Brief Overview of Novelties Within the New Criminal Code of Republika Srpska Regarding Legal Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Violence

After fourteen years of implementation of the reformer Criminal Code of Republika Srpska, in July 2017 a new Criminal Code of Republika Srpska came into force, and with it (partially) a new, post-reform stage in the development of contemporary criminal law in Bosnia and Herzegovina has begun. Although, the Code brings a number of novelties in the field of criminal law, the subject of this article are novelties regarding the legal protection of children and minors from sexual violence in Republika Srpska. The aim is to determine, after an analysis of relevant legal provisions, whether and to what extent the new Code has modified the legal protection of this group of passive subjects with respect to sex offenses (which, in addition to the standard consequences that they generally leave on the victims, can leave indelible consequences for victims whose psychophysical development is still not completed). Also, based on this analysis, the question whether the prescription of new legal protection of children and minors in the Republic of Srpska has been harmonized with or got distant from other positive criminal laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be answered. In this article descriptive, normative and comparative scientific methods will be applied.