Criminal Offense Persecution in Physical and Cyber Space

Abstract

The criminal offense of persecution was introduced into our criminal legislation by the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska from 2017. This is a new criminal offense whose legal regulation, due to its nature, is very difficult to solve in an appropriate way. Therefore, in practical application, there are a number of doubts related to the act of execution, its intensity and duration, consequence and causal relationship. In addition, case law, as well as theory, are still in the sphere of physical and real space when they observe this act and its distinction from other crimes of a similar nature. However, there is a new, so far less known, and freely speaking dominant space in which the work is performed, and that is cyberspace or environment. The legal regulation of activities in this area in Bosnia and Herzegovina is very late, which creates great difficulties in the application of the incrimination of persecution committed in the virtual world. This is exactly what the author is talking about, but not limited to that segment. The goal is to dissect the essential elements of this crime, place the crime in physical and cyberspace and point out the existing and necessary legislative regulations in criminal law and in a broader sense of the word that are related to that legislation.