Criminal Liability of Public Employees in the Republic of Serbia

Kostić, Jelena and Matić Bošković, Marina (2019) Criminal Liability of Public Employees in the Republic of Serbia. In: The Position of the Individual in Modern Legal System. Institute of Comparative Law, Belgrade, pp. 161-179. ISBN 978-86-80186-53-5

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Abstract

Niccolo Machiavelli in his famous work “The Prince” highlighted that the selection of the people surrounding the ruler speaks of his own ability. However, in modern society and organization of the state administration, it is very hard for the head of state to have insight into the abilities and integrity of his/her associates and public employees. Therefore, it is necessary to establish ethics improvement mechanisms in the public sector. Establishing criminal liability of public employees contributes to increasing the accountability of government towards the citizens and strengthening public confidence in the work of the public institutions. Criminal offenses committed by public employees are usually committed to acquire illegal profit. If there is a high probability that some of these offenses will be discovered, employees would restrain from committing them. In some cases, employees do not know the limits of their own responsibilities and believe that if they take certain actions following the instructions from their superior they cannot be held criminally liable. However, such approach does not exclude criminal liability of the employee. A person employed in the public sector has the right to refuse to comply with the orders from his/her superior if he/she considers it to be a criminal offense. Public employees need to treat the property that is entrusted to them in accordance with the law and in an efficient and economical manner. However, it should be noted that, in the recent years, more attention has been paid to preventive measures. Such measures should contribute to the reduction of financial crimes in the public sector. Uncontrolled public spending and tax evasion can have extremely adverse impact on the macroeconomic situation in the country. It is mainly negatively reflected on the social status of the citizens. In this paper, the authors use a legal-dogmatic approach. At the national level, the focus should be out on adequate protection of the public interests.

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