Plea bargaining

Sporazum o priznanju krivde je razmeroma mlad procesni institut, ki se dandanes prebija tudi v ospredje držav kontinentalnega pravnega sistema. Države, ki se pogosto borijo s preobremenjenimi kazenskopravnimi sistemi v svoje kazenske procesne zakonodaje uvajajo poseben način reševanja kazenskih zadev – pogajanja o priznanju krivde. Gre za tako imenovan plea bargaining, ki je značilen za države anglo-ameriškega pravnega sistema in je tam nepogrešljiv način reševanja kazenskih zadev. Utemeljena so zlasti na razumevanju kazenske zadeve kot spora med dvema enakopravnima strankama in na avtonomiji obdolženca. Pogajanja o priznanju krivde so procesni institut, ki je značilen predvsem za države z adversarnim tipom kazenskega postopka. Država z najdaljšo tradicijo reševanja kazenskih zadev s pogajanji o priznanju krivde so Združene države Amerike (ZDA), kjer na tak način rešijo že preko 95 odstotkov kazenskih zadev. Se pa pogajanja o priznanju krivde neustavljivo širijo po Evropi in svetu, zato je trendu pred kratkim podlegla tudi Slovenija, ki je pogajanja začela uporabljati leta 2012 z novelo ZKP-K. V ZDA so pogajanja o priznanju krivde zakonsko zelo natančno urejena, vendar izkušnje prikazujejo povsem drugačno sliko. Zaradi težnje k čim hitrejšemu reševanju kazenskih zadev so tožilci in zagovorniki razvili zelo sporne taktike za čim hitrejšo pridobitev priznanja krivde, zaradi katerih se postavlja vprašanje prostovoljnosti priznanja in neenakega obravnavanja obdolžencev. Se pa slabosti pogajanj o priznanju krivde kažejo tudi v državah kontinentalnega pravnega sistema (kamor spada tudi Slovenija) v odklonu od temeljnega vrednostnega izhodišča le-teh držav, in sicer načela iskanja materialne resnice. V diplomskem delu smo primerjali pogajanja o priznanju krivde v Združenih državah Amerike, kjer so se le-ta implementirala že 150 let nazaj, ter v Republiki Sloveniji, ki je pogajanja o priznanju krivde dobila šele pred kratkim.Plea bargaining is a relatively young procedural institute, which is nowadays making its way to the forefront of the Continental countries. Countries that often struggle with overburdened criminal justice systems are introducing a special way of resolving criminal cases into their criminal procedure legislation – plea bargaining. Plea bargains are common in countries with the Anglo – American legal system and are an indispensable way of resolving criminal cases there. They are based particularly on the comprehension of a criminal case as a dispute between two equal parties and on the defendant’s autonomy. Plea bargaining is a procedural institute that is typical for countries with adversarial type of criminal process. The country with the longest plea bargaining tradition is the United States of America (USA), where over 95 percent of all criminal cases are resolved through plea bargaining. Due to its practical advantages, plea bargaining is unstoppably expanding across Europe and the world, which is why it has also been accepted into Slovenian Criminal Procedure Act. The Amendment (ZKP-K) came into force in May 2012. In the United States of America plea bargaining is very precisely regulated by law, but experience shows a completely different picture. Due to aspiration of resolving criminal cases as quickly as possible, prosecutors and defense attorneys have developed highly controversial tactics to get a quick conviction. And that raises the question of voluntary confession and unequal treatment of defendants. However, the weaknesses of plea bargaining can also be seen in the Continental countries (which also includes Slovenia), where the principle of material truth is the main value of criminal process. In this degree we are going to compare plea bargaining in the United States of America, where this type of case resolution was implemented 150 years ago, and Republic of Slovenia, where plea bargaining has just recently been introduced