PLEA BARGAINING – TRADING WITH JUSTICE, OR?

Abstract

The paper elaborates the problems concerning plea bargaining agreement in criminal proceedings that attracts great attention of legal experts both in the countries of the continental and of Anglo-Saxon common law systems. The first part shows the comparative overview of the relevant legal provisions of the plea bargaining in states that traditionally belong to the continental legal system along with a summary of the American plea bargaining, which is the foundation of the continental agreement of the parties in criminal proceedings. The second part shows the relevant provisions of the Croatian Code of Criminal Procedure and the Criminal Code relating to plea bargaining, and a critical review of those provisions, followed by the presentation of the case-law of the County Court in Zagreb.

Keywords

• sporazum, plea bargaining, načela, priznanje, odmjeravanje kazne