Nekoliko zapažanja o noveli Krivičnog zakonika – usvojena i planirana rešenja

At the end of September last year, the text of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code was published on the website of the Ministry of Justice, announcing extensive and significant changes to the legal text. Following serious criticism from experts and the wider public regarding the proposed solutions, the public discussion on the Draft was extended until June 2025. However, some solutions contained in the Draft were surprisingly separated and officially proposed by members of the ruling majority, who submitted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code to the parliamentary procedure on November 18, 2024, with an additional proposal for this act to be discussed urgently. At the parliamentary session on November 27, 2024, the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code was adopted, which, in addition to increased penalties for serious forms of criminal offenses against public traffic safety, also introduced three new criminal offenses aimed at enhanced protection of individuals employed in health, educational, and social protection institutions. The reasons why parliamentarians chose this step are unclear, especially since the deadline for public discussion had already been extended by the proposer of the Draft to allow time for deeper consideration of potential amendments. Even more concerning is the fact that the mentioned Law was adopted under an urgent procedure, which should not represent a way to amend criminal legislation. In addition to these adopted measures, some of the planned new solutions raise serious dilemmas, primarily concerning the significant tightening of penalties for certain criminal offenses, as well as the introduction of new criminal offenses, the legitimacy of which is particularly questionable.