engleski

Long-Term Imprisonment in Croatia

Among numerous different criminal sanctions as a reaction of society to criminal behaviour, sentences of imprisonment even today have a dominant role in all modern repressive systems. Recent studies show that placing offenders in prisons has been at the front position of society’s efforts to reduce criminal offending and at the same time that prolonged incarceration causes significant negative effects on prisoners and the society as a whole. In terms of correctional policy, the long-term imprisonment has been a highly disputable sanction. In order to explore issues relevant to the long-term imprisonment in Croatia, the authors in the article present legal grounds governing this sanction in the human rights context. They critically explain a role and position of long- term incarceration in the sanction system according to the 1997 and 2011 Criminal Code. In order to question state reliance on long term imprisonment as a tool to reduce offender's future criminal activity, the authors analyse normative issues related to the execution of prison sentence (i.e. the prison system administration and prisoners' rights) and the role of long-term imprisonment in the national prison system. A phenomenological analysis of prison population in total and long-termers support criticism that harms inflicted in the course of long-term imprisonment put in question the very purpose of punishment as defined in the Criminal Code. In order to overcome obstacles that severely undermine penal policy, the authors propose legislative and practical measures de lege ferenda and indicate proposals for future scientific research.

long-term imprisonment, human rights, Croatia

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