Survey on accused adult persons against whom criminal proceedings terminated by a finally binding court decision


Metadata
Period: Every three years
Year: 2021

REFERENCE METADATA
01. Contact
02. Metadata update
03. Statistical presentation
04. Unit of measure
05. Reference Period
06. Institutional Mandate
07. Confidentiality
08. Release policy
09. Frequency of dissemination
10. Accessibility and clarity
11. Quality management
12. Relevance
13. Accuracy and reliability
14. Timeliness and punctuality
15. Coherence and comparability
16. Cost and Burden
17. Data revision
18. Statistical processing
19. Comment

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01. ContactTop
01.1. Contact organisation

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS)

01.2. Contact organisation unit

Group for Justice and Gender statistic

01.3. Contact name

Vesna Zajc and Dragana Nikolic

01.4. Contact person function

Head of the Judicial and Gender Statistics Group

Statistical Methodologist

01.5. Contact mail address

SORS, Belgrade, 5 Milana Rakića 

01.6. Contact email address

vesna.zajc@stat.gov.rs;

dragana.nikolic@stat.gov.rs

01.7. Contact phone number

+381 11 2412922 extension 298

01.8. Contact fax number

-


02. Metadata updateTop
02.1. Metadata last certified
21/09/2022
02.2. Metadata last posted
16/12/2022
02.3. Metadata last update
15/12/2022

03. Statistical presentationTop
03.1. Data description

The aim of the survey is to collect data on the accused and convicted adult persons against whom the criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision. The data collected in this survey provide information on the perpetrator, the criminal offence, the decision of the court, the pronounced sanctions, the victims (victims) and the duration of the proceedings.

The observation unit is an accused adult person against whom criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision. An adult perpetrator of criminal offence is a person who was 18 years old at the moment of criminal offence committal, and who committed the criminal offence as: perpetrator, co-perpetrator, instigator or accessory.. If one person has committed more than one concurrent  criminal offence, the more serious criminal offence is taken into account as the characteristic of the perpetrator.

The "most serious criminal offense" implies a criminal offence for which the law foresees the heaviest sentence..If the same type and range of sentences are foreseen for two or more concurrent offences, the most serious offence is the act being defined as such by the public prosecutor/assistant public prosecutor. When more than one person have participated in committing one criminal offence, each of them is counted as a unit of observation, thus the same offence is recorded as the characteristic of each of the perpetrators. The data are taken from the basic document - judgments/solutions or from other official documents contained in the case/register.

 

 

03.2. Classification system

Classification of Criminal Offenses.

03.3. Coverage - sector

The statistical survey covers all indicted adult persons against whom criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision. The survey covers criminal legislation, including all criminal-law provisions contained in the law. Also, the proceedings of all competent basic and higher courts are covered. The content of this survey is defined by the special characteristics for the second phase of the court proceedings, as reporting units.

03.4. Statistical concepts and definitions

An adult perpetrator of a criminal offence is a person who was 18 years old at the moment of criminal offence committal, and who committed the criminal offence as perpetrator, co-perpetrator, instigator or accessory. If a person has committed more than one concurrent criminal offence, the more serious criminal offence is taken into account as the character of the perpetrator.

“The most serious criminal offence” implies a criminal offence for which the law foresees the heaviest sentence. If the same type and grade of sentences are foreseen for two or more concurrent offences, the most serious offence is the act being defined as such by the public prosecutor/assistant public prosecutor. Filling out the statistical questionnaires SK-2 is performed at the moment of the final conclusion of the procedure, in accordance with the legal provisions in the competent first instance courts.

A criminal offence is an act considered by law as a criminal offence, which is illegal and committed. An act is not considered a criminal offence when illegality or guilt is excluded, even when there are all elements of the criminal offence specified by the law.” (Article 14 of the Criminal Law). 

Accused perpetrator is taken to be an adult against whom an indictment, information or private charge has been presented to a court; against whom criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision, by which: an information, ie. private charge has been rejected, proceedings suspended or charge dismissed (in examining), charge has been rejected, proceedings have been suspended, vacated or exoneration judgement has been pronounced, security measure has been passed to a non accountable perpetrator, without pronouncing a sentence or perpetrator has been pronounced guilty (pronounced guilty but discharged or pronounced guilty – condemning sentence). 

An accused perpetrator is an adult pronounced guilty, upon whom sanctions have been imposed. 

Criminal sanctions imply:

  •  sanctions: imprisonment, fine, social community work and driving license withdrawal; 
  •  admonition measures: suspended sentence and сourt’s admonition;
  •  security measures;
  •  educational measures, the case of a person pronounced guilty but acquitted.

 For concurrent criminal offenses presented is only one sentence that has been pronounced for all offences in the same judgment pursuant to Article 60 of the Criminal Law. Type of decision (in form SK-2) implies a court decision by which a proceeding has been finally terminated. 

Preliminary sentences imply all preliminary sentences to a punishment as well as those by which the accused is pronounced guilty and acquitted of punishment, and judgments by which the following measures have been imposed: court’s admonition and educational measures towards young adults. 

Data on the personal characteristics of the perpetrator of the criminal offence referred to the personal characteristics that the perpetrator had at the time of the criminal offence committal.

Data on criminal offence: name of the criminal offence, article, paragraph, point and connection with other criminal offences from the applicable criminal law are collected on the basis of the decision of the public prosecutor’s office, i.e. court as formulated in the enacting terms of the final decision, and are processed in detail. 

Names and types of courts are in accordance with the Law on Seats and Territories of Courts and Public Prosecutor's Offices.

 

 

03.5. Statistical unit

The aim of the survey is to collect data on the accused and convicted adult persons against whom the criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision.

The unit of observation is the accused adult against whom the criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision.

  The data collected in these surveys provide information on the perpetrator, the criminal offense, the decision of the court, the imposed sanctions,    the victims (victims) and the duration of the proceedings.

 

03.6. Statistical population
The statistical population is every accused adult against whom an indictment, information or private charge has been presented to a court; against whom criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision, by which: an information, i.e. private charge has been rejected, proceedings suspended or charge dismissed (in examining), charge has been rejected, proceedings have been suspended, vacated or exoneration judgment has been pronounced, security measure has been passed to a non-accountable perpetrator, without pronouncing a sentence or perpetrator has been pronounced guilty (pronounced guilty but discharged or pronounced guilty – condemning sentence).
03.7. Reference area

The data are published at the level of the Republic of Serbia (in total), at the level of the region, in the north of Serbia (which includes the Belgrade region and the Vojvodina region) and the region of South Serbia (which covers the region of Sumadija and Western Serbia and the Region of South and East Serbia).

Some data are published at the level of basic and higher public courts.

Since 1999, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has no information on the AP Kosovo and Metohija, so they are not included in the coverage of the Republic of Serbia data (total).

 

 

03.8. Coverage - Time

Data are available on the website of SORS since 2004, while data for previous years can be found in the Library of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

03.9. Base period

Not applicable.


04. Unit of measureTop
04. Unit of measure

The number of adults.


05. Reference PeriodTop
05. Reference Period

Calendar year.

 

06. Institutional MandateTop
06.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements

The survey is conducted on the basis of the Law on Official Statistics "Official Gazette of RS", no. 104/09, dated 16/12/2009 and the Regulation on determining individual statistical surveys for each year, as well as according to the Program of Official Statistics of the Republic of Serbia, which refers to the five-year period of conducting the survey

06.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing

The European Union statistics / Eurostat defines the theme "Crime and Criminal Justice", and thereby data collection for the common questionnaire by Eurostat and the UNODC.


07. Confidentiality Top
07.1. Confidentiality - policy
Confidential data is treated in accordance with the prescribed confidentiality principles.
Domestic Legislation: Law on Official Statistics.
Data obtained from the reporting units represent an official secret and may be used only for statistical purposes.
 

 

 

07.2. Confidentiality - data treatment

 Confidential data is treated in accordance with the prescribed confidentiality principles. See Law on Official Statistics.


08. Release policyTop
08.1. Release calendar
   Release Calendar is uploaded on the official website of the SORS at the end of the year for the following year.
  • The first results of the survey are published in the relevant statistical release, and the deadline is published in mid-July.
  • Data in the Bulletin are published at the end of December.
08.2. Release calendar access

The publication calendar is available on the official website of the SORS.

 

08.3. Release policy - user access
On the official website of the SORS, users can download statistical data on adult persons, or on the following link: Judiciary

 


09. Frequency of disseminationTop
09. Frequency of dissemination

The dynamics of dissemination is one-year. The first results of the survey are published in a shorter form-Statistical Release, and the deadline for their publication is in mid-July, while more detailed information is shown in the Bulletin and published at the end of December.


10. Accessibility and clarityTop
10.1. Dissemination format - News release

Not applicable.

10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The data are published in regular publications such as Statistical Release, Bulletin, Statistical Yearbook, Statistical Calendar, as well as in other publications.
Statistical releases are an abbreviated form that presents data on adult perpetrators of criminal offences, while the bulletins show more detailed data obtained from the survey on adult perpetrators

 

10.3. Dissemination format - online database

On the SORS website, online databases are available first to find the dissemination database and to the Adult perpetrators of criminal offenses.

 

10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access

Macropods are not available.

10.5. Dissemination format - other
  • Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia
  • Statistical Calendar
  • other publications ..
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Abbreviated research methodology can be found on links:
 
 

 

 

10.7. Quality management - documentation

Not applicable.


11. Quality managementTop
11.1. Quality assurance

Quality management system

11.2. Quality management - assessment

Data on the accused adult person against whom the criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision are based on reliable data from the appropriate administrative sources. The degree of accuracy is high. Before publishing the results, logical quality control is performed


12. Relevance Top
12.1. User needs

In addition to the data published in the regular publications of the SORS, special processing is done at the request of the user.

12.2. User satisfaction
User satisfaction is measured based on the volume of data download from the official website of SORS as well as by means of the survey on user satisfaction. The results of this survey are available on the website of the SORS.
 

 

 

12.3. Completeness
Statistical surveys include all accused adults against whom the criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding court decision. The survey covers criminal legislation, implying all criminal law provisions contained in the laws. Proceedings or competent basic and higher courts are also included.
The content of this survey is defined by the special characteristics for the second phase of court proceedings, as reporting units.

 


13. Accuracy and reliabilityTop
13.1. Overall accuracy

The survey is conducted on the basis of data from administrative sources, which ensures a high level of coverage and quality of data.

13.2. Sampling error

Not applicable.

13.3. Non-sampling error

Not applicable.


14. Timeliness and punctualityTop
14.1. Timeliness
 
National level: 6 months for the process of creating, processing and publishing data.
 
For Eurostat: 1 month for delivery of all requested data (via UNCTS questionnaire)
14.2. Punctuality
All data аre published in accordance with the calendar of publishing.

 

 


15. Coherence and comparabilityTop
15.1. Comparability - geographical

Data on the criminality of adult persons entitled "Accused and Convicted Adults", obtained on the basis of a statistical survey conducted through the form SK-2, are published at the level of the Republic of Serbia, the region, and some data at the level of the basic and higher courts.

 

 

 

 

15.2. Comparability - over time

There is no time limit in the comparability of statistical data.

15.3. Coherence - cross domain

Not available.

15.4. Coherence - internal

Not available.


16. Cost and BurdenTop
16. Cost and Burden
  • SORS costs work on methodology, printing, and distribution of forms, data processing, and dissemination.
  • Costs of reporting units: filling and distribution of forms.

17. Data revisionTop
17.1. Data revision - policy
Basic principles and standards for conducting audits of published statistical data are defined in the document "General Policy Audit"  SORS.

 

17.2. Data revision - practice

Revisions in this survey are made in line with the amendments to the Criminal Code and the needs of the user. Previously published data cannot be altered


18. Statistical processingTop
18.1. Source data

The survey is based on administrative data.

18.2. Frequency of data collection
The reporting method is used for data collection for the second phase of the court proceedings as reporting units, by means of the forms SK-2.
 
18.3. Data collection
SORS prescribes the methodology for carrying out the survey; forms and methodological instructions are drawn up and submitted to reporting units (competent courts). The completed forms are returned to the SORS, where the control of the coverage and accuracy of the data is performed, it performs coding, data log entries, logical and calculation control. In the end, the results of the survey are published
18.4. Data validation

The SORS prescribes the complete methodology for carrying out the survey, develops and updates  the necessary methodological instruments (the form, the instruction for filling in). The latter are delivered to the reporting units (competent courts). In addition, the SORS also performs control of the coverage and accuracy of data, performs coding, data log entries, logical and calculation control of the data. In the SORS, the form SK-2 is prepared and printed in December, for all reporting units in the territory of Serbia for the next year. At the end of December and early January, the forms are distributed to the reporting units. The deadline for submission of data for the previous year for AP Vojvodina is until April 1 of the current year. 

   Form SK-2 Questionnaire for the accused adult person against whom the criminal proceedings have been terminated by a finally binding           court decision contains data on:

  • the perpetrator of a criminal offence:  sex, year of birth, municipality of residence, employment status, occupation, nationality, citizenship, marital status, educational attainment, how many persons participated in the commission of the offence, previous conviction, custod
  • the criminal offence: the legal title of the criminal offence, the applied law, whether the property has been damaged by the criminal offence, attempt, the year of the commission of the offence, the municipality of the commission of the offence, the concurrence, the number of concurrent offences
  • court decision: type of decision and reasons
  • pronounced sanctions: the main sanction-measure pronounce, whether imprisonment is pronounced or shouse arrest with electronic monitoring, whether a special measure or obligation is pronounced along with the conditional sentence; wheter an accessorysentence or a security measure is pronounce, whether a property benefit has been confiscated
  •  victims (victims): number, sex and age of the victims
  •  duration of the proceedings: date of filing of the application, date of receipt of the charge and date of establishing the validity of the decision
18.5. Data compilation

SORS also performs the control of the coverage and accuracy of the data, performs coding, data log entries, logical and calculation control of the data.

18.6. Adjustment

Not available.


19. CommentTop
19. Comment

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