Meaning of the term private property in the Serbian Criminal Code

Abstract

Serbian Criminal Code was changed on 11th September 2009. Among these changes in some criminal acts in the Code the term property of citizens was changed into the term private property. The former term caused problems in its interpretation by courts and prosecutors. This led to different solutions in similar cases which endangered principle of legal certainty as one important postulate of the rule of law. Determination of the former term was important to decide who is an authorized prosecutor before courts - public or private prosecutor? In situation of incorrect interpretation, consequence was violation of a provision of Criminal Procedure Code which represented a basis for the abolition of the verdict. It is our opinion that it is not questionable that under property of citizens entered property of individuals, but in situations of legal entities it was necessary to determine intuit personae elements, or in other words to determine if the property of legal entity is separated from the property of members of the legal entity or not. After the last legal changes it is not important anymore which form of the company exists. The only question is whether the net assets of the state exist or not. All mentioned indicates the need for precise interpretation of the term property of citizens and its distinction from the term private property.