What is a suspended conviction?
A suspended conviction is a warning measure imposed by the court on the perpetrator of a criminal act. With it, the court in some way “threatens” the convict with a prison sentence. Specifically, with a suspended conviction, the court determines the punishment for the perpetrator of the criminal offense and at the same time determines that it will not be carried out if the convicted person does not commit a new criminal offense during the time determined by the court, which cannot be shorter than one nor longer than five years (the probationary period). The court can determine in a suspended conviction that the sentence will be carried out even if the convicted person does not return the property benefit obtained by committing the criminal offense, does not compensate the damage caused by the criminal offense or does not fulfill other obligations stipulated in the criminal law provisions within a certain period.
What are the conditions for imposing a suspended conviction?
A suspended conviction can be imposed only for criminal offenses for which a prison sentence of up to eight years (not eight years) is prescribed. It can only be imposed if the offender has been sentenced to imprisonment for less than two years (so not two years). Also, a suspended conviction can only be imposed if more than five years have passed since the finality of the conviction, which imposed a prison sentence on the perpetrator or a suspended conviction for an intentional crime.
Does the court have an obligation to impose a suspended conviction when the conditions are met?
The answer is: no, the court has no obligation to impose a conditional conviction if all the conditions for its imposition are met. The court will make a decision on whether to impose a conditional conviction taking into account the personality of the perpetrator, his earlier life, his behavior after the crime, the degree of guilt and other circumstances under which the crime was committed.
When is conditional conviction revoked?
The court revokes (mandatory or optional) conditional conviction:
- if the convicted person commits one or more criminal offenses during the probation period for which a prison sentence of two years or longer has been imposed (and no later than one year after the probation period expires). And if the imposed prison sentence is less than two years or a fine, the court may or may not revoke the suspended conviction.
- due to a previously committed criminal offense if it is established that the convicted person committed a criminal offense before being sentenced to a suspended conviction and if he assesses that there would be no grounds for imposing a suspended conviction if he had known about that offense (and no later than one year after the expiration of the probationary period).
- if the convicted person does not fulfill the obligation within the deadline set for him by the verdict, the court can extend this deadline, or if it finds that there are justified reasons for this obligation, it can release him or replace it with another obligation. The suspended conviction can be revoked no later than one year after the expiration of the probationary period.
Danilo Babić- lawyer in Novi Sad
