Recidivism of Traffic Offences as a Violation of the Right to Life

Nedavnom odlukom Europskog suda za ljudska prava u predmetu Smiljanić protiv Hrvatske od 25. ožujka 2021., zahtjev broj 35983/14, usvojen je zahtjev roditelja osobe poginule u prometnoj nesreći koju je skrivio višestruki prometni recidivist zbog neučinkovite primjene propisa o sigurnosti prometa na cestama, što predstavlja povredu članka 5. Konvencije – prava na život. Utvrđena je povreda prava na život u materijalnom i proceduralnom aspektu jer domaćim zakonom nije osiguran odgovarajući regulatorni okvir kažnjavanja počinitelja prometnih prekršaja koji ih učestalo ponavljaju, što je dovelo do nepovjerenja javnosti u poštivanje vladavine prava i sposobnosti vlasti da spriječe pojavu sličnih nezakonitih djela. Rad upućuje na to da (pre)blaga penalna politika u području prometnih delikata ne ispunjava zahtjeve specijalne i generalne prevencije.The recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Smiljanić v. Croatia of 25 March 2021, application no. 35983/14, adopted the request of the parents of a person killed in a traffic accident caused by a traffic offence recidivist due to the ineffective application of traffic safety regulations, which constitutes a violation of Article 5 of the Convention – the right to life. Violation of the right to life in material and procedural terms was established because domestic law did not provide an appropriate regulatory framework for punishing perpetrators of traffic offences who frequently repeated them, which led to public distrust in respecting the rule of law and in the ability of authorities to prevent similar illegal acts. The paper indicates that a (too) mild penal policy in the field of traffic offences does not fulfil the requirements of special and general prevention