MAINTANCE OF PUBLIC ORDER (AND PEACE) IN SERBIA: BRIEF HISTORICAL-LEGAL REVIEW

Abstract

Purpose

Public order (and peace) as an area of ​​social life in Serbia is currently a very important topic in the context of organizing various types of protests where the police have a very important role in maintaining order (and peace). The aim of the research is to answer questions such as what the incrimination of certain human behaviors that threaten public order looked like throughout history, what the decriminalization of certain human behaviors looked like in the context of protecting public order (and peace) depending on social development, moral values, etc.

Design/Methods/Approach

The authors use the historical-legal method to analyze the development of legal protection of public order maintaining, and use the normative method to analyze the norms of regulations.

Findings

The authors identified four periods in the development of legal protection of maintaining order as a public service: the Middle Ages, the period after liberation from the Turkish occupation, the period after World War II, and the modern period, in which certain peculiarities but also similarities in the legal regulation of public order are observed. The analysis of the regulations identified the basic variables of the legal regulation of public order and peace, which were analyzed. In the legal regulation of maintaining order as a public service, the substantive and procedural aspects are emphasized. Through substantive law, the legislator issues acts of misdemeanors and defines some segments that were important for the area of ​​public order at that time. The procedural part of the legislation regulated individual actions of state bodies, primarily the police, which had the ultimate goal of maintaining public order (and peace) as a public service.

Originality/Value

The scientific approaches of exploring public order’s history can lead toward better investigating and proving contemporary forms of crime and misdemeanor. Researching the history of maintaining public order in Serbia leads to a better understanding of the contemporary legal regulation of this area of social life. The next step is to better understanding of the public order maintenance as a form of policing, which will achieve better results in investigating and proving violations of public order as a form of crime.