What is a plea agreement?
A plea agreement is a type of settlement or compromise in criminal proceedings. It is concluded by the public prosecutor’s office, as the prosecuting authority, and the defendant. The purpose of this institute is to eliminate the uncertainty regarding the final outcome, which naturally accompanies the procedure. And that both from the aspect of the defendant, and from the aspect of the public prosecution. Also, it significantly facilitates the work of both the prosecution and the court, whose work is significantly more complicated when there is no agreement.
What are the conditions for concluding a plea agreement?
There are no special conditions for concluding a plea agreement. That is, it is allowed to conclude with regard to any criminal offense, regardless of the threatened punishment. It is concluded in written form, from the adoption of the order on conducting the investigation to the conclusion of the main trial. The defendant must have a lawyer when concluding the agreement.
What is the content of the plea agreement?
The plea agreement contains:
- description of the criminal offense that is the subject of the charge
- the defendant’s confession that he committed a crime
- agreement on the type, measure or range of punishment or other criminal sanction
- agreement on the costs of the criminal proceedings, on the confiscation of the property benefit obtained by the criminal act and on the property law claim, if submitted
- a statement on the parties’ and counsel’s waiver of the right to appeal against the decision by which the court fully accepted the agreement
- signature of the parties and counsel
Who decides on the plea agreement?
In order for the plea agreement to produce a legal effect, it is necessary for the court to accept it. The public prosecutor, the defendant and the defense attorney are invited to the hearing regarding the decision on the agreement.
Does the court have the right to “surprise” the defendant?
The court has no right to make a different decision on the sentence or other criminal sanction than the one on which the agreement was reached. In other words, the court is obliged to accept the agreed criminal sanction, if it is proposed in accordance with the law. In order for the court to accept the plea agreement, there must be other evidence that does not contradict the defendant’s admission that he committed the crime.
Danilo Babić- lawyer in Novi Sad
