ALTERNATIVE MEASURES IN JUVENILE CRIMINAL LEGISLATION OF MONTENEGRO

(Norm and experiences in practice)

Abstract

At the beginning of this century, juvenile criminal law in Montenegro underwent significant changes. All of these changes were aimed at improving the position of juvenile offenders, which resulted in the adoption of the Law on the Treatment of Juveniles in Criminal Procedure. This law synthesizes all the provisions on juveniles that were previously part of the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Law on the Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions. One of the important elements in this Law is alternative criminal law measures against juveniles – admonition and corrective order. These are criminal law measures sui generis. The enactment of these measures is the result of the legislator’s position that they should be the main instrument of reaction against juvenile offenders. The paper first presents some general considerations on the need to treat juveniles as perpetrators of criminal offenses differently from adults. This is followed by the criminal law aspect of the admonition and corrective order, and finally the procedural aspect, i.e. the application of the principle of opportunity of criminal prosecution.