Criminal Law Response to Stalking – The Law of Serbia and the  Countries in the Region

Joko Dragojlović; Dejan Đorđević

doi:10.51738/kpolisa.2025.3r.004

Authors

Joko Dragojlović University Business Academy, Novi Sad, Serbia Faculty of Law for Commerce and Judiciary in Novi Sad https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4713-1855
Dejan Đorđević PhD student, University Business Academy, Serbia Faculty of Law for Commerce and Judiciary in Novi Sad https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3606-3587

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51738/kpolisa.2025.3r.004

Keywords:

Criminal Code, international standards, stalking, intimidation, personal security, criminal liability, penalty

Abstract

On the basis of regional international standards enshrined in the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (2011), a considerable number of European criminal codes in recent years have introduced a distinct criminal offense: “stalking” or “harassment.” This offense constitutes a specific manifestation of the general offense of endangering security, whereby the mental peace and tranquility of another person are unlawfully, and frequently through violent means, disturbed. Such conduct generates a sense of unease, discomfort, fear, or distress in the targeted individual, as well as in persons closely associated with them, most often family members or close relatives. Given that this incrimination derives its foundation from international standards, national legislations tend to regulate this offence in a similar, closely related, or even identical manner, while nevertheless taking into account the particularities of individual jurisdictions and the requirements of their respective criminal policies. The present paper, grounded in international standards, undertakes an analysis of the concept, characteristics, constitutive elements, manifestations, and substantive content of the offence of stalking in Serbian law, as well as within the broader framework of regional criminal legislation.

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