The provision on the right to a dignified death proposed in the Preliminary Draft Civil Code of the Republic of Serbia has again actualized the discussions on the legalization of euthanasia. Within the framework of inheritance legislation, there are discussions regarding the place of euthanasia among the reasons for unworthiness to inherit. In most legislations, euthanasia is still a criminal offense and, on that basis, the reason for unworthiness to inherit. In the legal systems where euthanasia is allowed, this procedure is completely performed by a doctor. Heirs are not involved in the procedure. Accordingly, euthanasia is not mentioned as a reason for unworthiness of the heir to inherit. The legal solution proposed in the Preliminary Draft of the Civil Code of the Republic of Serbia was discussed in general terms and left for further debate. By the time the proposed solution is adopted in this or a slightly modified form, active euthanasia will be the reason for unworthiness to inherit, while passive euthanasia could be discussed within some other legally prescribed reasons for unworthiness.

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Euthanasia as a reason for unworthiness to inherit

Suspended sentence with custodial supervision represents an alternative sanction that the legislation of the Republic of Serbia has known for half a century, but its application is rare because it is ordered in a negligible number of cases. Ordering custodial supervision has its advantages and it can be effective in cases when it is not enough to just sentence a person conditionally nor would it be justified and effective to punish the individual more severely, but it is necessary to ensure some sort of help and support in order to correct the offender's behavior and deter them from committing criminal acts in the future. In order to better understand this sanction and see how it works in practice, we have analyzed measures of custodial supervision which are most often prescribed in accordance with the committed crimes. The paper uses a statistical and comparative method and analyzes the available literature, as well as the judgments of those courts that in a certain observed period had the largest number of suspended sentences with custodial supervision.

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Suspended sentence with custodial supervision in Serbia: What does custodial supervision involve?

World War II is considered to be the largest and longest bloody conflict in recent history. It began with the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. The war lasted six years and ended with the capitulation of Japan on September 2, 1945. The consequences of the war are still present in many countries today. "German, Italian and Japanese fascists waged a war of conquest with the aim of dividing the world and creating a New Order in which it would have economic, political and military domination, establish a rule of terror and violence and destroy all forms of human freedom, dignity and humanism. Only a few thousand Roma in Germany survived the Holocaust and Nazi concentration camps. Trying to rebuild their lives, after losing so many family members and relatives, and after their property was destroyed or confiscated, they faced enormous difficulties. The health of many was destroyed. Although they have been trying to get compensation for that for years, such requests have been constantly denied Based on established facts, eyewitnesses, witnesses, historical and legal documents, during the Second World War, the crime of genocide against Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Roma of all faiths except Islam was committed. The attempt to exterminate the Roma during the Second World War must not be forgotten. There was no justice for the survivors of the post-Hitler era. It is important to note that the trial in Nuremberg did not mention the genocide of the Roma at all. The Nuremberg trial is basically the punishment of the losers by the winners. This is visible even today because these forces rule the world. Innocent victims, primarily Roma, have not received justice, satisfaction or recognition from the world community. The Roma were further humiliated because they were not given a chance to speak about the few surviving witnesses about the victims and the horrors they survived. The Roma for the Nuremberg International Military Court and the Nuremberg judges simply did not exist, which called into question the legal aspect of the process, which has not been corrected to date. The Roma national community is committed to revising history, to reviewing the work of the Nuremberg tribunal.

Challenging the Nurney Procedure by the Roma national community

In contemporary criminal law, a prison sentence is the basic and most important type of criminal sanction imposed on criminal offenders in order to prevent and combat crime. In addition to the unconditional prison sentence, all criminal legislations also recognize different modalities of its imposition or execution. Different forms of substitute or alternative measures are awarded in cases where unconditional detention is not necessary. Thus, we can distinguish full or partial suspension of the prison sentence or some other kind of punishment. In the first case, it involves the suspended sentence. This is a complete exemption from the execution of a court-awarded prison sentences (and/or other types and forms of punishment), or determined for a specified time (probation period) and under certain conditions. In case the conditionally convicted person does not meet the set of general and special, mandatory or optional requirements, criminal law provides for mandatory or optional revocation of the suspended sentence. However, in addition to the suspended sentence as a form or modality of executing the imposed prison sentences, some modern criminal laws also recognize the suspended sentence as a special kind of criminal penalty - as a measure of warning. A prerequisite for the implementation of these measures is the fulfillment of the formal requirements, pertaining to the type of offence and prison sentence duration, or material conditions - the court assessment that the application of penalties in the particular case is not necessary because the goals (purpose) of punishment can be achieved without effective enforcement of prison sentences in whole or in part. This paper discusses the concept, characteristics, conditions and methods of implementation of these forms of prison sentence suspension, with various systems of probation supervision in the European criminal law.

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Systems of suspended sentence with probation supervision in the European criminal law

Violent acts against life and physical integrity of others certainly fall among the most dangerous forms and manifestations of violent crime. These are different forms of homicide, including a range of criminal offences of murder; given the importance, nature, characteristics, and consequences of these criminal offences, all contemporary criminal legislations prescribe severe punishment. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia envisages three types of murder (Art. 113-115 CC): a) 'common' murder, punishable by a term of 5-15 years' imprisonment; b) "privileged" murder in a heat of passion (manslaughter) punishable by a term of up to 8 years' imprisonment; and c) aggravated ("qualified") murder punishable by a term of at least 10 years or 30-40 years' imprisonment. In addition, many contemporary criminal legislations in Europe recognize a criminal offence of mercy killing; in different legislations, it is designated as mercy killing or euthanasia (killing out of mercy or compassion) or assisted-suicide at the request of the patient/injured party. Mercy killing is also envisaged in the Serbian criminal legislation as a special "privileged" form of murder, committed out of mercy or compassion voluntarily or at the explicit request of a person suffering a serious medical condition, which is punishable by a term of imprisonment ranging from 6 months to 5 years (Art. 117). In this article, the author discusses the concept, content and special characteristics of this "privileged" form of murder in Serbian law and in European criminal legislations, from the perspective of legal theory and practice.

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Mercy killing in contemporary criminal law

As a system of legal rules contained in the documents of the international community and in the national (internal) criminal legislation, the International Criminal Law envisages the criminal liability and punishment for a vast number of international crimes. These criminal acts imply a violation of laws of war and customs of warfare (the International Humanitarian Law) as well as the acts of disturbing or endangering peace among nations and the security of mankind. The contemporary International Criminal Law envisages the most severe forms of punishment and penal measures for these criminal offences. The perpetrators of these crimes are, in certain cases, subject to the primary jurisdiction of one of international criminal court (supranational) authorities, such as the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. In this paper, the author analyzes the importance of the Nuremberg court for the development of international criminal law, including the notion and characteristics of international crimes and the principles of criminal liability.

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Dragan Jovašević

Papers

Systems of suspended sentence with probation supervision in the European criminal law

Mercy killing in contemporary criminal law

The heritage of the Nuremberg tribunal