RAD U JAVNOM INTERESU – SPORNA PITANjA IZRICANjA I IZVRŠENjA

Abstract

The idea that perpetrators of criminal acts (by court decision) are directed to perform unpaid work in the general interest instead of spending time in prisons is a pragmatic and acceptable response to the general need of criminal justice systems to reduce pressure on prison capacities, save money and negatively affect recidivism. Since its creation in the last decades of the twentieth century, this criminal sanction has undergone numerous programs of critical evaluations, retained its important place in modern criminal justice systems and became an important part of international standards relevant for the application of alternative criminal sanctions and measures. Less than two decades of the application of the punishment of work in the public interest in the legislation of Serbia indicate that after the initial period of strategic, normative and institutional frameworks building, this sanction finds its place in the practice of the courts. However, the declining representation of this sanction in the applied alternative sanctions and measures in recent years requires a review of the normative and institutional frameworks in which it is applied. The paper analyzes the modern modalities of the application of work in the public interest and points to the disputed issues of the imposition and execution of the punishment of work in the public interest in domestic practice.