RULE OF LAW CONCERNS IN THE CROATIAN PENAL ORDER PROCEDURE LINKED TO DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY, JUDICIAL CONTROL, ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE AND PROCEDURAL RIGHTS

The paper analyses the mechanism of a penal order as a consensual procedure aimed at relieving the criminal justice system in cases of minor criminal offences by avoiding a trial. The study aims to analyse the Croatian normative framework and case law in order to determine the distinctive traits of the penal order procedure in a comparative legal context, disclose the procedural reality and detect its shortcomings. The paper focuses on the substantive and procedural requirements for the issuing of a penal order, the judicial control of the indictment requesting a penal order, the defence rights in the proceedings before the issuing of a penal order and the position of the victim. These key elements were researched through normative, theoretical and comparative analysis of German, Austrian, Italian and French law and conclusions were tested in the case law of the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb and the Municipal Court in Split. The results of the research reveal that the expansion of the application of the penal order to graver offences punishable by five years of imprisonment and to more severe penalties such as deprivation of liberty, as well as deviations from some fundamental criminal procedural principles inherent in the penal order procedure, raise the question of providing adequate procedural guarantees for the defendant and the victim.