The special role of the court in juvenile criminal procedure and the principle of procedural economy

Abstract

The article first looks into two problem areas separately: the examination of the defendant's personality and the principle of procedural economy. Thereafter, they are opposed as two contradictory demands that the juvenile criminal proceedings are to satisfy simultaneously. In order to determine whether these conflicting requirements can be fulfilled at the same time, the author conducted an empirical research on a sample of 100 of final juvenile cases conducted in the High Court in Novi Sad in the period from 2012 to 2015. The research results have confirmed the following hypotheses: a) the court thoroughly examines the personality of minors using different data sources; b) the opinion of the guardianship authorities has an important influence on the court's decision on the choice of criminal sanctions; c) the court usually renders the sanction of special duties. However, the hypotheses on the appropriate duration of juvenile proceedings have not been confirmed. Therefore, the physiognomy of juvenile proceedings should be re-examined, together with the organisational and personnel requirements for an improved operation of the guardianship authorities.

Keywords

• juvenile proceedings
• examination of personality of minors
• principle of procedural economy
• guardianship authority