Upućivanje u odgojnu ustanovu – odgojna mjera zahvaćena svjetskim trendom transformacije i deinstitucionalizacije

Abstract

The transformation and deinstitutionalisation of educational institutions in EU Member States have not bypassed Croatian juvenile criminal law. With the latest amendments to the Youth Courts Act in 2019, a completely new method of executing juvenile sanctions, known as specialised foster care, was introduced into Croatian juvenile law. This measure is implemented not only in social care institutions (community support centres or educational homes) but also in associations specialised in children with behavioural issues. According to the new regulation, it can now also be carried out by foster parents engaged in specialised foster care for children under a special regulation. The implementing regulation for specialised foster care is the Foster Care Act. However, despite legal regulation, its application is lacking, indicating serious issues in practice. The problems are twofold. On the one hand, there is understaffing in institutional accommodation facilities in educational institutions for boys and girls, and, regarding the latter, there are no adequate educational institutions for girls. On the other hand, the execution of this measure is not realised through an alternative, i.e., in a non-institutional way through specialised foster care. All of this can lead to absurdity and result in the imposition of more severe sanctions due to the lack of the possibility to execute the existing educational measure of referral to an educational institution. As a result, the research will investigate to what extent the imposition of this measure on underage girls is prevalent before the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb and where this measure is executed.