Plea bargain as a means of fihgting crime

Sporazum o priznanju krivde je institut, ki poenostavlja reševanje kazenskih zadev in spreminja potek kazenskega postopka. Sporazumevanje o krivdi (ang. plea bargain) se je v države evrokontinentalne tradicije s pretežno mešanim kazenskim postopkom postopoma uvajalo po vzoru anglosaških držav z adversarnim kazenskim postopkom. Tudi Slovenija je sporazum o priznanju krivde in z njim povezana pogajanja o priznanju krivde v svoj kazenski postopek uvedla leta 2012 z novelo Zakona o kazenskem postopku ZKP-K. Dolgoletne izkušnje z uporabo instituta imajo predvsem v ZDA, kjer z njegovo pomočjo učinkovito in hitro rešijo večino vseh kazenskih zadev. Sporazum o priznanju krivde predstavlja skrajšano in poenostavljeno obliko reševanja spora, kar pomeni, da se zoper obdolženca, ki krivdo prizna, postopka ne vodi več v celoti. Tožilec in obdolženec se lahko v okviru sporazumevanja o krivdi dogovorita o pogojih in določenih ugodnostih, pod katerimi bo obdolženec krivdo priznal. Sodišče ostaja v takšnem postopku nevtralno in ne sme biti vpleteno v postopek pogajanj o priznanju krivde, po sklenjenem sporazumu pa preveri zgolj njegovo zakonitost oz. skladnost s predpisanimi kriteriji. Primarni cilj večine držav, tudi Slovenije, ki so v svoj kazenski postopek uvedle institut sporazuma o priznanju krivde je večja učinkovitost kazenskega postopka, torej skrajšanje sodnih zaostankov in večja ekonomičnost. Drug pomemben cilj, ki ga z uporabo instituta prav tako lahko dosežemo pa je uporaba sporazumevanja o krivdi v boju proti težje pregonljivim oblikam kriminalitete. Sporazum o priznanju krivde se lahko v določenih primerih uporabi za sodelovanje obdolžencev kot prič, ki v zameno za določeno ugodnost priznajo krivdo za storjeno kaznivo dejanje ter so hkrati motivirani za pomoč tožilcu pri razkritju drugih hujših udeležencev kaznivih dejanj oz. razkritju večje kriminalne dejavnosti, ki bi jo sicer tožilstvo zaradi pomanjkanja dokazov zelo težko preganjalo.Plea bargain is an institute that simplifies the resolution of criminal cases and changes the course of a criminal procedure. The countries of Euro-continental tradition with a predominantly mixed system of criminal procedure have gradually introduced plea bargaining, following the example of Anglo-Saxon countries with an adversarial system of criminal procedure. Slovenia has introduced the plea bargain and related plea bargain negotiations into its criminal procedure in 2012 with an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act (ZKP-K). Particularly the USA has considerable experience of using the institute, where most criminal cases are efficiently and quickly settled using this method. Plea bargain is a shortened and simplified form of dispute resolution, which means that the defendant who pleads guilty is no longer fully prosecuted. Under a plea bargain, the prosecutor and the defendant may agree on the conditions and certain benefits under which the defendant will plead guilty. In such a procedure, the court remains neutral and may not be involved in the plea bargain negotiationsafter reaching the agreement, it only verifies whether the plea bargain is legal or in compliance with the prescribed criteria. The primary goal of most countries, including Slovenia, that have introduced the institute of plea bargain into their criminal procedure is greater efficiency of the criminal procedure, i.e. the reduction of court backlog and greater procedural economy. Another important goal that can be achieved using plea bargaining is the fight against forms of crime that are harder to prosecute. A plea bargain may in certain cases be used for the participation of defendants as witnesses who plead guilty to a committed criminal offence in exchange for a certain benefit and are at the same time motivated to assist the prosecutor in disclosing other perpetrators of more serious criminal offences or disclosing a major criminal activity that would otherwise be very difficult to prosecute due to a lack of evidence