PROGANJANJE - IZAZOVI NOVE INKRIMINACIJE
STALKING – CHALLENGES OF NEW INCRIMINATION

Summary/Abstract: The Criminal Code which came into effect on10 July 2017 (''Republic Srpska Official Gazette“, No 64/17) for the first time includes the criminal act of stalking in Republic of Srpska legislation, in its Article 144. Stalking has been included in Chapter XIII, within the group of criminal acts against citizens’ rights and freedoms. With this act, Republic of Srpska has joined the family of those European countries which apply Article 34 of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, to incriminate such deliberate behaviour, where repeated threats made to another person cause that person’s fear for their safety.In an assessment of significance of the new incrimination, this study shows results of an analysis of legal regulation relevant to stalking as a criminal act in other European countries, along with an overview of the historic development and judicial practices aiming to provide an explanationof the legal text dedicated to stalking as a criminal act int he Republic of Srpska. The legal text has been analysed from these two aspects: legal-criminal and criminal-political.Empirical research results have also been shown, where the topic of the research was the presence of stalking amongst final grade secondary school students. The research sample was consisting of 189 senior students of Grammar School Filip Višnjić in Bijeljina, out of what 128 female and 61 male students. The results show that as many as 26 senior students, i.e. 13.7% of total number of subjects, have been victims of stalking, interpreted as described in the provisions of Article 144 of The Republic Srpska Criminal Code. The results obtained confirm justifiability of incriminating such acts which mean the criminal act of stalking, as well as a need of broader education of the public on their rights guaranteed by the state and on mechanisms of protecting these rights.

• Details
• Contents