ADULT PERPETRATORS OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES, BY TYPE OF DECISION, 2023

In 2023, public prosecutor’s offices in the Republic of Croatia decided upon crime reports for 45 644 adult perpetrators of criminal offences, which was 0.9% less than in 2022. The number of accused persons decreased by 10.6% and the number of convicted persons by 8.9%, 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 2023, was 48.8%, of accused persons it was 27.8% and of convicted persons it was 28.5%. They were followed by criminal offences against personal freedom, with 10.7% of reported, 16.6% of accused and 15.9% of convicted perpetrators.

By type of pronounced criminal penalties or other measures, the most frequent one was suspended imprisonment (82.1%), followed by unsuspended imprisonment (15.5%), suspended fine (1.2%) and suspension of juvenile imprisonment (0.5%).

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, 126/19, 84/21, 114/22 and 114/23) 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.

Published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb, Ilica 3, P. O. B. 80
Phone: (+385 1) 48 06 111
Press corner: press@dzs.hr

Persons responsible:
Dubravka Rogić Hadžalić, Director of Demographic and Social Statistics Directorate
Lidija Brković, Director General

Prepared by:
Gordana Finzir and Mario Vlajčević

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