Selected Phenomenological Aspects of Violent Juvenile Crime in Serbia with Special Reference to Serious Murder

Abstract

Juvenile crime is a topic that often occupies the public’s attention. Although the dominant public image of juvenile crime implies a narrative of a steady rise in juvenile crime rates, increasingly violent crimes, and increasingly brutal younger generations, the question arises as to whether this is really so. In order to consider the validity of such a position from a phenomenological point of view, the author analyzes available statistical data on various aspects of juvenile crime from judicial records in the eighteen-year period, from 2006 to 2023. Although the focus of the paper is on the problem of violent crime with special reference to serious murders, the starting point in dealing with this issue is the analysis of the phenomenology of overall juvenile crime and primarily the determination of legality in its manifestation. The results of the analysis of the frequency of total juvenile crime represent the basis for a more detailed analysis of the state and dynamics of one form of violent juvenile crime: crimes against life and body. The author considers both the absolute indicators related to the mentioned criminal acts and the relative figures, i.e. the share of those acts in the overall structure of juvenile crime. Serious murder, as one of the crimes from the group of crimes against life and body, is separately and in detail processed in view of the stimulated public debate regarding the way of treating minor perpetrators of such crimes, but also in the context of the Ribnikar case, which once again actualized the issue of lowering the age limit of criminal responsibility. This is one of the most difficult forms of criminal manifestation, so, among other things, longitudinal monitoring and determination of its statics and dynamics in the case of minors is important for the continuation of the debate on the future directions of the development of juvenile criminal law.