Mr.sc.Resmi Hoxha

Mob.nr: +377 44 169018

Email: info@avokatura.com

Resmi Hoxha,

Zahir Pajaziti Square, H-1 No.8

10000 Pristina

Kosovo

These sentences allow offenders not to end up in prison, but let them be able to understand their mistake and not repeat them in the future. Also alternative punishment is a punishment which in terms of material less costs society and the state.

Keywords. Kosovo, Legislation, Institution, Constitution, Laws.

Alternative sentences - an innovation of the Criminal Code of Kosovo

The new Kosovo Criminal Code in the framework of the innovations it has foreseen is also alternative sentences. This code in Article 49, paragraph 1, describes alternative punishments and types of alternative punishments. According to this article alternative sentences are;

- conditional sentence,

- semi-liberty, and

- order for general-benefit work.

The same article in paragraph 2 provides that the court when imposing a suspended sentence may also impose: an order for compulsory rehabilitation treatment and an order for supervision by the probation service [1]

 

The purpose of this penalty is to not apply the punishment for minor offenses when it is considered that withdrawal of the threatening penalty is necessary to prevent the perpetrator from committing a criminal offense in the future. The conditional sentence is an alternative punishment imposed by the court in a regular court proceeding against the perpetrator and at the same time orders that this punishment should not be executed if the convicted person does not commit another criminal offense for the time of the verdict that the court determines . The time of verification can not be shorter than one year and no longer than five five years. In a suspended sentence, the court may order that the conviction be executed if the convicted person does not return the property gain obtained through the commission of the criminal offense within the prescribed timeframe, does not offset the punishment that he or she has committed with a criminal offense or does not fulfill the obligations other provisions foreseen by the legal provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo. [2] The court during the court proceedings simultaneously sets the deadline for fulfilling these conditions within the time of verification. When imposing a suspended sentence, the court takes into account the purpose of this sentence, the former behavior of the perpetrator, his conduct after the commission of the criminal offense, the degree of criminal responsibility and other circumstances in which the offense was committed. The Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo has foreseen the possibility of revoking the suspended sentence if:

- a convicted person during the verification period commits another criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of at least two or more years, [3] here there is a mandatory or obligatory offense. [4]

- when the convicted person during the verification period commits one or more offenses punishable by imprisonment of less than two years or a fine with a fine, there is an optional revocation of the conditional sentence.

- a convicted person provided that during the verification period he does not fulfill the duties and obligations determined by the court, in which case the court may extend the deadline for fulfilling the condition within the scope of the revocation or may revoke the conditional sentence. If the court finds that a convicted person could not fulfill a condition determined by the court for justified reasons and circumstances, then the court may either remove that obligation or replace it with another obligation provided for by the penal code. 5] The court revokes the suspended sentence if, after the imposition of the suspended sentence, by the final judgment it finds that the convicted person has committed any other criminal offense before being sentenced on condition and if the court finds that he / she would not have the basis for the imposition of a suspended sentence if it were known for that criminal offense. [6]

Alternative sentence half-freedom is pronounced by the court of the perpetrator of a criminal offense, when a prison sentence of up to one year is imposed. The court may order the execution of the sentence at half-price due to the obligations of the convicted person regarding work, vocational education, essential family responsibilities or the need for medical treatment or rehabilitation treatment.

When the convicted person performs certain work [8] by the court within the allowed time during certain days outside the prison, during the time he is at liberty, he is obliged to return to a correctional facility. A half-lled prisoner is obliged to return to a certain time at a correctional facility, as the other time must be transferred to a correctional facility. When the court orders the execution of the sentence at half-price, it may impose certain conditions provided by law, particularly under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo. [9]

Types of certain obligations to be fulfilled in the conditional sentence:

· Treatment or rehabilitation in the health care institution, submission to the medical treatment or rehabilitation program, visits to the psychologist;

· Vocational training, carrying out work activities, not changing the place of residence, using the salary to meet family obligations, abandoning alcohol, drugs, relinquishing contact with certain persons and avoiding attendance at the premises, abandoning the weapon ,

· To compensate the victim, return the property gained by a criminal offense, not access the internet, and provide financial reports as required by the court.

When the inmate of the semi-liberty does not fulfill the obligations imposed by the court, relate to work, education, vocational training, family care or other obligations, the court may revoke the order to execute the sentence at half-price and order the retention of the remaining sentence prison. [10]

This alternative punishment may be pronounced by the court with the consent of the convicted person. The convicted person with this type of alternative punishment is obliged to perform general non-paid work in the period of 30 to 240 working hours.

The imposition of such alternative punishment requires that these conditions be met;

- the perpetrator of the criminal offense has been fined a fine of 2500 Euro, or a prison sentence of up to 1 year, but the person who has been convicted must consent to such conviction. At the moment of the imposition of this sentence, the court shall determine the hours of work which the convicted person must perform. [11] The working hours determined by the court decision must be completed within a year. The Kosovo Probation Service decides on the type of work that the convicted person will perform, assigns the organization where the convicted person will perform the work of general benefit and will oversee this alternative punishment as to how the convicted person is performing.

The court which imposes a suspended sentence on an order for general-benefit work may order the convicted person to commit one or more of the following obligations:

- keep in touch with the Probation Service, return the gained property gained by committing a criminal offense, compensate for the damage caused by a criminal offense, and fulfill the obligations provided for by law. The duration of the obligations stipulated by law can not be less than six months and not longer than three years. When a convicted person with an order for work of general good does not perform this work of general benefit determined by the court or partially performs, then the court may postpone the duration of the supervision and order the prison sentence. In this case one day of imprisonment will be ordered for every eight eight hours of work of general benefit that has not been performed [13].

The court may impose a conditional sentence on an order for compulsory rehabilitation treatment in cases when:

A convicted person who has violated the law for the first time if he or she has committed an offense on drug or alcohol if the court after reviewing the Probation Service report finds that the main factor motivating the commission of the offense is related to its dependence on drugs and alcohol and that successful rehabilitation treatment against the offender would reduce the risk of a new criminal offense. The perpetrator's criminal court determines the period during which the compulsory treatment program should commence and conclude at the same time. The order for compulsory rehabilitation treatment implies the realization of a special medical treatment program by which the convicted person will be cured of the addiction of alcohol, drugs, or other narcotic drugs [14]. The treatment program is assigned by the experts of certain and adequate areas, while its implementation is supervised by the Probation Service. The conditional sentence with an order for compulsory rehabilitation treatment is considered to have been carried out or held if the rehabilitation treatment program has been successfully implemented. Regarding the success or failure of the rehabilitation program, the Probation Service is obliged to notify the court that has imposed this alternative punishment. If the convicted person does not comply with the rehabilitation treatment program, does not maintain contact with the probation service, does not fulfill the obligations related to rehabilitation treatment, the court may postpone the rehabilitation program deadline, replace the sentence with another or order the execution of the punishment imposed on the suspended sentence. The period of compulsory treatment for the purpose of rehabilitation of a convicted person may not last for less than three months or more than twelve months.

For a criminal offense, the court may impose a suspended sentence by order of supervision by the Probation Service if it considers that the integration of the convicted person into the society or the fulfillment of the conditions determined by the court is better and more successful through oversight by the probation service. Analyzing the substantive aspect of this sentence, it is seen that the court imposes the punishment of imprisonment on the perpetrator and at the same time suspends the execution of this punishment and orders the person to maintain contact with the probation service. At the same time, the court requests from the probation service to inform about the possibilities for the execution of this sentence. In determining this measure, the court also takes into account the obligations arising from the conditional sentence and, in addition, decides in accordance with the law and always taking into account the age of the perpetrator, his / her health and psychic condition, the way of life and the needs of the perpetrator. In particular, the court takes into account needs in relation to family, education, and work. The Court also analyzes and examines the past of the perpetrator, the motives for committing the criminal offense, his / her personal and family circumstances, since all these are important when determining this alternative punishment. This sentence imposed by the court can not last for less than six months and more than three years. If the convicted person does not comply with the conditions set by the court, then the court may revoke the sentence, replace it with another or postpone the length of the sentence. [15]

There is a considerable number of the bailments involved in the oversight order by the probation service and the court may impose one or more obligations such as: - treatment or rehabilitation at the health institution, visits to a psychologist or other counselors, vocational training in a certain occupation, performance of work activities, the use of wages for the fulfillment of family obligations, the abandonment of the use of drugs and alcohol, the relinquishment of escorting with certain persons, the abandonment of attendance at places or locals where alcohol is consumed, removal hand over the transfer of any weapon, to compensate the injured party through a criminal offense, to revert the property gain obtained from committing the offense, to not access the internet and to provide financial reports required by the court. [16]

6. Conclusion

The new Kosovo Criminal Code in the framework of the innovations it has foreseen is also alternative sentences. This code in Article 49, paragraph 1, describes alternative punishments and types of alternative punishments. According to this article alternative sentences are;

- conditional sentence,

- semi-liberty, and

- order for general-benefit work.

While in the same article in paragraph 2, it is foreseen that the court when imposing a suspended sentence may also pronounce:

- order for compulsory rehabilitation treatment, and

- order for oversight by the Probation Service.

The conditional sentence is an alternative punishment imposed by the court in a regular court proceeding against the perpetrator and at the same time orders that this punishment should not be executed if the convicted person does not commit another criminal offense for the time of the verdict that the court determines . The purpose of this punishment is not to apply the punishment for minor offenses. Alternative sentence half-freedom is pronounced by the court of the perpetrator of a criminal offense, when a prison sentence of up to one year is imposed. The court may order the execution of the sentence at half-price due to the obligations of the convicted person regarding work, vocational education, the essential family responsibilities or the need for medical treatment or rehabilitation treatment. Orders for socially beneficial work can be imposed by the court with the consent of the convicted person. The convicted person with this type of alternative punishment is obliged to carry out a general-free work in the period of 30 to 240 hours of work. The court may also impose a suspended sentence upon an order for compulsory rehabilitation treatment. For a criminal offense, the court may impose a suspended sentence by order of supervision by the Probation Service if it considers that the integration of the convicted person into the society or the fulfillment of the conditions determined by the court is better and more successful through oversight by the probation service. All of these are novelties of the new Criminal Code of Kosovo, which are of particular importance to the justice system in Kosovo as well as to perpetrators of criminal offenses.

[1] Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, no. 04 & L-82, April 2, 2012, articles, no. 49 para graphs 1 and 2

[2] Therein Articles 50 and 51, paragraphs 1,2, 3 and 4

[3] Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, no. 04 / L-82, April 2, 2012, Article 53, paragraph 1

[4] [4] Halili, Ragip, (2014), Penology, UP. Prishtina, p. 70

[5] Ibid. F.71

[6] Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, no. 04 / L-82, April 2, 2012, Article 54,

[7] Therein Article 61, paragraph 1

[8] Convicts in semi-liberty allow the court to execute this alternative punishment in such a way that every day within the allowed hours (4, 6, 8, or 10) per day remains free to continue performing the jobs which they have committed before committing the offense, or leaving school, studies or professional training, or leading and carrying out family responsibilities (child education, family care, and other family affairs work) and other issues pertaining to the family).

[9] Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, no. 04 / L-82, 2 April 2012, Article 59,

[10] Therein Article 61, paragraph 3

[11] Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, no. 04 / L-82, April 2, 2012, Article 60, paragraph 1

[12] Ibid., Article 60, paragraph 2

[13] Ibid., Article 60, paragraphs 5 and 6

[14] Halili, Ragip, (2014), Penology, UP. Prishtina, p. 72

[15] Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, no. 04 / L-82, April 2, 2012, Article 59, paragraph 1

[16] Halili, Ragip, (2014), Penology, UP. Prishtina, p. 73