The Ratio Legis of the Statute of Limitations in Criminal Law Focusing on the Problems of Its Legal Nature

Recentna zbivanja u hrvatskom kaznenopravnom zakonodavstvu ponovo su aktualizirala problematiku pitanja pravne naravi zastare, prije svega kroz Ustavnu izmjenu iz 2010. god., donošenje Zakona o nezastarijevanju kaznenih djela ratnog profiterstva i kaznenih djela iz procesa pretvorbe i privatizacije (ZNKD), kao i izmjenu kaznenog zakona u materiji zastare. Moglo bi se reći da je pitanje pravne naravi zastare „kronična bolest“ hrvatskog kaznenog zakonodavstva, prakse i teorije. Mišljenja teoretičara su podijeljena, zakonodavac je nedosljedan i politički determiniran, a praksa uzima za pravo neposredno stvarati pravnu materiju na tom području krijući se iza prilično ekstenzivnog tumačenja. Navedenim izmjenama i djelovanjem sudske prakse toliko proklamirana pravna sigurnost dovedena je u pitanje, načelo zakonitosti konstantno se relativizira. Jasno je izražena tendencija koja ugrožava cjelinu kaznenopravnog sustava, jer otvara prostor za nove izmjene koje bi a fortiori podrivale temeljna načela kaznenog prava, te se stoga mora kritički razmotriti.Recent developments in the Croatian penal legislation actualized once again the issue of the legal nature of the statute of limitations, primarily through the constitutional amendment of 2010, the adoption of the Act on Abolishing the Statute of Limitations for offenses of war profiteering and crimes of economic transformation and privatization, as well as the amendments of the penal code in matters of limitation. It can be said that the question of the legal nature of the statute of limitations is the "chronic disease" of Croatian criminal law, practice and theory. Scholarly opinions are divided, the legislator is inconsistent and politically determined, and the practice gives itself the right to directly create a legal issue in this area hiding behind a fairly extensive powers of interpretation. By those changes and actions of judicial practice, the so-called legal certainty has been called into question and the principle of legality is constantly relativized. It can be said that this is a clear trend that threatens the whole criminal justice system as it makes room for new changes that would, a fortiori, undermine the fundamental principles of criminal law and must therefore be reviewed