Criminal Code (Krivični zakonik) in brief: penalties, limitation, suspended sentence

What the Criminal Code (Krivični zakonik) covers and whom it applies to

The Criminal Code governs substantive criminal law: which conduct constitutes a criminal offence, which sanctions may be imposed, how a sentence is determined, when prosecution and enforcement are time-barred and when a conviction is expunged. A criminal offence is an act which the law defines as such, which is unlawful and which is committed with culpability (Art. 14). Culpability exists if the offender was of sound mind and acted with intent; negligence suffices only where the law expressly so provides (Art. 22).

The official citation is: Krivični zakonik (Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 85/2005, 88/2005 (corr.), 107/2005 (corr.), 72/2009, 111/2009, 121/2012, 104/2013, 108/2014, 94/2016, 35/2019, 94/2024 and 63/2026). The Code entered into force on 1 January 2006 (Art. 432). It applies to anyone who commits an offence in Serbia, while no criminal sanction may be imposed on a person who was under 14 at the time of the act (Art. 4). Sanctions and procedure for minors aged 14 to 18 are governed by a separate statute.

Someone searching for "krivični zakonik" usually wants one of four things: the penalty prescribed for a given offence, when the offence becomes time-barred, when a suspended sentence is available and when a conviction is removed from the criminal record. This text answers those questions. The course of proceedings, from summons and questioning to detention and appeal, is governed by a separate statute described on the page Criminal Procedure Code in brief.

How the Code is structured

The Code has 432 articles in two parts. The General Part (Art. 1-112) contains rules that apply to all offences; the Special Part (Art. 113-430) describes the individual offences and their penalties.

General Part:

• Chapter 1, Basic provisions (Art. 1-4): no offence or penalty without law, no penalty without culpability, types of sanctions
• Chapter 2, Applicability of criminal legislation (Art. 5-13): temporal and territorial application, the more lenient law
• Chapter 3, Criminal offence (Art. 14-41): definition, act of minor significance, self-defence, necessity, sanity, intent and negligence, attempt, complicity
• Chapter 4, Penalties (Art. 42-63): types of penalties, sentencing, mitigation, concurrent offences
• Chapter 5, Warning measures (Art. 64-77): suspended sentence and judicial admonition
• Chapter 6, Security measures (Art. 78-90): treatment, bans on professional activity and on driving, confiscation of objects, expulsion of foreigners, restraining orders
• Chapter 7, Confiscation of proceeds (Art. 91-93)
• Chapter 8, Legal consequences of conviction (Art. 94-96)
• Chapter 9, Rehabilitation, termination of legal consequences and criminal records (Art. 97-102)
• Chapter 10, Limitation (Art. 103-108)
• Chapter 11, Amnesty and pardon (Art. 109-111)
• Chapter 12, Meaning of terms (Art. 112)

The Special Part groups offences by the protected interest, in Chapters 13 to 35: against life and body (Art. 113-127), human and civil rights and freedoms (Art. 128-153), electoral rights (Art. 154-162), labour rights (Art. 163-169), honour and reputation (Art. 170-177), sexual freedom (Art. 178-186), marriage and family (Art. 187-197), intellectual property (Art. 198-202), property (Art. 203-222), the economy (Art. 223-245), public health (Art. 246-259), the environment (Art. 260-277), general safety of people and property (Art. 278-288), road and traffic safety (Art. 289-297), computer data security (Art. 298-304a), the constitutional order and security (Art. 305-321), state bodies (Art. 322-330), the judiciary (Art. 331-342), public order and peace (Art. 343-354), legal transactions and documents (Art. 355-358), official duty (Art. 359-369), humanity and other interests protected by international law (Art. 370-393a) and the Serbian Armed Forces (Art. 394-430). The transitional and final provisions are Art. 431 and 432.

The most searched offences and penalties

The penalties below are the statutory ranges for the basic and most common aggravated forms. The court determines the sentence within those limits according to the mitigating and aggravating circumstances (Art. 54) and, under the conditions in Art. 56 and 57, may go below the prescribed minimum.

Offences against life and body (Art. 113-127). Murder: 5 to 15 years' imprisonment (Art. 113). Aggravated murder, for example in a cruel or treacherous manner, for gain, of a child or a pregnant woman, or of several persons: at least 10 years or life imprisonment (Art. 114). Negligent homicide: 6 months to 5 years (Art. 118). Grievous bodily harm: 6 months to 5 years; where life was endangered or permanent disability resulted: 1 to 8 years; where death resulted: 2 to 12 years; committed negligently: up to 3 years (Art. 121). Minor bodily injury: a fine or up to one year, or up to 3 years if inflicted with a weapon or dangerous tool; prosecution is on a private charge (Art. 122).

Endangering safety (Art. 138). A threat to attack someone's life or body: a fine or up to one year; against several persons or causing public alarm: 3 months to 3 years; against public office holders and other persons specifically listed in the law: 6 months to 5 years.

Honour and reputation (Art. 170-177). Insult is punished by a fine, higher where committed through the media or at a public gathering (Art. 170). Defamation (kleveta) in Art. 171 was deleted from the Code by the 2012 amendments and is no longer a criminal offence; protection against untrue statements is sought in a civil action for damages. Disclosing information about someone's personal or family life remains an offence (Art. 172).

Domestic violence (Art. 194). Violence, a threat of attack or insolent and reckless conduct endangering the peace or physical integrity of a family member: 3 months to 3 years; with a weapon: 6 months to 5 years; where grievous bodily harm resulted or the victim is a minor: 2 to 10 years; where death resulted: 5 to 15 years. Breaching court-ordered protective measures against domestic violence is also punishable.

Property (Art. 203-222). Theft: a fine or up to 3 years (Art. 203). Aggravated theft, for example by breaking in, by a group, while armed or by exploiting someone's helplessness: 1 to 8 years, and 2 to 10 years for higher values or an organised group (Art. 204). Fraud: 6 months to 5 years plus a fine, and 1 to 8 or 2 to 10 years for larger gains (Art. 208).

Narcotics (Art. 246 and 246a). Unauthorised production and trafficking: 3 to 12 years; cultivating opium poppy or psychoactive cannabis: 2 to 8 years (Art. 246). Unauthorised possession of a small quantity for personal use: a fine or up to 3 years, and the court may release the offender from punishment; possession of a large quantity: 3 to 10 years (Art. 246a). An offender who discloses his supplier may be released from punishment.

Traffic (Art. 289-297). Endangering public traffic, where a road user breaches traffic rules and thereby endangers traffic, causing minor bodily injury to someone or property damage above 200,000 dinars: up to 3 years; negligently: a fine or up to one year (Art. 289). Serious offences against road safety: where grievous bodily harm or large-scale property damage results, 2 to 10 years, and where death results, 5 to 15 years; where the underlying act was negligent, the ranges are 6 months to 5 years and 2 to 10 years; a driving ban as a security measure is mandatory (Art. 297). Practical steps after an accident are described on the page Saobraćajna nezgoda, šta da radim.

Public order, documents, official duty. Violent conduct: up to 3 years, or 6 months to 5 years if committed by a group or causing minor bodily injury (Art. 344). Forgery of a document: up to 3 years, or 3 months to 5 years for a public document, will, bill of exchange or cheque (Art. 355). Abuse of official position: 6 months to 5 years, 1 to 8 years for a gain above 450,000 dinars and 2 to 12 years above 1,500,000 dinars (Art. 359). Accepting a bribe: 2 to 12 years in the basic form (Art. 367); giving a bribe: 6 months to 5 years, with possible release from punishment if the offence is reported before it is discovered (Art. 368). The firearms offences (Art. 348) were rewritten by the 2026 amendments, discussed in the section on the latest amendments.

Criminal Code: penalties and sentencing

Criminal sanctions are penalties, warning measures, security measures and educational measures (Art. 4). The penalties are life imprisonment, imprisonment, a fine, community service and revocation of the driving licence (Art. 43). The purpose of punishment includes preventing the offender from reoffending, deterring others, expressing social condemnation and achieving proportionality between the offence and the sanction (Art. 42).

Imprisonment (Art. 45 and 46). Imprisonment may not be shorter than 30 days or longer than 20 years; it is imposed in full years and months, and up to six months also in days. When it imposes up to one year, the court may order that the sentence be served in the premises where the convicted person lives, if in view of his personality, past life, conduct after the offence and degree of culpability it can be expected that the purpose of punishment will be achieved that way; the person may not leave the premises except in cases provided by law, and a person who leaves without permission, once for more than six hours or twice for up to six hours, serves the remainder in prison. This option is not available for offences against marriage and family where the convicted person shares a household with the victim (Art. 45). Parole is possible after two thirds of the sentence, or after 27 years of life imprisonment, if it can be expected that the person will not reoffend; for certain offences it is excluded (Art. 46).

Fine (Art. 49 and 50). A fine is as a rule imposed in daily amounts: the court first sets the number of daily amounts (10 to 360) according to the gravity of the offence, then the value of one daily amount (500 to 50,000 dinars) according to the offender's income and expenses. Where the daily amount cannot be determined, the fine is imposed in a fixed amount, from 10,000 to 1,000,000 dinars, or up to 10,000,000 dinars for offences committed for gain.

Community service and licence revocation (Art. 52 and 53). Community service may be imposed for offences carrying up to three years' imprisonment or a fine, lasts 60 to 360 hours and requires the offender's consent; a person who fulfils all obligations may have it reduced by a quarter. Revocation of the driving licence lasts one to three years and may be an accessory penalty or, for offences carrying up to two years, the main penalty; driving during the revocation is converted into imprisonment.

Sentencing and mitigation (Art. 54-57). The court determines the sentence within the limits prescribed for the offence, considering the degree of culpability, the motives, the degree of endangerment or harm, the circumstances of the offence, the offender's past life, personal circumstances and conduct after the offence (Art. 54). The sentence may be reduced below the minimum where the law so provides or where there are particularly mitigating circumstances (Art. 56), within the limits in Art. 57; for certain gravest offences, such as aggravated murder and rape, mitigation is excluded, as it is for an offender previously convicted of the same or a similar offence.

Suspended sentence and judicial admonition

Warning measures are the suspended sentence and the judicial admonition (Art. 64). With a suspended sentence the court sets the sentence and orders that it will not be enforced if the convicted person commits no new offence during a probation period of one to five years; the court may also order him, within a set period, to return the gain, compensate the damage or meet other obligations, and security measures imposed alongside a suspended sentence are enforced (Art. 65).

The conditions are in Art. 66: the sentence set must be less than two years' imprisonment; a suspended sentence may not be imposed for an offence carrying eight years' imprisonment or a heavier penalty, nor on an offender finally sentenced to imprisonment or a suspended sentence for an intentional offence less than five years earlier. The court revokes the suspended sentence if, during probation, the person commits one or more offences for which two years' imprisonment or more is imposed; for lesser new offences the court weighs whether to revoke, considering how related the offences are, the motives and other circumstances (Art. 67). The court may also order enforcement of the sentence set if the person fails to meet the imposed obligations within the set period (Art. 65(2)).

In practice a suspended sentence is the most common outcome for first-time offenders in less serious cases, but it is not automatic: it depends on the sentence set and the circumstances of the case.

Limitation of prosecution and of enforcement

Limitation is governed by Art. 103-108. Prosecution may no longer be brought once the following has elapsed: 20 years for an offence carrying more than 15 years' imprisonment; 15 years for more than 10 years; 10 years for more than 5 years; 5 years for more than 3 years; 3 years for more than one year; 2 years for an offence carrying up to one year or a fine (Art. 103).

Limitation runs from the day the offence was committed or, if the consequence occurred later, from the day of the consequence. It does not run while prosecution cannot lawfully be brought. It is interrupted by every procedural step taken to detect the offence or prosecute the offender, and by a new, equally serious or more serious offence committed within the period; after an interruption the period starts afresh. Limitation sets in in every case once twice the period in Art. 103 has elapsed, known as absolute limitation (Art. 104). Example: for theft (up to three years' imprisonment) the relative period is five years and the absolute period ten years from the act.

Enforcement of a sentence imposed is time-barred on the same scale, measured by the sentence imposed rather than the sentence prescribed (Art. 105). There is no limitation for prosecution or enforcement for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Art. 370-375, for offences punishable by life imprisonment, or for offences excluded by ratified international treaties (Art. 108).

Rehabilitation and the criminal record

Rehabilitation expunges the conviction, ends all its legal consequences and the convicted person is treated as never convicted (Art. 97). There is statutory and judicial rehabilitation.

Statutory rehabilitation takes effect by operation of law, but only for a person who was not convicted before the conviction concerned. The periods in Art. 98 run provided no new offence is committed in that time: one year from finality of the decision for a person found guilty but released from punishment, or given a judicial admonition; for a suspended sentence, one year after the probation period ends; three years from the penalty being served, time-barred or pardoned for a fine, community service, revocation of the driving licence or imprisonment of up to six months; five years for imprisonment of six months to one year; ten years for imprisonment of one to three years. Rehabilitation does not take effect while an accessory penalty or a security measure is running.

Judicial rehabilitation may be granted, on request, to a person sentenced to more than three and up to five years' imprisonment if, within ten years of the penalty being served, time-barred or pardoned, he has committed no new offence and the court finds that by his conduct he deserves it and has compensated the damage as far as able (Art. 99). For imprisonment of more than five years neither statutory nor judicial rehabilitation is provided.

The latest amendments: 2019, 2024 and 2026

The 2019 amendments (No. 35/2019, applied from 1 December 2019) introduced life imprisonment as the heaviest penalty in place of the former 30 to 40 years' imprisonment and tightened the rules for previously convicted offenders. The 2024 amendment (No. 94/2024) entered into force on the eighth day after publication and has only three articles.

The latest amendments were published on 10 July 2026 (No. 63/2026) and entered into force on the eighth day after publication. They change Art. 55a so that a previously convicted offender is sentenced starting from the minimum of the prescribed range, with the prior conviction having to be for the same or a similar offence, and a final judgment of a foreign court counting as a prior conviction. The offence in Art. 348 is retitled unlawful possession and carrying of firearms, ammunition and explosives, while manufacture, trafficking and smuggling become separate offences in new Art. 348a-348g, with higher ranges (for example 5 to 15 years for unauthorised carrying). The firearms provisions apply nine months after the amendments entered into force; until then the previous Art. 348 applies. No new criminal code has been adopted; a draft of further amendments was in public consultation in September 2025.

Where to read the official text

The official consolidated text is available in the Legal Information System of the Republic of Serbia: Krivični zakonik on pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs. For the course of proceedings see the Criminal Procedure Code, and for minors the Act on Juvenile Offenders and Criminal Protection of Minors.

Sources

• Criminal Code (Krivični zakonik, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 85/2005, 88/2005 (corr.), 107/2005 (corr.), 72/2009, 111/2009, 121/2012, 104/2013, 108/2014, 94/2016, 35/2019, 94/2024 and 63/2026)
• Criminal Procedure Code (Zakonik o krivičnom postupku, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 72/2011 ... 62/2021 - Constitutional Court decision), Art. 283 and 284
• National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, adopted laws