Criminal Division

At the beginning of 2006, the Criminal division of the Supreme Court of Serbia was composed of 25 judges and 26 advisers. The judges within this division are divided into five panels and deal with all criminal cases within the competence of the Supreme Court of Serbia.

Beside that, these judges are divided also in the panels which are established to process particular cases:

• Panel hearing appeals against the decision of one of the Supreme Court’s Panels in third instance
• Panel deciding on requests for protection of legality against a decision of the Supreme Court of Serbia
• Panel hearing appeals upon extraordinary legal remedies against legally valid court decisions issued by commercial courts in criminal proceedings
• Panel deciding on the conflict of competence in criminal proceedings between the courts of general competence and commercial courts and deciding on transfer of competence for commercial courts in crimi nal proceedings.

The complexity of the work of judges in this division is evident in dealing with the most serious criminal cases, where the prescribed punishment is up to 40 years imprisonment, as well as in the case with large number of offenders or accomplices in a case. The structure of criminal offences before the judges of this division is: murders, robberies and serious forms of these offences, as well as unauthorized production and sale of narcotics and criminal offences prescribed by the Law on Arms and Ammunition. There is also a significant number of cases on conflict of jurisdiction between the courts and on transfer of jurisdiction of the court.

This division hears appeals in second instance, as well as various orders, mostly referring to ordering or extending detention, conditional release etc. The Supreme Court of Serbia may, whilst hearing appeal, hold hearings only when it is necessary due to incorrect or incomplete findings of the facts, to present new evidence or present the old evidence in a different manner as well as when there are justifiable reasons for deciding against a new trial in first instance.

The division hears appeals on extraordinary legal remedies in the five-judges panels, upon request for extraordinary mitigation of punishment, request for review of legality of a legally valid court decision, request for protection of legality and claim for new trial.

It also hears appeals in the third instance when a court adjudicated punishment of 40 years imprisonment or upheld such decision by the first instance court; or if the second instance court found different facts than determined by the first instance court which was subsequently used as grounds for its adjudication; and if the second instance court altered the first instance acquittal and adjudicated the condemnatory decision.

A nine-judges panel of the Supreme Court of Serbia, who were not in the panel that decided on the appealed case, hear appeal against a decision by a panel of the Supreme Court of Serbia.