Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006• How many criminal charges have been brought to your DistrictPublic Prosecutor’s Office during the years 2004 and 2005 for thecriminal act from Article 134 of the Basic Criminal Law — instigatingracial, religious and national hate, discord and intolerance? We alsoask you to deliver us the information on the number of complaintswhich have been processed in courts in the same period for thebefore mentioned criminal act 1138 .The intention of the Initiative was to obtain information from the DistrictPublic Prosecutor’s Offices on the number of filed complaints duringthe years 2004 and 2005 for causing racial, religious and national hateor intolerance, and on the number of indictments raised on the basis ofthe filed criminal complaints. The District Courts were asked to provideinformation on the number of processes which were lead at that time,as well as on the number of convictions during the years 2004 and 2005.Based on this data the number of complaints filed in Serbia during thesetwo years on the suspicion that this criminal act had been committed can beestablished, as well as how many indictments were brought and how manyconvictions there were in the District Courts of Serbia. By comparing theobtained data, it is possible to reach argumented conclusions on the relationof the legislative organs toward this criminal act, and the possible traditionof punishableness, or unpunishableness of the perpetrators.The Basic Criminal Law 1139 ceased to be efficient on 1st January 2006. Itanticipated the criminal act of „causing national, racial and religious hatred,discord or intolerance“ 1140 . The law stated that the person or persons whocaused or excited national, racial or religious hatred, discord or intoleranceamong nations and national minorities which live in SRJ (Federal Republicof Yugoslavia), would be punished by a prison sentence of up to fiveyears 1141 . In cases when this is done by force, harassment, endangering thesafety, mocking national, ethnic or religious symbols, destruction of otherpeople’s property, desecrating monuments, commemorative objects orgraves, such acts will be punished with a prison sentence in the durationof one to eight years 1142 . If such a criminal act is committed by abusinga position or authorizations, or if it caused riots, violence or other severe1138 All the requests to the District Public Prosecutor’s Offices were sent on August 25 th , 20051139 The Basic Criminal Code stopped being valid on the putting into effect of the Criminal Code1140 Ibid, Article 1341141 Ibid, Paragraph 11142 Ibid, Paragraph 2199