Life Imprisonment Without Parole: The Compatibility of Serbia’s Approach with the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

In this article, the author deals with the issue of life imprisonment without parole. Life imprisonment represents a new type of penalty in Serbian criminal law, in addition to standard imprisonment. The present state of the Serbian criminal legislation provides the possibility of parole for most criminal offences after 27 years of imprisonment served, while simultaneously explicitly prohibiting the possibility of parole for certain offences. The author elaborates the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights regarding life imprisonment, emphasizing rehabilitation as the primary goal of criminal sanctions. After that, the author explains the legislative solutions outlined in the Criminal Code of Republic of Serbia. Through the analysis of the crucial provisions of the Criminal Code, as well as other important and relevant laws, the author points out the shortcomings of the existing regulations in Serbia regarding life imprisonment, which flagrantly threatens to violate the offenders’ human rights.