REFORM OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - FROM WITNESS ASSOCIATE TO ACCUSED ASSOCIATE

Abstract

The first indicator of the influence of adversary elements in the criminal proceedings of the Republic of Serbia was the establishment of the Institute of Collaborative Witnesses less than two decades ago. Until 2011, the Criminal Procedure Code was amended and supplemented several times, so the material conditions for acquiring this procedural feature changed accordingly. The final break with the long-standing tradition of the criminal justice system was made, first by providing the defendant with the opportunity to be a party to the conclusion of the agreement on the recognition of the criminal act, then the guilt, and then, from 2011, also the party to the conclusion of the agreement on testimony. In the paper, through long-standing legal regulations, a comparative view of the institute of associate witnesses in the domestic legislative framework is given, and then, through certain specificities of the institute of associate witnesses, their similarities and differences are pointed out. As the newly established legal regulations are not harmonized with the new procedural institute, it is pointed out the need to supplement the current legal solutions, especially in the part related to the procedural and programmatic protection of the accused associate. The focus of the subject matter is directed at criminal acts of organized crime.