The Bail Institute as a substitute for pre-trial detention has once again, for who knows how many times, come into the public spotlight due to the Mamić case, and once again there is a stir about whether the wealthy are buying their freedom with it, while ‘ordinary’ citizens do not have that option.
The million-dollar amounts that friends and neighbors pay to the so-called heroes of Croatian economic and political life increasingly smell of inequality before the law, and it seems that the Ministry of Justice has become aware of this. Namely, Justice Minister Orsat Miljenić stated a few months ago that it would be worth considering whether to amend the Criminal Procedure Act so that the rules on bail return to the old ways, which means that bail could only be offered as a substitute for pre-trial detention in cases where it is imposed due to the risk of flight, while in cases of influencing witnesses and repeating offenses it would not be considered. In that situation, defendants would go to prison.
Lawyer Branko Šerić believes that the current situation with bail is not bad at all, and it is demonized because the media focus is exclusively on high-profile cases, while smaller processes are not publicly followed. He emphasizes that guarantees must be determined taking into account the specifics of each individual case and that regulations like ours are also present in other developed countries. In this week’s Fight Club, we bring you the arguments of Minister Miljenić and lawyer Šerić, and it is up to you to decide HERE.
