Criminal Law: Elements of the Offence and the Serbian Criminal Code
Structure of the offence
The Serbian Criminal Code (Krivicni zakonik) organises criminal liability around the elements of the offence (bice krivicnog dela): the act (radnja), the consequence, causation, unlawfulness, and guilt (krivica). Candidates must distinguish krivica (culpability) from vinost (fault in the civil sense) and understand the three forms of guilt: intent (namera), recklessness (nehat), and the special forms of dolus eventualis. Know the difference between pokusaj (attempt), priprema (preparation, generally not punishable unless expressly provided), and dovrseno delo (completed offence).
Defences and exclusions
Master the grounds excluding unlawfulness - self-defence (nuzna odbrana), necessity (krajnja nuzda), and lawful use of force - and the grounds excluding guilt - insanity, diminished capacity, mistake of fact versus mistake of law. The trap is the proportionality requirement in self-defence: defence must be necessary and proportionate to the attack, and the prekoracenje (excess) can reduce but not eliminate liability.
Complicity and concurrence
Understand saucesnistvo (co-perpetration), podstrekavanje (instigation), and pomaganje (aiding). Questions often test whether an aider is liable when the principal is not (the akcesornost principle). Also know sticaj (concurrence of offences) and the rules for imposing a single sentence.
Worked example
A man sees an attacker raising a knife and strikes first, breaking the attacker's arm. Is this self-defence? Yes, if the attack was imminent and the defence necessary; the key is whether a less harmful means was available. If he continues striking after the attacker is disarmed, the excess may attract liability but mitigated.
Rule of thumb
For any scenario, run the sequence: act - consequence - causation - unlawfulness - guilt. Only then consider complicity and concurrence. This sequence prevents the common error of jumping to guilt before checking defences.