Source and methods of data collection

On the basis of the Official Statistics Act (NN, No. 25/20), data on misdemeanours committed by adult persons are collected by regular statistical survey, which uses the statistical report entitled the Statistical Report on Legal Entities and Persons in Charge Against Whom Misdemeanour Proceedings Have Been Validly Concluded (SPK-3 form)

Statistical reports are filled in by competent municipal/municipal misdemeanour courts as well as by competent state administration bodies, authorised to adjudicate in misdemeanour proceedings: tax administration offices, regional customs offices, harbour master’s offices, management body of air traffic and financial inspectorate.

The Misdemeanour Act (NN, Nos 107/07, 39/13, 157/13, 110/15, 70/17 and 118/18) was put into effect on 1 January 2008 and, since then, it has been applied in statistical surveys.

The classification of misdemeanours is the basis for the statistical presentation of data on perpetrators of misdemeanours. Each field of the classification also contains an item "Other violations of regulations". In the case of an increase of the item in question, which would indicate an increase in the occurrence of a particular type of misdemeanour within this item, an extraction of that type of misdemeanour from the item "Other violations of regulations" to a separate item within the same field of the classification of misdemeanours is done (for example, this was the case of the item "Violation of regulation on supervision of state borders").

Coverage

The statistical survey covers all legal entities and persons in charge – perpetrators of misdemeanours in order to examine the volume and spread of misdemeanours for the whole territory of the Republic of Croatia.

Definitions

Misdemeanours are conducts that violate or threaten public order, social discipline or other social values guaranteed and protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, national and international laws, the protection of which is not possible without the misdemeanour system of sanctions and is not achieved through the penal coercion.

In regard of statistical surveys, misdemeanours cover an occurrence that starts with reporting a committed misdemeanour and ends with a valid conclusion of proceedings done by a competent misdemeanour body.

Person in charge – perpetrator of a misdemeanour is a person in charge (director, accountant manager, cashier etc.) in a legal entity (trade company, state body etc.) against whom misdemeanour proceedings have been validly concluded by a decision to terminate the proceedings, a judgement on the rejection of charges, judgement of acquittal, or a decision by which a person is found guilty.

Legal entity – perpetrator of a misdemeanour is a domestic legal entity (for example, trade company, state body, union, and the like) as well as a foreign entity considered to be a legal entity under the Croatian law, against which misdemeanour proceedings have been validly concluded by a decision to terminate the proceedings, a judgement on rejection of charges, a judgement of acquittal or a decision by which the legal entity has been found responsible.

The term ‘misdemeanour in merger’ means the event when the perpetrator, performing one or more acts, commits several misdemeanours, which he or she is being tried for at the same time. In the case of merger, the most serious offense is recorded.

Starting from the 2018 reference year, the structure of the classification of misdemeanours used by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has been changed in a way that the number of misdemeanour fields had been reduced from nine to four. Individual items of the classification of misdemeanours listed in cancelled fields have been included in the remaining four fields, which ensured the completeness of the coverage. Namely, the fields of the classification of misdemeanours entitled Work and safety at work, Education, science, culture and information, Health care, social welfare, health insurance and environmental health as well as a part of Administration have been included in the field Economy. The field of the classification of misdemeanours entitled General safety has been included in the field Public order and peace and general safety. Finally, one item from the field Administration has been included in the field Financial activities.

Since both the decision on rejecting the proposal for misdemeanour proceedings and the decision by which it is determined that the perpetrator has committed a misdemeanour while being mentally incompetent are procedural in nature, starting from the 2018 reference year, they are not observed as individual modalities of the Type of decision statistical variable any longer, but have been dispersed within the remaining applicable modalities.

Personal data on perpetrator of misdemeanour

Personal data on a perpetrator of misdemeanour refer to the situation as at the time of committing a misdemeanour.

Misdemeanour penalties

A fine may be imposed for a misdemeanour, while for the responsible person imprisonment may be imposed as well. In cases provided for by the Misdemeanour Act, the perpetrator of the misdemeanour may be reprimanded instead of the prescribed fine or imprisonment (for the responsible person), or the perpetrator can be found responsible/guilty but without any sentence imposed.

If an offender with several offences committed several misdemeanours on which the decision was not pronounced and of which proceedings are conducted through a single body, the penalty for each offence shall be pronounced firstly and, if the penalties are of the same kind, a single penalty that is equal to the sum of each pronounced penalty for all the offences committed shall be pronounced, provided that the total imprisonment penalty pronounced may not be longer than 120 days.

When the legal act containing misdemeanour provisions prescribes the misdemeanour responsibility of a legal person as well as responsible person within the legal person, and proceedings are initiated either against the legal or responsible person alone, or the court in the proceedings determines that the accused responsible person is not a responsible person with regard that misdemeanour, the court may establish misdemeanour responsibility only of the legal or responsible person.