CONDITIONAL DISCONTINUATION OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND PRACTICE OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT IN PULA – POLA

Abstract

Conditional discontinuation of criminal procedure is a new institute of Croatian criminal procedure law. It was introduced the Croatian criminal legislation by the Criminal Procedure Act of 1997 and has been amended on several occasions. The most important amendments refer to the prolongation of the criminal proceedings stage in which it is applied. Pursuant to the applicable Criminal Procedure Act of 2008 the institute in question is applied until the end of the hearing. It is regulated by Article 206(d) of the Criminal Procedure Act. As a reflection of the principles of opportunity and consensuality it is applied in milder criminal offences for which a pecuniary sentence or a prison sentence up to five years is envisaged. Consent of both the defendant and the injured party is required for its application. The theory analysis shows that this institute has been well-thought-out, but has not been recognised in some other rules of law (institutes) that should be applied in its regards (compensation of criminal proceedings costs that should be borne by the defendant in case of proceedings discontinuation etc.). This is due to the fact that not much has been written about this institute in the Croatian criminal procedure law and it is very rarely used in practice. It was only in 2014 that the first cases of its use before the Municipal court of Pula – Pola were recorded. One of the reasons therefor is the circumstance where state attorneys are more motivated for a consensual resolution of cases before commencing criminal proceedings, thus avoiding the negative effects of such proceedings.