KAZNENA DJELA PRIMANJA I DAVANJA MITA U PRAVU REPUBLIKE HRVATSKE
CRIMINAL OFFENCES OF RECEIVING AND GIVING BRIBE IN THE CROATIAN LAW

Summary/Abstract: Accepting and giving bribes are crimes that law enforcement authorities are particularly interested in detecting (or should be) given that in many cases it is the interest of the recipient and the bribe provider, and their interest in reporting the other party to the competent authorities is insignificant. The paper presents the results of the theoretical and normative investigation of corruptive crimes of receiving and giving bribes and descriptive and comparative method. In addition, the authors analyze the relevant case law on which they base conclusions about the possible implications of corruptive crimes such as accepting and giving bribes. In order to take a closer look at the problem, an empirical investigation of the criminal offenses of receiving and giving bribes in the period from 2017 to 2021 was conducted. The paper presents an overview of the criminal offenses of accepting and giving bribes with regard to the jurisdiction of the State Attorney’s Office or the type of decision (considering the variable known/unknown perpetrator, the number of dismissed charges, the number of indictments filed, with/without a criminal order or after the investigation has been conducted). Special attention was paid to the analysis of the number of reported and convicted police officers, state attorneys and bribery judges in the period from 2018 until 2022. Based on the results of empirical research, the authors conclude that the judicial policy of punishment in Croatia is mild and propose new solutions de lege ferenda, starting from court criminal policy to prescribing qualified forms of the criminal offense of receiving and giving bribes.

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