the defendant that an appeal filed only in the defendant’s favour will not result in a judgment to the defendant’s detriment, i.e., a harsher sentence than the one against which the appeal was filed. The effect of the prohibition is far reaching and exceeds the scope of the finality of the decision since the prohibition of reformatio in peius, once established, is valid even after the finality of the decision, in the procedure for extraordinary legal remedies declared in favour of the convicted person, until the final conclusion of the proceedings. Although it follows from the text of the law itself that the prohibition of reformatio in peius is activated by submitting a legal remedy only in favour of the defendant, it is clear that the prohibition occurs in a situation where the state attorney did not appeal the verdict at all or did not appeal in a specific direction (although he or she filed an appeal against the judgment). In legal theory and jurisprudence, the scope of application of the prohibition of reformatio in peius in the appellate procedure causes disagreement. In legal theory, there is a point of view that (only) filing an appeal to the defendant’s detriment cancels the activation of the prohibition in question. Therefore, doubts arise in situations where the legal remedy was, admittedly, declared to the detriment of the defendant but was rejected by the court’s decision as inadmissible or untimely, that is, rejected as unfounded, or in situations in which the state attorney filed an appeal against the verdict, but the verdict was revoked ex officio or on the occasion of the defendant’s appeal due to a significant violation of the provisions of the criminal procedure, which rendered the state attorney’s appeal moot. In the paper, the authors analyse the normative regulation of the prohibition of reformatio in peius in the Republic of Croatia, as well as the case law, especially of the county courts, the High Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia, and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia to find answers to doubtful situations that arise in the practice of the courts.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
328271
URI
Datum izdavanja:
28.11.2024.
Posjeta: 654 *