Enforcement of sentences of imprisonment

Republic of Croatia

Croatia - Criminal Code 1997 (2008) EN

CROATIA CRIMINAL CODE

GENERAL PART

CHAPTER FIVE (v) - PUNISHMENT AND SENTENCING

Article 53

(1) Imprisonment may not be shorter than thirty days or longer than twenty years.

(2) For the most serious forms of criminal offenses, life imprisonment may be prescribed (hereinafter: life sentence).

(3) Long-term imprisonment shall never be prescribed as the sole principal punishment for a specific criminal offense.

(4) Long-term imprisonment shall not be imposed on a perpetrator who, at the time of the perpetration of the criminal offense, has not reached the age of twenty-one years.

(5) The imprisonment of juveniles shall be imposed under the conditions prescribed by a special statute on young perpetrators of criminal offenses. The imprisonment of juveniles is in its purpose, nature, duration and manner of execution a special penalty of deprivation of liberty.

(6) When imprisonment without a minimum duration and with a maximum duration of three years is prescribed for a criminal offense, together with such a penalty, a fine shall be prescribed as an alternative punishment.

(7) Imprisonment shall be assessed and imposed in full years and months, and in full days if its duration is up to three months.

Rome Statute

Article 103 Role of States in enforcement of sentences of imprisonment

1.

(a) A sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a State designated by the Court from a list of States which have indicated to the Court their willingness to accept sentenced persons.

(b) At the time of declaring its willingness to accept sentenced persons, a State may attach conditions to its acceptance as agreed by the Court and in accordance with this Part.

(c) A State designated in a particular case shall promptly inform the Court whether it accepts the Court's designation.

2.

(a) The State of enforcement shall notify the Court of any circumstances, including the exercise of any conditions agreed under paragraph 1, which could materially affect the terms or extent of the imprisonment. The Court shall be given at least 45 days' notice of any such known or foreseeable circumstances. During this period, the State of enforcement shall take no action that might prejudice its obligations under article 110.

(b) Where the Court cannot agree to the circumstances referred to in subparagraph (a), it shall notify the State of enforcement and proceed in accordance with article 104, paragraph 1.

3. In exercising its discretion to make a designation under paragraph 1, the Court shall take into account the following:

(a) The principle that States Parties should share the responsibility for enforcing sentences of imprisonment, in accordance with principles of equitable distribution, as provided in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence;

(b) The application of widely accepted international treaty standards governing the treatment of prisoners;

(c) The views of the sentenced person;

(d) The nationality of the sentenced person;

(e) Such other factors regarding the circumstances of the crime or the person sentenced, or the effective enforcement of the sentence, as may be appropriate in designating the State of enforcement.

4. If no State is designated under paragraph 1, the sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a prison facility made available by the host State, in accordance with the conditions set out in the headquarters agreement referred to in article 3, paragraph 2. In such a case, the costs arising out of the enforcement of a sentence of imprisonment shall be borne by the Court.

Article 105 Enforcement of the sentence

1. Subject to conditions which a State may have specified in accordance with article 103, paragraph 1 (b), the sentence of imprisonment shall be binding on the States Parties, which shall in no case modify it.

2. The Court alone shall have the right to decide any application for appeal and revision. The State of enforcement shall not impede the making of any such application by a sentenced person.