LIFE IMPRISONMENT AS AN ANSWER TO CONTEMPORARY SECURITY CHALLENGES - THE (IN)ADEQUACY OF THE RETRIBUTIVE APPROACH –
LIFE IMPRISONMENT AS AN ANSWER TO CONTEMPORARY SECURITY CHALLENGES - THE (IN)ADEQUACY OF THE RETRIBUTIVE APPROACH –

Summary/Abstract: Contemporary Serbian criminal legislation characterizes the concept of expansionism – the strengthening of the prescribed penalties and extending the limits of criminal repression (“punitive populism”), as legislative response to the trends of criminality, potential security challenges and public attitudes on the adequacy of the social response to the phenomenon of crime. The latest in a series of legislative changes envisages the introduction of life imprisonment as a new penalty in the criminal sanction system and, at the same time, the abolition of (long-term) imprisonment from thirty up to forty years. The severity of the criminal law reaction is reflected not only in the introduction of life imprisonment, but also in the prohibition of conditional release for the convicted, to life imprisonment for certain serious crimes, although such a solution is often challenged in comparative and international jurisprudence. The aim of this paper is to review the justification of introducing life imprisonment in our criminal legislation and to point out the (in)acceptability of certain normative solutions; to determine the potential scope and effects of life imprisonment as penalty, that is, to critically analyze the adequacy of the retributive approach in relation to the trends of criminality and contemporary security challenges.

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