Short-Term Prison Sentence in Republic of Srpska’s Criminal Code
Summary: The appliance of short-term imprisonment penalties is one of the oldest open issues that accompanies imprisonment and one of the oldest problems of criminal law and penology. For one hundred and fifty years, there have been fi erce debates about the need of these penalties in criminal law. The new Republic of Srpska’s Criminal Code explicitly stipulates that a shortterm prison sentence is up to six months prison sentence. The new Criminal Code completely reformed this penalty by prescribing that it could be applied only exceptionally. The author analyzes the new solution in an attempt to answer the question of whether it is justifi ed in our legislation. Until the new legal solution in our practice, a large part of the prison sentences imposed were short-term prison sentences. The logical question is whether other criminal sanctions and measures are able to satisfactorily fill the rather large gap created by the practically elimination of this penalty.
Key words: conception of short-term imprisonment, justifi cation of short-term imprisonment’s existence, substitutes for short-term imprisonment, Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska
Rezime: Primjena kratkotrajnih kazni lišenja slobode jedno je od najstarijih otvorenih pitanja koje pratikazne lišenja slobode i jedan od najstarijih problema krivičnog prava i penologije. Već stotinu pedeset godina vode se žestoke rasprave o potrebi postojanja ovih kazni u krivičnom zakonodavstvu. Novi Krivični zakonik Republike Srpske izričito je odredio da je kratkotrajna kazna zatvora kazna zatvora do šest mjeseci. On je potpuno reformisao ovu kaznu propisujući da se primjenjuje samo izuzetno. Autor u radu analizira novo rješenje pokušavajući da odgovori na pitanje da li je ono u našem zakonodavstvu opravdano. Do novog zakonskog rješenja u našoj praksi veliki dio izrečenih kazni zatvora su bile upravo kratkotrajne kazne zatvora. Postavlja se logično pitanje da li su ostale krivične sankcije i mjere u stanju da na zadovoljavajući način popune prilično veliku prazninu koja je nastala praktično eliminisanjem ove kazne.
Ključne riječi: pojam kratkotrajne kazne lišenja slobode, opravdanost postojanja kratkotrajne kazne lišenja slobode, supstitut kratkotrajnoj kazni lišenja slobode, Krivični zakonik Republike Srpske.