->Conditional suspension of criminal prosecution
->Settlement
->Proceedings before a single judge
->Agreement on the guilt and punishment
->Criminal order
->In proceedings conducted against juveniles – waiver of criminal prosecution.
->Conditional suspension of filing a motion for punishment
Conditional Suspension of Criminal Prosecution
It is a temporary decision with the proviso that that if the accused complies with the conditions for a certain probationary period, his prosecution will be terminated permanently. It is an Alternative Resolution of Criminal Proceedings where the guilt of the accused is not decided, and no penalty is imposed.
A decision to suspend criminal prosecution may be issued under the following conditions:
- Proceeding in question deals with misdemeanour (all negligent criminal offences and those intentional criminal offenses, the upper limit of which does not exceed five years)
- The accused admitted the misdemeanour.
- Compensation of damage by the accused, if caused by the act, or concluded an agreement on its compensation of damage with the aggrieved person or took other measures necessary for its compensation.
- surrendering any unjust enrichment gained by the act.
- the accused must agree with this Alternative Resolution of Criminal proceedings. The accused still has the option to insist on regular hearing of the case.
- Given the personality of the accused person and his previous life and circumstances of the case such decision may deemed as sufficient.
Conditional Suspension of Criminal Prosecution may also be conditional upon the fulfilment of one of the following conditions:
- The accused will undertake that he will refrain from a certain activity in the course of the probation period, in connection to which he has committed the crime.
- The accused will deposit a financial sum to the account of the court and in pre-trial proceedings to the account of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, for assistance to the victims of crime.
- If such conditions are imposed, the probation period may last as five years.
The length of the probation period is 6 months to 2 years (if other conditions are imposed, it can be imposed for up to 5 years) The probationary period may be extended by 1 year but may not exceed 5 years. The accused may be ordered to comply with reasonable restrictions and obligations during the probationary period.
If the accused has led an upright life during the probationary period, has fulfilled the obligations imposed, has compensated for the damage caused and has complied with any other restrictions imposed, the authority which suspended the prosecution in the first instance will decide that the accused has approved himself. If, however, the accused fails to comply with the conditions imposed, his prosecution will continue or, in exceptional cases, the probationary period may be extended for a further year.
Settlement
It is an agreement between the accused and the aggrieved person, which requires approval and has procedural consequences of discontinuation of criminal prosecution.
The following conditions must be fulfilled:
- Proceeding in question deals with misdemeanour.
- consent of both the accused and aggrieved person
- statement of the accused person that he has committed the act, for which he is being prosecuted, and there are no reasonable doubts that his declaration was made freely, solemnly and specifically.
- compensation of damage caused by the criminal offense to the aggrieved person necessary steps of the accused person towards its compensation, eventually another way of rectification of the harm incurred by the offense.
- surrendering any unjust enrichment gained by the act.
- The accused will deposit a financial sum to the account of the court and in pre-trial proceedings to the account of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, for assistance to the victims of crime.
- given the nature and seriousness of the committed crime, the extent in which public interest was affected by the act and the personality of the accused person and his personal and property relations such manner of execution of the case may be deemed as sufficient. Th
The public prosecutor may approve the settlement in pre-trial proceedings, otherwise the court decides on the settlement.
Proceedings Before a Single Judge
A single judge shall perform proceedings on criminal offences for which the law stipulates an imprisonment below five years. A single judge may issue a penal order without hearing the case at a main hearing provided that the facts are established with the acquired evidence beyond doubt. A penal order may be used to impose
a) sentence of imprisonment to one year,
b) ban on activity for five years,
c) pecuniary penalty,
d) forfeiture of the thing
Agreement on the guilt and punishment
It is an agreement between the public prosecutor and the accused person, the aggrieved person may also participate in the negotiation of the agreement. The accused must declare that he has committed the act for which he is being prosecuted, and there must be no doubt as to the truth of his statement. The agreement cannot be concluded in case of proceedings conducted against a fugitive and in case of a juvenile under 18 years of age. In case the agreement is not concluded or approved, such declaration of the accused person may not be considered as confession to the criminal offense, and it may not be used as evidence in subsequent proceedings.
If the agreement on the guilt and punishment is concluded, the public prosecutor will submit the draft agreement on the guilt and punishment to the competent court. The court will assess whether the agreement on the guilt and punishment was concluded in compliance with the law, therein it must not interfere with its contents. The court may refuse the draft for serious procedural flaws, then the matter is remitted to the pre-trial stage of proceedings. If the court reaches the conclusion that the concluded agreement on the guilt and punishment is correct and if it does not find any serious infringement of rights of the accused person in relation to entering the agreement, then it will approve the agreement by a judgment, in which it will state the ruling on guilt and punishment or protective measure and on the compensation of damage.
Criminal order
A criminal order is a simplified form of a sentencing order in criminal proceedings. Criminal order is issued in proceedings before a single judge. It is used in less complicated matters (both factually and legally), where the purpose of criminal proceedings may be achieved even without conducting formal main trial. The basic condition for issuing a criminal order is the fact that the factual state is securely proven by the ascertained evidence. The accused may file a protest within 8 days of the delivery of the criminal order. Than the criminal order is repealed and a main trial is ordered.
Waiver of criminal prosecution
It is a type of divergence in juvenile matters. The public prosecutor in pre-trial proceedings and the juvenile court in trial proceedings have the possibility to waive criminal prosecution and at the same time discontinue criminal prosecution on the grounds of absence of public interest in further prosecution of the juvenile, if all legal conditions are met:
- the proceeding in question deals with a juvenile offense, the upper limit of imprisonment of which does not exceed three years.
- there is no public interest on further prosecution of the juvenile.
- criminal prosecution would not be purposeful, and punishment is not necessary to turn the juvenile away from committing other offenses.
- juvenile has already undertaken a suitable probation program, has fully or in part compensated the damage caused by the juvenile offense and the aggrieved person agrees with such compensation, or if the juvenile was reprehended with a warning and such solution may be considered sufficient in view of the purpose of the proceedings.
The juvenile may file a complaint against the resolution on waiver of criminal prosecution of a juvenile, which has a dilatory effect.
Conditional suspension of filing a motion for punishment
This is a decision of the public prosecutor in shortened pre-trial proceedings issued under similar conditions as in the case of conditional discontinuation of criminal prosecution.
