CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE INCRIMINATION OF CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST HONOR AND REPUTATION IN THE CROATIAN CRIMINAL LAW

Abstract

The Criminal Code of 2011 introduced the criminalization of offenses of severe humiliation and insults on the model of the Swiss Penal Code. After that, there were several attempts for its decriminalization. After the entry into force of the new Criminal Code, the courts were difficult to deal with, which in 2015 led to its amendments. The amendments consisted in simplifying the provision on the inadmissibility of evidence of truth and good faith for embarrassment and the reinstatement of the provision on the exclusion of unlawfulness, now limited to insult and embarrassment. The paper seeks to find answers to the key questions raised in connection with crimes against honor and reputation after their amendments. The paper also covers the analysis of court practice and investigations of committed criminal offenses of severe embezzlement, insults and defamation. Concluding considerations point to certain suggestions of de lege ferenda.