Two decades of criminal justice reforms in the field of combatting illegal drugs

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century more intensive efforts of the Serbian legislator have been observed which are directed at more efficient combatting illegal drugs abuse. The abuse of drugs and psychotropic substances is the problem which exists all around the world. Open borders allow easier movement of people and capital, but they also lead to appearance of new security threats. Legislative activities increase within the new environment, numerous international instruments are adopted, which among other things, imply progressive path of the EU legislation. When adopting and shaping a new legal text the legislators cannot anticipate all the future problems or foresee new manifesting forms of crime. When combatting illegal drug abuse, in principle, we are not talking about new manifesting forms of crime since they have been present since ancient times, but on the other hand the problems have originated in application of these provisions. Therefore, it is clear that we recognize the main reasons for amendments in difficulties in application of these norms in court practice. This, as the authors observe, brings into question normative shaping and drafting by the legislator. Chronologically observing the amendments to criminal legislation, we can see almost two decades of seeking for new adequate solutions in this field. The authors analyse these amendments and additions with special accent on the Law on amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of 2019 and attempt to find the answer to the question if the present state of the provisions, primarily Articles 246 and 246a, is acceptable, if the problems identified in court practice have been overcome or at least reduced. In the corresponding parts of the paper the authors refer to the current directions of development of the fight against drug abuse in other countries. At the end of the paper, as expected, there are suggestions de lege ferenda, as well as the authors' observations related to difficulties and obstacles on the path to drug abuse suppression.