Criminal legal challenges in Republic of Serbia during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The pandemic caused by the spread of the infectious disease COVID-19, which affected the entire planet, caused not only the global health crisis, changing the usual way of life of the majority of the world's population, but also affected almost all areas of the state and social system. The health systems were most affected; however, in addition to them, the effects of measures adopted by national legislators or other competent authorities to eliminate or reduce the risk of spreading the disease have affected, inter alia, economic stability, but also challenged the judicial authorities given that in the new circumstances it was not easy to ensure their normal functioning. This primarily refers to the criminal justice, given the importance of cases and the need for urgent action, since it is necessary to ensure the conduct of trials and the work of all procedural entities in conditions that, at least in one period, implied drastic restrictions on some basic civil and human rights and freedoms. In that context, it is especially important to review the justification and legality of the measures introduced in the Republic of Serbia during the state of emergency with the aim of more or less normal operation of the judicial system in conditions when social life was almost completely paralyzed. In addition, there is the question of what challenges and controversial issues are generally posed before criminal law in a pandemic, as well as the analysis of data on the crime rate and the overall crime situation in the Republic of Serbia in the period since the introduction of the state of emergency and during the pandemic.