Part I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Chapter I
BASIC RULES
The presumption of innocence
Article 3
(1) Each person shall be considered innocent until proven guilty by the final decision of the competent court.
(2) Government authorities, the media, citizens' associations, public figures and other persons are under obligation to adhere to the rules defined in paragraph 1 of the present Article, as well as to sustain from violating other rules of the
proceeding, rights of the defendant and injured party, judicial independence and impartiality with their public statements on the ongoing criminal proceeding.
(3) The Investigative Judge during preliminary investigation, i.e. the President of the Court upon completion of the investigation or after submitting the direct indictment, shall ex officio or upon the proposal of the parties, defense counsel, injured party, i.e. his proxy, issue a public warning to anyone breaching obligations set forth in paragraph 2 of the present Article, to be published in the media on the expense of the person in question.
(4) If obligation set forth in paragraph 2 of the present Article is breached in a specifically serious manner, and especially if circumstances obviously imply that it has been done in order to exert influence on the court and other competent bodies, or with the aim of causing serious consequences concerning the defendant or the injured party, or other participants of the criminal proceeding, the public warning to that person may be coupled with a fine up to 150,000 CSD, and for legal entities up to 1,500,000 CSD.
(5) If the individual despite the measures from paragraph 3, i.e. paragraph 4 of the present Article breaches the obligation set forth in paragraph 2 of the present Article, the individual shall be fined up to 300,000 CSD, and the legal entity up to 3,000,000 CSD if, after the public warning, it violates obligations set forth in paragraph 2 of the present Article. For every subsequent violation of obligation set forth in paragraph 2 of the present Article, the individual may be fined with up to 450,000 CSD, and the legal entity up to 4,500,000 CSD, and any new explanation of the ruling on sentencing may be published in the media on the expense of the sanctioned party.
(6) An appeal may be taken from a ruling on sanctions from paragraphs 4 and 5 of the present Article, if the ruling was rendered by the Investigative Judge the appeal shall be decided upon by the President of the Court, while the appeals against a rulings rendered by the President of the Court shall be decided upon by the chamber set forth in Article 24 paragraph 6 of the present Code.
“In doubt for the benefit of the defendant” Rule
Article 4
If upon gathering of all available evidence and its presentation in the criminal proceeding, only suspicion remains concerning the existence of a relevant elements of a criminal offense or concerning facts upon which the application of a certain provision of Criminal Code or the present Code depends upon, the court, i.e., another competent body shall always render a judgment more favorable for the defendant.
Defendant's right to a defense
Article 5
(1) The defendant shall be warned before the first interrogation that everything that he says can be used against him as evidence.
(2) The defendant has to be informed of the criminal offense he is charged with, as well as of the evidence on which the charges are based as soon as during the first interrogation.
(3) The defendant may not be forced to testify against himself or to admit his guilt.
(4) The defendant has to have the opportunity to give a statement concerning all facts and evidence held against him, as well as to present all facts and evidence in his favor.
(5) The defendant has to be provided with sufficient time and opportunity to prepare his defense.
(6) The defendant has the right to defend himself or with the professional assistance of a counsel, chosen by himself from the line of counsels and who may be present during the interrogation of the defendant.
(7) Prior to the first interrogation, the defendant will be advised of his right to obtain a defense counsel, of his right to have the defense counsel present at his interrogation.
(8) The defendant has the right for the court to appoint him the defense counsel in situations stipulated by the present Code.
(9) The suspect has the right to a defense counsel in accordance with the present Code.
Ne bis in idem after the final decision of the court
Article 6
(1) No person shall be prosecuted and sanctioned for a criminal offence for which he has already been acquitted or convicted by a final judgment or for which criminal proceedings has been discontinued by a final decision or the charges has been denied by a final decision.
(2) In the criminal proceedings instituted upon the extraordinary judicial remedy a final court judgment cannot be revised to the prejudice of the defendant.
The rights of a person deprived of liberty
Article 7
(1) A person deprived of liberty by the competent government authority has to be immediately informed, in his native language or a language he understands, about the reasons for deprivation of liberty, as well as concerning everything that is held against him, as well as of the following rights:
1) that he is not obliged to make any statements and that any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him;
2) to retain a defense counsel of his choice;
3) to communicate with the defense counsel without impediment;
4) to have the defense counsel present at his interrogation;
5) to request that any information concerning the time, place and any change of place of detention be immediately communicated to persons selected by him, as well as to the diplomatic or consular representative of the state he is citizen of, i.e. representative of the relevant international organization if the person in question is a refugee or without citizenship;
6) if the person is a foreign citizen or without citizenship, to communicate without impediment with the diplomatic or consular representative or representative of the relevant international organization as defined in item 5 of this paragraph;
7) if the person is not familiar with the official language, he may submit briefs to the court in his own language;
8) to request to be examined at any time, at his expense, and without any delay by a physician of his choice, or if unavailable, a physician to be selected by the detention authority;
9) to instigate before a court a proceeding in order to examine the legality of the deprivation of liberty;
10) to request compensation for unfounded deprivation of liberty.
(2) Any person deprived of liberty without a court decision has to be immediately brought before the Investigative Judge having jurisdiction, except in cases envisaged by Article 264 paragraph 1 of the present Code.
(3) Any person deprived of liberty has the right to instigate a proceeding within which the Investigative Judge having jurisdiction shall urgently examine the legality of the deprivation of liberty and shall order release if the deprivation of liberty was illegal.
The official language in criminal proceeding and the right to use own language
Article 8
(1) The official language in the criminal proceeding is the Serbian language with both ekavian and jekavian dialect and Cyrillic script and the Latin script in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
(2) In the courts having jurisdiction over territory where members of national minorities are living, languages and scripts of national minorities are also in official usage in criminal proceedings and shall be used in accordance with law.
(3) The correspondence and legal assistance between courts shall be carried out in a language which is in official use in the respective courts.
(4) The parties, witnesses and other persons participating in the proceedings shall have the right to use their own language in the proceedings.
(5) Accusatory pleadings, appeals and other written documents shall be submitted to the court in the language that is officially used in court.
(6) The court shall send summons, decisions and other briefs in the Serbian language, i.e. in the language of the national minority which is in compliance with the law on use of official language in court, and if the person who these documents are sent to does not speak the Serbian language, the summons, orders and other briefs shall be sent to that person translated into the language that the person understands, reads and speaks.
(7) If the proceeding is not conducted in the language of a person referred to in paragraph 4 of the present Article, interpretation shall be provided for anything that the person may state, or anyone else might state, as well as the translation of personal documents and other written evidence. The interpretation/translation shall be entrusted to a Court Interpreter.
(8) The person referred to in paragraph 4 of the present Article shall be advised of his rights regarding translation/interpretation, and the person may waive that right if he speaks and understands the official language of the proceedings. The records shall note that the advice has been given, as well as the statement of the participant.
The prohibition of violence and extorted statements in the criminal proceeding
Article 9
It shall be forbidden and punishable to employ any kind of violence on a person who is deprived of liberty or whose liberty is restricted, as well as violence against defendant or any other person participating in the criminal proceedings, i.e. to extort a confession or any other statement from the defendant or any other person participating in the proceedings.
The rights of persons unjustifiably convicted or unreasonably deprived of
liberty
Article 10
(1) A person who was unjustifiably convicted for a criminal offence or whose deprivation of liberty was unfounded shall be entitled to rehabilitation, compensation from the state, and other rights established by law.
(2) All government authorities have the obligation to urgently react regarding the implementation of rights as defined in paragraph 1 of the present Article.
EDIT.