(IN)POSSIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTING THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD AS A VICTIM IN THE SUBSTANTIVE CRIMINAL LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

The best interest of the child is a generally accepted legal standard in all legal areas in the Republic of Serbia and in various types of proceedings conducted by administrative authorities, courts and social welfare authorities. The legislator has also incorporated this standard into laws, especially those regulating family relations. The paper deals with the topic of the best interest of the child from a practical aspect, with the aim that the topic of the paper and the observations made in court practice will be used to address the topic from both a scientific and theoretical-legal aspect. The paper starts from the regulation of this principle in international legal documents, as well as in domestic legislation, with a special focus on criminal law regulations, discusses the compliance of the terms "victim" and "child" with international definitions of these terms, and then, through specific examples from case law, seeks to find an answer to the question of whether and how the principle of the best interests of the child can be applied in criminal substantive law.