The state and trends in the execution of the criminal offense of aggravated theft committed by adults in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 2009 to 2013

Investigating crime in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a simple task at all. Obstacles are not only the nature of this social phenomenon, or the different definitions that are posed as answers to the question of what crime is, but also the absence of such databases in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina that would provide data on crime in a unique way and enable monitoring of its changes in quantitative terms. and in a qualitative sense.

As part of the criminal law aspect, the focus of this work will be on the criminal law dimension of this act, with reference to the legal regulation of the criminal act of aggravated theft in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The emphasis of the work will be on the results of the investigation of crimes of serious theft committed on the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2013. Therefore, based on the processing and analysis of the crime of serious theft in one locality, specific sociological, economic and urban factors will be defined, which will enable a better understanding of the prophylaxis of these crimes. Based on the data obtained through this research, the paper will point out the phenomenological and etiological characteristics of crimes of aggravated theft (criminological aspect), with a special focus on the form of the criminal offense of aggravated theft (is it a criminal offense of aggravated theft committed by breaking and entering, overcoming major obstacles , or the act was committed in a particularly dangerous and brazen manner, by taking advantage of the situation caused by a fire, flood, whether the stolen thing was of great value, or the stolen thing serves religious purposes, etc.), the number of perpetrators (individual or group), whether whether the crime was completed or remained in the attempt, whether it was a prolonged criminal offense of aggravated theft, the time of the crime, the object where the criminal offense of aggravated theft was committed, the method and means of committing the crime, the value of the stolen items, and the perpetrator's motives.

A special review will be given to the perpetrator of the criminal act of serious theft, in the sense of whether he is a returnee (recidivist), what is his age, what is his financial situation, what is his occupation, whether he is employed.

One part of the analysis will refer to the criminal policy of the courts, in the sense of what type of sanctions are most often imposed on perpetrators of crimes of serious theft, and the effect of deterring others from committing crimes, and whether the injured party is referred to civil proceedings in order to realize the rights that he has belong to the property claim.

The project will include research into domestic judicial practice. Analyzing the decisions of domestic courts will try to detect the basic difficulties faced by the courts in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina when punishing perpetrators of crimes of serious theft, since the research of the dynamics and manifestation forms of criminality is of particular importance for the analysis of preventive and repressive measures of suppression, detection and proving criminal acts. The research will be the basis for determining the actual scope of the existing legal solutions and indicating the needs and possible directions for their improvement.

Project Team:
1. prof. Ph.D. Maja Čolaković, project manager
2nd c. ass. M.Sc. Suncica Hajdarović
3rd c. ass. M.Sc. Emina Hasanagić

The project is financed by: Federal Ministry of Science and Education
Project duration: 12 months