GODIŠNJAK FAKULTETA PRAVNIH NAUKA

Preliminary proceedings and preliminary investigation in the criminal proceedings of the Russian Federation

2026-07-04T13:15:44+02:00

According to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the preliminary proceedings include: receipt of a report of a criminal offense, its verification and decision-making on initiation or refusal to initiate criminal proceedings; preliminary investigation of a criminal offense in the form of investigative proceedings or procedure of the competent authority for data collection; completion of the preliminary investigation and actions of the prosecutor in the case submitted to him with the indictment, indictment act or indictment decision. Consideration of the preliminary proceedings as an independent type of activity, separated from the judicial proceedings, allows that the scientific public is asked the question of the need not only for normative determination of goals and tasks specific to each part of the criminal process, but also for the formulation of special groups of principles that determine the essence of the criminal procedural activity in the preliminary, and especially in the judicial proceedings.
The preliminary investigation represents the phase of the criminal proceedings that follows the initiation of the criminal proceedings. The authorities of the preliminary investigation are obliged to determine the circumstances of the commission of the criminal offense: the identity of the accused; the degree of his guilt; the motive of the criminal offense; the amount of damage caused; the causes and conditions that contributed to the commission of the criminal offense and other. The topicality of this investigation arises from the need for quick and efficient resolution of criminal offenses, as well as the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens.

Zamjena i izuzetnost izricanja kratkotrajne kazne zatvora u krivičnom zakoniku Republike Srpske – sistemsko rješenje ili nedosljednost zakonodavca

2026-07-04T13:22:18+02:00

Zamjena izrečene kratkotrajne kazne zatvora novčanom kaznom na zahtjev osuđenog lica uvedena je u domaće krivično zakonodavstvo Krivičnim zakonikom Republike Srpske iz 2000. godine. Kasnijim zakonskim izmjenama doživjela svojevrsnu metamorfozu od evolucije shvatanja šta je kratkotrajna kazna zatvora, visine novčanih iznosa kojima se zamjenjuje, nestajanja i ponovnog pojavljivanja u zakonu. Ovaj pravni institut je napušten 2017. godine donošenjem novog Krivičnog zakonika Republike Srpske i uvođenjem instituta izuzetnog izricanja kratkotrajne kazne zatvora, da bi ubrzo bio vraćen njegovim izmjenama i dopunama, uz paralelno egzistiranje prethodno spomenutog instituta. Ponovo je prestao da se primjenjuje Odlukom Ustavnog suda Republike Srpske od 24. septembra 2025. godine, da bi ga zakonodavac samo šest mjeseci kasnije, 18. marta 2026. godine, u nešto izmijenjenom obliku ponovo vratio u pravni sistem. Autor u radu analizira sadržinu ova dva instituta, njihovu međusobnu usklađenost i usklađenost sa drugim odredbama krivičnog zakonodavstva i refleksije na druge institute koje zakonodavac nije tome prilagođavao ili uklanjao iz pravnog poretka, a što sve utiče na njihovu praktičnu primjenu, ukazuje na određene slabosti i otvara potrebu njihovog otklanjanja. O razlozima vraćanja zamjene kazne zatvora autor se ovom prilikom nije bavio jer to izlazi iz obima samog rada i problematike koja se analizira.

Forced sterilization – a new crime in the light of international standards

2026-07-04T13:26:40+02:00

Gender-based violence is a particularly severe form of violation of people’s rights, which has recently gained character in international law, as well as in national criminal law. Administration as one specific form of this violence is represented by forced sterilization. Based on European international standards, the modern criminal law of individual countries in the region foresees responsibility and punishment for forced sterilization, unlike the law in the Republic of Serbia. The paper analyzes the concept, elements, content, characteristics, and forms of this incrimination from the aspects of legal theory, international standards and norms of comparative criminal legislation, with the aim of helping the legislator in the direction of its introduction into the legal system of the Republic of Serbia.

The Status of Members, Employees, and Engaged Persons in Minority non-Territorial Autonomy

2026-07-04T13:33:01+02:00

Minority non-territorial autonomy/self-government exercised through collegial bodies raises the question of the legal status of their members, employees, and other engaged persons. Although the issues involved concern the rights and obligations of members, employment relationships and remuneration, as well as incompatibility and conflicts of interest, they constitute a broader area of inquiry, since they reveal the approach adopted by comparative legal systems regarding the legal nature of minority non-territorial bodies. In other words, if minority non-territorial autonomy/self-government is regarded as a public-law institution, state intervention in matters relating to members’ rights and obligations, employment relationships and remuneration, as well as incompatibility and conflicts of interest, will be more pronounced.

Le Rôle Des Parlements Nationaux Dans L’ordre Juridique De L’union Européenne

2026-07-04T13:47:08+02:00

Le traité de Lisbonne a considérablement renforcé le rôle des parlements nationaux dans l’ordre juridique de l’Union européenne à travers l’adoption du protocole sur le rôle des parlements nationaux dans l’Union européenne et du protocole sur l’application des principes de subsidiarité et de proportionnalité. Ces instruments visent à rapprocher le processus décisionnel européen des citoyens et à répondre aux critiques relatives au déficit démocratique de l’Union. Bien que les pouvoirs du Parlement européen aient été progressivement étendus au fil des réformes des traités, de nombreuses voix ont continué à dénoncer l’éloignement des processus décisionnels européens à l’égard des citoyens ainsi que la difficulté de ces derniers à exercer une influence effective sur l’élaboration des politiques de l’Union. Le déficit démocratique a ainsi été identifié comme l’un des principaux défis auxquels l’Union européenne est confrontée afin de renforcer sa légitimité politique et la confiance des citoyens dans le projet européen. Dans cette perspective, les parlements nationaux ont progressivement été reconnus comme des acteurs essentiels de la légitimité démocratique de l’Union. En tant qu’institutions directement représentatives des citoyens au sein des États membres, ils sont apparus comme les mieux placés pour assurer un lien entre les niveaux national et européen de gouvernance. Le présent article analyse ainsi le rôle des parlements nationaux dans le processus d’intégration européenne, en mettant en lumière, d’une part, le déficit démocratique comme défi structurel et, d’autre part, les mécanismes introduits par les protocoles du traité de Lisbonne, en particulier ceux relatifs au contrôle du respect du principe de subsidiarité.

Civil Law and Criminal Law aspects of protection the identity of national minorities in the legislation of the Republic of Serbia

2026-07-04T13:52:47+02:00

The protection of the national minority as a community implies the protection of not only the physical integrity of its members, but also the protection of their national identity. Certain authors in contemporary legal and sociological theory believe that national identity is important for the survival and prosperity of the state and people because the common idea of citizens about their country and its values binds them together into one body. Questions of determining national identity, European identity, as well as the mutual determination of these two categories are very current in the modern conditions of life and work. Identity, in principle, represents a specific mold for the socialization of individuals through which the ability to communicate and interact in the community is acquired. Within a certain modern national community there are multiple forms of identity (ethnic, linguistic, cultural, political, state, regional, religious, etc.) that together can create a unity of national identity. The right to identity protection derives from Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees members of minorities the right to a separate cultural life and the expression and exercise of their own religion or use of their own language. The Framework Convention of the Council of Europe for the Protection of National Minorities, by provision from Article 5, requires states to take care of preserving the necessary elements of the identity of minorities: religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage. The right of minorities to identity, therefore, consists of all those special rights that are guaranteed to national and ethnic minorities. In the Republic of Serbia, the identity of national minorities is protected in the first place by the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, as the highest legal act. In addition to the presentation of these provisions, the paper will discuss the Civil Law aspects of protection the identity of national minorities prescribed in the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Freedoms of National Minorities, as well as the Criminal Law aspects of the protection of the identity of national minorities in situations where certain rights that constitute it are violated.

Human Trafficking in the Criminal Legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany

2026-07-04T14:00:20+02:00

As a serious international crime directed against human dignity, fundamental freedoms and rights, human trafficking is, based on international documents of the UN and the Council of Europe, prescribed as a specific criminal offense in several European criminal legislations. Given that the source of this incrimination is found in international standards, its content, characteristics, and forms or modes of manifestation are regulated in different ways in national laws. The paper analyzes the concept, elements and characteristics of the criminal offense of human trafficking in criminal legislations Federal Republic of Germany. In this context, it points on the legislations in terms of the legal regulation of the criminal offense of human trafficking in various forms of manifestation.

Criminalistic and Legal Challenges of Electronic Communications Surveillance in the Era of Encrypted Platforms

2026-07-04T14:40:32+02:00

The contemporary development of information and communication technologies has led to significant changes in the manner of interpersonal communication, while simultaneously transforming the methods of committing and concealing criminal offences. Encrypted communication platforms and modern forms of digital communication represent a particular challenge for law enforcement agencies, as they enable criminal groups to achieve a high level of anonymity, security, and resistance to detection. The use of applications such as SKY ECC, ANOM, Signal, and similar systems, as well as temporary communication methods including self-destructing applications, draft communication via e-mail services, and anonymous internet services, considerably complicates the implementation of special investigative measures involving the surveillance and technical interception of telecommunications.
The subject of this paper concerns the criminalistic and legal challenges of electronic communications surveillance in the era of encrypted platforms, with a particular focus on the legality of obtaining, using, and assessing the evidentiary value of electronic evidence in criminal proceedings. The paper analyses contemporary forms of digital communication used by organized criminal groups, the technical and operational obstacles involved in detecting such communications, as well as the normative framework governing the implementation of special investigative measures in Bosnia and Herzegovina and international law.
Special attention is devoted to the admissibility of evidence obtained through international cooperation and data transferred from encrypted platforms, particularly in the context of SKY ECC and ANOM cases, as well as to the relationship between the protection of the right to privacy and the necessity of effective criminal prosecution. The paper also examines issues related to the authentication, integrity, and reliability of digital evidence, together with the challenges of digital forensics in reconstructing deleted or concealed communications.

Liability of the Contractor and Designer for Structural Integrity of the Building

2026-07-04T14:45:06+02:00

Bearing in mind the highly dynamic construction process in our region, which is inevitably accompanied by an increased number of damages—both during the execution of works and after the completion and handover of the construction object to the client—an analysis of defects that threaten the stability and safety of the structure, as well as an analysis of liability for their occurrence, seems to be of particular importance. The liability of the contractor and the designer for the structural integrity of a building represents the strictest form of contractual liability which, due to the protection of public interest, is of an imperative nature and cannot be limited or excluded by an agreement between the parties. Although, as a rule, the principle of individual liability applies—under which the contractor and the designer are liable both to the client and to any subsequent purchaser of the building individually, each for their own faults—in exceptional circumstances of so-called factual co-causation of damage, where it is precisely known what each participant in the construction did, but it is impossible to determine the extent of each party’s contribution to the damage, the rules of joint and several liability of the contractor and the designer apply. In court proceedings, the crucial evidence for establishing damage caused by building defects is the expert report of a court-appointed construction expert, which must answer whether the building is defective, to what extent and degree, what the cause of the defects is, what the amount of the caused damage is, and primarily what type of defect is in question—qualitative defects or defects that jeopardize the structural integrity of the building. This categorization represents a conditio sine qua non for the legal qualification of the dispute, as it determines which limitation period, the two-year or ten-year period, will be applied in the specific legal matter. Of exceptional importance for the qualification of building defects, and thus for determining the liability of the contractor and/or designer, are the positions of both domestic and extensive comparative case law, which will be presented in this paper.

Criminal Procedure in the Roman Imperial Period: Between Accusatio and Cognitio Extra Ordinem

2026-07-04T14:50:28+02:00

This article examines the development of criminal procedure in the Roman Imperial period, with particular emphasis on the relationship and gradual transition between the accusatorial model (accusatio) and the extraordinary imperial procedure (cognitio extra ordinem). Starting from the institutional and procedural changes caused by the decline of republican judicial bodies and the strengthening of imperial authority, the paper analyses the transformation of judicial power holders, the initiation of criminal proceedings, the role of the judge, the shift from public to secret hearings, the law of evidence, and the emergence of legal remedies such as appeal (appellatio) and asylum (asylum). Special attention is devoted to the issue of proof and to a critical reassessment of the long-standing doctrinal misconception concerning the existence of a formal and binding system of evidentiary rules in Roman law. The conclusion highlights the importance of Roman imperial criminal procedure for the development of the continental legal tradition, emphasizing its ambivalent legacy between enhanced state repression and the early formation of procedural safeguards.

Resolving the Commodity Reserve Crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina: An Inter-Entity Legal Operational Framework

2026-07-04T14:55:59+02:00

For over three years, public and academic discourse in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has highlighted the severe material vulnerabilities arising from the lack of functional strategic commodity reserves. This policy brief introduces a constitutional, legally sound, non-centralized mechanism to resolve this crisis: the Inter-Entity Legal Institute for Coordination and Joint Public Procurement (IELIC). Grounded strictly in Article III(5)(a) of the BiH Constitution, this framework circumvents the politically sensitive issue of the “transfer of competencies” by utilizing consensual horizontal agreements. Financial liquidity is secured by allocating 5% of the record-breaking indirect tax revenues from 2025 (12.17 billion BAM) and early 2026 surpluses. Furthermore, the brief outlines a comprehensive Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to leverage private storage infrastructure, ensuring immediate food, medical, and energy security through an automated, needs-based distribution algorithm. By bypassing institutional deadlocks through contractual cooperation and public-private agility, this framework offers a replicable legal-governance model for supply chain resilience in highly decentralized or post-conflict states globally.

The Impact of European Integration on the Tax Systems of European Union Member States

2026-07-04T15:02:01+02:00

The organisation of the tax system and the definition of tax policy are determined by each state in its own way, depending on all the significant factors that characterise that state. However, within the single internal market of the European Union, Member States should pursue tax policies that move in broadly similar directions, since the activities and measures undertaken by one country may have an impact on neighbouring and other countries. In this respect, the European Union plays only a supporting role, and its objective is not to “standardise” national tax systems, but rather to ensure that they are compatible not only with one another, but also with the objectives laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community. Given that taxes, from the perspective of the subject matter of taxation, may constitute a barrier to the implementation of the fundamental principles of free trade and the basic elements of the internal market, the need arose for the harmonisation (alignment) of certain tax laws of European Union Member States, as well as of countries committed to accession to the European Union.

The Limits of International Commercial Arbitration in EU Law: Between Autonomy and Integration

2026-07-04T15:50:23+02:00

The relationship between international commercial arbitration and EU law has evolved from complete separation to an increasingly close interconnection. Although arbitration formally remains outside the Union’s institutional framework, EU law has a significant impact on arbitral proceedings, particularly when determining the jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals.
This article aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the position of arbitral tribunals within the EU legal order and to examine how EU law influences the arbitral process. The research employs normative, doctrinal, analytical and comparative legal methods, supplemented by an analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and selected national courts. The article is based on the premise that, despite being formally absent from the Union’s institutional structure, arbitral tribunals functionally participate in the application of EU law through indirect mechanisms, primarily by applying overriding mandatory rules and EU public policy when determining arbitral jurisdiction.
Furthermore, the article demonstrates that the absence of a uniform normative framework, particularly with regard to the ability of arbitral tribunals to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union, leads to the fragmentation of EU law and legal uncertainty. Finally, the article emphasises the need for a more coherent approach that reconciles party autonomy with the requirement for the uniform application of EU law.

In the Shadow of Digital Exploitation: Regulating AI-CSAM within International and European Union Legal Frameworks

2026-07-04T16:01:39+02:00

The advancement of AI and deepfake technology challenges cybercrime frameworks through the emergence of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (AI-CSAM). Employing a legal-doctrinal approach, this study analyzes UN standards, the Budapest and Lanzarote Conventions, and EU frameworks. The research demonstrates that criminal law protection remains justified without identifiable victims, as banning synthetic content abstractly protects children’s collective sexual integrity. While the EU pursues a three-pronged legislative strategy, various international declarations have emerged in response. The study concludes that from a legal perspective, effective child protection requires a shift toward systemic prevention, harmonizing global regulations with strict tech developer accountability.

Komentar Zakona o krivičnom postupku Republike Srpske

2026-07-04T16:06:02+02:00

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