КРИВИЧНО ДЕЛО УБИЈАЊЕ И МУЧЕЊЕ ЖИВОТИЊА – МАТЕРИЈАЛНИ И ПРОЦЕСНИ АСПЕКТ
THE CRIME OF ANIMAL CRUELTY IN SERBIA: Substantive and Procedural Aspects

Summary/Abstract: In the Republic of Serbia, animal cruelty has been envisaged as a criminal offence since 1st January 2006 when the new Criminal Code entered into force. The new criminal offence was introduced into our criminal legislation and designated as “Killing and Wanton Cruelty to Animals”. In an attempt to keep up with international standards regarding animal welfare, the Serbian legislator also adopted the Animal Welfare Act in 2009. These legislative acts provided for establishing a satisfactory normative framework on this matter. In spite of the innovative legal provisions contained in these acts, the state reaction to various forms of animal cruelty in Serbia still appears to be insufficient in comparison to other developed countries, such as the USA or the EU member states. In that context, the authors analyze the forms of the criminal offence of killing and torture of animals as prescribed in our current criminal legislation. Further on, the authors point out to the major difficulties that might appear in the course of criminal proceedings against the perpetrator of this criminal offence. Ultimately, the authors offer some propositions which may improve the present theoretical and practical solutions in this area of criminal law, as well as some guidelines for the jurisprudence which may help improve the efficiency of criminal proceedings against the perpetrators of this crime.

• Details
• Contents