PROCESUIRANJE KORUPTIVNIH KRIVIČNIH DJELA PRED NADLEŽNIM SUDOVIMA NA PODRUČJU TUZLANSKOG KANTONA
THE PROSECUTION OF CORRUPTION CRIMINAL OFFENSES BEFORE COMPETENT COURTS IN THE TUZLA CANTON

Summary/Abstract: The main objective of this document was to research and describe the main characteristics of prosecuting criminal acts of corruption at the competent courts on the territory of Tuzla Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina The motives for conducting this research relate to the perception among the general public of high prevalence of corruption in our country and thus in our Canton as well, which is the most populated Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the issue of prosecution of such criminal acts on the territory of this Canton is scientifically unexplored. The authors have analyzed 89 cases (with 138 defendants) which, in the period from 2001. to 2017., have been brought before the competent municipal courts on the territory of this Canton and the Cantonal Court in Tuzla. The research determined that 65% of the defendants have been found guilty for crimes they have been accused of, the most common crime being abuse of official position or power. Approximately half of the guilty verdicts was made following main court trial, while the others were made by implementing some other processing forms of summary proceedings. The cases were predominantly against natural persons of the male gender, without prior convictions, a considerable proportion of which had at least a university level education (60%), in most cases employed, whereby the majority has stated that they are of medium financial standing. In only 15 cases the courts have ruled to confiscate the unlawfully acquired against from the perpetrators, whereby the lowest confiscated gains from a natural person was in the amount of 100 KM, and the highest in the amount of 1,525,711.21 KM. In only 12 cases the courts have awarded damages to the plaintiffs in criminal proceedings, while in all other cases they were referred to the option of initiating civil proceedings for this purpose. 68% of the guilty persons were sentenced to probation, 31% were given prison sentences, while 1% were given monetary sentence. Of those which were given prison sentences,50% were given a prison term of up to six months, 22% a prison term between six months and one year, 25% between one- and four-year terms, and 3% more than four years. All this implies a conclusion that the courts on the territory of the Tuzla Canton have a very lenient policy of penalizing perpetrators of criminal acts of corruption, which the authors of the document strongly criticize, and express strong doubts that such penal policy could achieve a meaningful result with respect to fighting corruption and attaining the protective function of criminal law.

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