First Release

Year: LVIII.
Zagreb, 09 April 2021
PSZ-2021-1-1

ISSN 1334-0557

ADULT PERPETRATORS OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES BY TYPE OF DECISION, 2020

In 2020, public prosecutor’s offices in the Republic of Croatia decided upon crime reports for 48 272 adult perpetrators of criminal offences, which was 8.4% less than in 2019. The number of accused persons decreased by 10.6% and the number of convicted persons by 10.5%, as compared to the previous year.

The share of persons reported for criminal offences against property, which was the most frequent type of offence in 2020, was 52.6%, of accused persons it was 30.8% and of convicted persons it was 31.9%. They were followed by criminal offences against personal freedom, with 11.6% of reported, 15.4% of accused and 14.9% of convicted perpetrators.

By type of pronounced criminal penalties or other measures, the most frequent one was suspended imprisonment (80.5%), followed by unsuspended imprisonment (16.6%), suspended fine (1.2%) and unsuspended fine (0.8%).

1. ADULT PERPETRATORS OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES – REPORTED, ACCUSED AND CONVICTED

   Reported Accused Convicted
Total Women Total Women Total Women
2019. 52 670 5 240 15 230 2 021 13 002 1 691
2020. 48 272 5 347 13 615 1 904 11 634 1 565
Indices
2020.
2019.
91,6 102,0 89,4 94,2 89,5 92,5

2. DECISIONS OF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICES, BY TYPE OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES, 2020

   Total Criminal offences against
Life and limb Personal freedom Sexual freedom Sexual maltreatment and sexual exploitation of children Marriage, family and children People˙s health Public safety Safety in traffic
Total 48 272 1 762 5 615 287 252 2 821 1 141 479 1 255
Unknown perpetrators 19 711 149 263 38 44 9 24 135 44
Known perpetrators 28 561 1 613 5 352 249 208 2 812 1 117 344 1 211
Women 5 347 176 694 7 6 750 100 36 237
Reports rejected 12 534 612 2 642 94 34 1 223 140 122 231
Interrupted investigation 4 - - - - - - - -
Terminated investigation 288 27 17 25 9 5 38 4 12
Indictment 15 735 974 2 693 130 165 1 584 939 218 968
Immediate – overall 13 124 793 2 595 65 66 1 551 352 170 843
Without warrant 6 978 482 1 369 43 59 1 238 227 79 158
With warrant 6 146 311 1 226 22 7 313 125 91 685
After investigation 2 521 170 63 64 99 24 584 46 125
Against mentally incompetent defendant 90 11 35 1 - 9 3 2 -
Duration of investigative imprisonment 2 645 226 606 56 51 238 231 29 22
Under 15 days 242 17 48 5 3 13 15 3 6
15 – 30 days 1 343 82 398 19 15 136 74 10 6
 1 – 2 months 492 43 104 12 9 59 47 9 5
 2 – 3 months 314 26 42 8 10 27 51 1 4
 3 – 6 months 163 44 13 9 11 3 23 2 1
 6 – 12 months 91 14 1 3 3 - 21 4 -

2. DECISIONS OF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICES, BY TYPE OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES, 2020

(continued)

   Criminal offences against Other criminal offences Secondary criminal legislation (apart from Penal Code) Indices
2020.
2019.
Property Economy Counterfeiting Official duty Judiciary Public order
Total 25 421 1 655 1 578 1 484 847 1 677 1 950 48 91,6
Unknown perpetrators 17 589 28 370 31 29 88 870 - 80,2
Known perpetrators 7 832 1 627 1 208 1 453 818 1 589 1 080 48 101,6
Women 1 482 303 271 593 278 148 262 4 102,0
Reports rejected 3 252 875 420 1 329 614 281 662 3 101,4
Interrupted investigation - 1 - 1 - - 2 - 40,0
Terminated investigation 63 41 5 9 7 19 7 - 99,3
Indictment 4 517 710 783 114 197 1 289 409 45 101,8
Immediate – overall 4 058 436 745 32 181 794 399 44 102,3
Without warrant 2 211 201 200 18 59 495 139 - 101,5
With warrant 1 847 235 545 14 122 299 260 44 103,3
After investigation 443 274 38 82 16 483 9 1 98,2
Against mentally incompetent defendant 16 - - - - 12 1 - 152,5
Duration of investigative imprisonment 462 97 91 11 22 483 19 1 92,5
Under 15 days 23 25 23 4 2 51 4 - 80,7
15 – 30 days 271 33 46 5 15 223 9 1 92,0
 1 – 2 months 75 22 6 2 2 93 4 - 80,9
 2 – 3 months 56 5 5 - 1 76 2 - 97,8
 3 – 6 months 29 7 3 - - 18 - - 143,0
 6 – 12 months 8 5 8 - 2 22 - - 165,4
                   

3. COURTS DECISIONS AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES OR OTHER MEASURES, BY TYPE OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES, 2020

       Total Criminal offences against
Life and limb Personal freedom Sexual freedom Sexual maltreatment and sexual exploitation of children Marriage, family and children People˙s health Public safety Safety in traffic
Total 13 615 838 2 101 119 110 1 060 655 171 958
Women 1 904 61 207 2 5 209 46 14 182
Convicted persons 11 634 695 1 733 99 99 940 592 124 899
Women 1 565 45 162 2 4 176 42 9 174
Not convicted persons 1 981 143 368 20 11 120 63 47 59
Rebuff 98 8 16 - 1 1 - 1 1
Terminated criminal proceeding 743 63 135 3 3 63 21 20 19
Judgement of acquittal 689 38 73 11 4 19 33 17 21
Judgement rejecting charges 319 9 88 4 1 22 7 7 18
Mentally incompetent persons – coercive accommodation or outward treatment 132 25 56 2 2 15 2 2 -
Criminal penalties and other measures – total 11 634 695 1 733 99 99 940 592 124 899
Imprisonment – unsuspended 1 935 147 171 39 52 64 194 12 79
Long-term imprisonment 6 6 - - - - - - -
20 years 1 - - - - - - - -
15 – 20 years - - - - - - - - -
10 – 15 years 9 6 - 1 2 - - - -
 5 – 10 years 40 8 - 4 8 - 6 - 1
 3 – 5 years 128 21 1 8 15 1 19 1 7
 2 – 3 years 115 7 1 5 3 1 30 1 4
 1 – 2 years 375 17 18 10 9 20 32 3 15
6 – 12 months 1 014 67 131 7 15 35 103 6 44
3 – 6 months 232 15 19 3 - 7 4 1 8
 Up to 3 months 15 - 1 1 - - - - -
Fine – unsuspended 98 2 8 - - - 1 - 32
Suspended imprisonment 9 366 530 1 539 60 38 876 363 109 749
Partially suspended imprisonment 554 33 41 7 8 42 80 2 25
Suspended fine 135 4 12 - 1 - - - 32
Judicial admonition - - - - - - - - -
Educational measures 42 6 3 - 3 - 10 1 1
Juvenile imprisonment 5 1 - - 1 - 1 - 2
Suspension of juvenile imprisonment 46 5 - - 4 - 23 - 1
Convicted, but no penal sentence 7 - - - - - - 2 3
Fine as additional penalty 323 7 12 - - 7 57 - 2
Security measures 694 68 228 8 10 102 32 6 89
Confiscation of pecuniary benefit acquired by a criminal offence 804 3 - 8 1 - 128 - -
Confiscation of objects 1 848 68 87 10 20 9 434 10 3
Substitution of imprisonment or fine (community sanctions) 574 43 56 2 9 19 80 2 32
Previous convictions 2 995 136 399 22 22 207 149 14 43
Duration of investigative imprisonment 2 452 213 415 55 47 171 226 19 19
Under 30 days 741 52 123 23 9 48 59 5 14
30 days – 3 months 729 63 176 12 5 68 43 7 3
3 –   6 months 578 35 99 2 9 45 53 5 1
6 – 12 months 290 32 16 11 8 9 52 - 1
12 – 18 months 58 12 1 4 7 1 6 2 -
18 – 24 months 26 7 - 1 3 - 11 - -
2 –   4 years 30 12 - 2 6 - 2 - -

3. COURTS DECISIONS AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES OR OTHER MEASURES, BY TYPE OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES, 2020

(continued)

    Criminal offences against Other criminal offences Secondary criminal legislation (apart from Penal Code) Indices
2020.
2019.
Property Economy Counterfeiting Official duty Judiciary Public order
Total 4 194 693 673 220 146 990 663 24 89,4
Women 674 113 105 49 34 56 138 9 94,2
Convicted persons 3 708 515 631 143 117 945 374 20 89,5
Women 596 85 99 32 24 53 55 7 92,5
Not convicted persons 486 178 42 77 29 45 289 4 88,9
Rebuff 17 4 1 5 5 - 37 1 102,1
Terminated criminal proceeding 193 61 16 7 8 17 114 - 85,8
Judgement of acquittal 171 87 20 49 15 14 114 3 101,3
Judgement rejecting charges 84 26 5 16 1 7 24 - 68,9
Mentally incompetent persons – coercive accommodation or outward treatment 21 - - - - 7 - - 107,3
Criminal penalties and other measures – total 3 708 515 631 143 117 945 374 20 89,5
Imprisonment – unsuspended 749 92 39 42 9 209 37 - 81,6
Long-term imprisonment - - - - - - - - 120,0
20 years - - - - - - 1 - -
15 – 20 years - - - - - - - - -
10 – 15 years - - - - - - - - 56,3
 5 – 10 years 7 1 - - - - 5 - 102,6
 3 – 5 years 33 6 - - - 13 3 - 109,4
 2 – 3 years 34 5 - 4 - 18 2 - 83,3
 1 – 2 years 156 19 4 6 1 63 2 - 87,0
 6 – 12 months 395 51 23 25 4 95 13 - 75,6
 3 – 6 months 115 7 12 7 4 19 11 - 86,2
 Up to 3 months 9 3 - - - 1 - - 107,1
Fine – unsuspended 16 12 2 - - - 24 1 79,0
Suspended imprisonment 2 914 401 586 101 108 721 258 13 91,5
Partially suspended imprisonment 132 23 5 9 1 142 4 - 107,4
Suspended fine 8 10 2 - - 7 53 6 76,3
Judicial admonition - - - - - - - - -
Educational measures 12 - - - - 6 - - 123,5
Juvenile imprisonment - - - - - - - - 100,0
Suspension of juvenile imprisonment 9 - 2 - - 2 - - 102,2
Convicted, but no penal sentence - - - - - - 2 - 77,8
Fine as additional penalty 42 48 6 5 - 129 8 - 70,7
Security measures 102 3 1 17 1 22 5 - 91,0
Confiscation of pecuniary benefit acquired by a criminal offence 394 109 8 30 - 101 22 - 79,1
Confiscation of objects 255 159 313 4 6 424 46 - 93,6
Substitution of imprisonment or fine (community sanctions) 198 37 15 26 - 47 8 - 65,9
Previous convictions 1 458 132 81 10 39 200 79 4 90,8
Duration of investigative imprisonment 576 83 93 47 14 447 27 - 92,5
Under 30 days 170 46 64 37 3 76 12 - 81,5
30 days – 3 months 159 20 23 8 8 126 8 - 89,1
3 –   6 months 170 7 6 1 2 140 3 - 110,1
6 – 12 months 62 9 - - 1 87 2 - 96,3
12 – 18 months 7 1 - 1 - 15 1 - 131,8
18 – 24 months 1 - - - - 3 - - 83,9
 2 –   4 years 7 - - - - - 1 - 130,4

G-1.  REPORTED, ACCUSED AND CONVICTED ADULT PERSONS, 2019 AND 2020

Number of persons

G-2.  CONVICTED ADULT PERSONS, BY CRIMINAL PENALTIES OR OTHER MEASURES, 2020

G-3.  REPORTED, ACCUSED AND CONVICTED ADULT PERSONS, 2011 – 2020

Number of persons

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Source and methods of data collection

On the basis of the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20), data on criminal offences of adult reported, accused and convicted persons are collected by regular statistical surveys, which use the following statistical reports: the Statistical Report for an Adult against Whom Criminal Proceedings Based on Crime Report and the Interlocutory Proceedings Have Been Concluded (SK-1 form) and the Statistical Report for an Accused Adult against Whom Criminal Proceedings Have Been Validly Concluded (SK-2 form).

Statistical reports are filled in by competent public prosecutor’s offices after the final decision has taken place as well as county and municipal courts of first instance that act after the criminal procedure was validly concluded. Observation units are adult perpetrators of criminal offences, who can be either direct perpetrators, accomplices, instigators or assistants.

On 1 January 2013, the new Penal Code (NN, Nos 125/11, 144/12, 56/15, 61/15 – correction, 101/17, 118/18 and 126/19) entered into force. This code, besides implementing new and modifying existing general institutes of material criminal law, prescribes a new catalogue of criminal offences.

Coverage

Statistical surveys cover all adult perpetrators of criminal offences, whether reported, accused or convicted, in order to examine the volume and spread of crime for the whole territory of the Republic of Croatia.

Definitions

Crime, in terms of statistical surveys, ranges from reporting a criminal offence to the valid conclusion of legal proceedings by a public prosecutor’s office, that is, to pronouncing a valid court decision.

Adult perpetrators of criminal offences are persons who turned 18 at the time of committing the criminal offence and against whom proceedings based on crime report and interlocutory proceedings have been concluded and accused persons (including those who were charged on the basis of private suit) against whom legal proceedings have been validly concluded.

Person reported as known perpetrator is an adult perpetrator of a criminal offence against whom proceedings based on crime report and interlocutory proceedings have been concluded with a decision by which either the crime report is rejected, or the investigation was interrupted, or the investigation was terminated, or indictment was submitted.

Person reported as an unknown perpetrator is, starting with the 2015 reference year, an unknown person who was reported for a criminal offence to the public prosecutor. Until the end of 2014 reference year, an unknown perpetrator was defined as an unknown person who was reported for a criminal offence to the public prosecutor and who remains unknown even after one year from the day of the submission of the crime report. This change is expected to have a limited influence on data on total reported perpetrators as well as on reported unknown perpetrators, as it can be expected that a certain number of initially unknown perpetrators’ identities will be revealed during the same year, consequently resulting in double counting.

Accused person is an adult person against whom an indictment, accusatory motion or private suit is filed before the court, against whom criminal proceedings have been concluded with a valid court decision by which the proceedings are terminated, indictment is dropped, the person is acquitted, the accusation is rejected, a mentally incompetent person is assigned to a coercive accommodation or outward treatment or a perpetrator is convicted.

Younger adult person is a person who turned 18 but not yet 21 years of age at the time of committing a criminal offence to whom court may pronounce educational measures consisting of special obligations, increased supervision and juvenile imprisonment. In case a perpetrator did not turn 21 years of age, the court may also pronounce educational measure of assignment to a centre for disciplinary development and correctional institution measure. To a perpetrator who turns 21 years of age during the trial, a court may pronounce imprisonment instead of juvenile imprisonment sentence, within the boundaries that apply for the duration of the juvenile imprisonment.

Convicted person is a convicted adult person against whom the following criminal penalties or other measures have been pronounced: imprisonment, fine, educational measures, judicial admonition (milder act principle) and a convicted person, but no sentence has been imposed.

 

Abbreviations    
       
NN Narodne novine, official gazette of the Republic of Croatia
       
Symbols      
       
- no occurrence  
0,0 value not zero but less than 0.05 of the unit of measure used

 

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