The Legal Regulation and Implementation of Community Service After the Reform of Substantive and Enforcement Law of Alternative Sanctions

Rad za opće dobro općeprihvaćena je alternativna sankcija koja omogućava realizaciju svih svrha kažnjavanja s naglašenom reparatornom i reintegracijskom funkcijom. Istodobno riječ je o zahtjevnoj sankciji koja zahtijeva znatan angažman probacijske službe u organizaciji izvršenja kao i u nadzoru nad njegovom provedbom, koju stoga treba izricati racionalno. Autorice u radu prikazuju najznačajnije novine u materijalnim i izvršnim propisima koji reguliraju rad za opće dobro i njihov utjecaj na primjenu spomenute alternativne sankcije. Unatoč zakonskoj mogućnosti da se radom za opće dobro zamjenjuje i novčana kazna, autorice upozoravaju na intenciju zakonodavca da se njime ponajprije zamjenjuju kazne zatvora do godine dana, koje bi pak trebale biti iznimka s obzirom na široke mogućnosti izricanja novčane kazne i njezino isticanje kao stožerne kaznenopravne sankcije.The work presents the most significant changes in substantive requirements for the implementation of community service, the legal framework for its enforcement, statistical indicators of implementation, along with an overview of and comments on the problems the probation department faces in the enforcement of community service orders. Since community service is discussed within the framework of “alternative sanctions, in the introductory part of the paper the particular interpretations of the term in theory, national legislations, and international and regional documents are presented. After that, along with a historical comparative overview of statistical data, “neuralgic points” are identified, in particular in the court practice of sanctioning a perpetrator of criminal act, including the main reformation directives for their remedy. The central part of the paper features an insight into the novelties in substantive criminal law from the field of community service, comparing Croatian solutions with foreign legislations. This is followed by a detailed overview of enforcement provisions contained in the Probation Act and the Regulation on the enforcement of community probation duties. Finally, statistical data on the implementation of community service orders are shown in graphics, together with an analysis and comments on concrete problems in the enforcement and implementation of sanctions from practice. Finally, the authors conclude that the existing legal and institutional framework of community service as an institution ensures effective implementation, but its success should not be measured by the number of imposed orders, but the extent to which community service presents a proper replacement for shorter imprisonment sentences, which should be a rarity considering the various options of financial fines. Ordering community service instead of imprisonment, which is in turn imposed in order to unjustifiably avoid imposing fines, will not have a beneficial but detrimental effect on the society