Specijalizacija nosilaca pravosudnih funkcija i svest građana kao instrumenti suprotstavljanja ekološkim kaznenim delima

Abstract

Specialization, contentfull training, and continuous professional growth of prosecutors and judges in the domain of ecological crimes, joint education programs for criminal justice organs, police officers and inspectors, the increase in material and human resources, especially in the domain of inspections, are all necessary requirements for the improvement in the detection, investigation, evidence collection, and prevention of ecological crimes. In this paper, the author first analyzes the significance of the specialization of public office holders, prosecutors and judges, when it comes to ecological crimes. One of the current priorities of the EU is the struggle against ecological crime, especially certain types of ecological crime. The specialization of criminal justice office holders, especially prosecutors, is the norm in certain countries. Insufficient public awareness about the consequences of ecological crimes and the damage they cause, their victims, their "profitability", and their scope is a significant obstacle for the prevention, detection, and reduction of ecological crime. Numerous international legal documents emphasize the imperative of improving public awareness about ecological crimes. The author relates the improvement in public awareness with the right of "members of the public" to access criminal justice and the role of the "concerned public" in a criminal procedure, above all as persons filing criminal complaints, often in the form of citizen groups/associations or in relation to the participation in criminal procedures for these crimes.