Research of the Socioeconomic Status of the Suspect and His or Her Right to a Defence Attorney in the Case of Aggravated Larceny

Ulazak Republike Hrvatske u Europsku uniju zahtijevao je usklađivanje njezina zakonodavstva s pravnom stečevinom Europske unije. I danas Republika Hrvatska kontinuirano usvaja i mijenja svoje zakonodavstvo kako bi se postigla potpuna usklađenost. Posljednjom novelom Zakona o kaznenom postupku (Narodne novine br. 70/17) u hrvatsko je postupovno pravo transponirana Direktiva 2013/48/EU Europskog parlamenta i Vijeća od 22. listopada 2013. o pravu na pristup odvjetniku u kaznenom postupku i u postupku na temelju europskog uhidbenog naloga te o pravu na obavješćivanje treće strane u slučaju oduzimanja slobode i na komunikaciju s trećim osobama i konzularnim tijelima (SL L 294, 6. 11. 2013.). Na Direktivu 2013/48/EU neposredno se naslanja i Direktiva (EU) 2016/1919 Europskog parlamenta i Vijeća od 26. listopada 2016. o pravnoj pomoći za osumnjičenike i okrivljenike u kaznenom postupku i za tražene osobe u postupku na temelju europskog uhidbenog naloga (SL L 297, 4. 11. 2016.), čije su odredbe u postupku transponiranja u hrvatsko postupovno zakonodavstvo. Kako bi se prikazalo kako bi u praksi izgledala situacija u slučaju primjene odredbe Direktive (EU) 2016/1919 o pravu na pravnu pomoć financiranu od strane države na osumnjičenike kaznenih djela teške krađe, u ovom radu daje se prikaz pojedinih obilježja osoba osumnjičenih za kazneno djelo teške krađe (spol, dob, obrazovanje) te njihova konzumacija prava na branitelja (obvezna obrana, konzumiranje prava na branitelja te prisustvo branitelja tijekom ispitivanja temeljem čl. 208.a ZKP-a). Specifični je cilj istraživanja utvrđivanje postojanja razlika u navedenim obilježjima s obzirom na njihov socioekonomski status (imovno stanje i zaposlenje). Za uzorak istraživanja korišteni su sekundarni izvori podataka, i to prikupljeni policijski spisi o kaznenim djelima teške krađe počinjenima na području Republike Hrvatske tijekom 2017., 2018. i 2019. godine u kojima se prema osumnjičenicima postupalo temeljem ZKP-a de lege lata, a tijekom istraživanja ukupno je analizirano 300 kaznenih djela teških krađa.Since Croatia became an EU Member State, its legislation has needed to be fully harmonised with the EU acquis. In this respect, Croatia is continuously adopting and amending its legislation in order to achieve full compliance. By means of the last Amendments to the Criminal P rocedure Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, No. 70/17), Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty (OJ L 294/1, 6 November 2013) was transposed into Croatian procedural law. Directive EU 2016/1919 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on legal aid for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings and for requested persons in European arrest warrant proceedings (OJ L 297/1, 4 November 2016) directly leans on the provisions of Directive 2013/48/EU. The provisions of Directive EU 2016/1919 are in the process of being transposed in Croatian procedural law. In order to consider the application in practice of the provision of Directive EU 2016/1919 on legal aid for suspects in criminal proceedings in cases of the criminal offence of aggravated larceny, this article describes some of the features (e.g. gender, age, education) of the person suspected of the criminal offence of aggravated larceny. An examination is also made of the suspected person’s exercise of the right to a defence attorney (obligatory defence, exercise of the right to a defence attorney and the presence of a defence attorney during interrogation under Article 208a CPC). The specific objective of the study is to establish the existence of differences in the characteristics mentioned above with regard to socioeconomic status (property and employment status). For this purpose, secondary sources of data were used, such as a survey sample, as well as police records of the criminal acts of aggravated larceny committed on the territory of the Republic of Croatia during 2017, 2018 and 2019 in which the suspects were treated on the basis of the CPC de lege lata. A total of 300 criminal offences of aggravated larceny were analysed for this research