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Lawyer Gvozden M. Grgur, PhD is specialized in the defense of persons before domestic courts in criminal proceedings, as well as in proceedings before the competent Public Prosecutor’s Offices and the police.
During his career as a lawyer, he defended and defends persons who are accused of the most serious criminal offenses provided by our current Code of Criminal Procedure.
„We will either find a way, or make one"“
In all periods of development of society and the state, the defense has played a significant role in criminal proceedings, however, the most important role the defense has played since the adoption and implementation of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which introduced many innovations into our legal system. (it is applied from October 1, 2013 for courts of general jurisdiction, i.e. from January 15, 2012 for courts of special jurisdiction).
With the adoption of the new Criminal Procedure Code, in addition to numerous defense innovations, the most important moment is certainly the one where the courts lose the right to establish the essential truth, i.e. courts do not have the right to collect evidence on their own initiative in favor of or to the detriment of the defendant. It is in this situation, when the courts are almost or completely passive in criminal proceedings, and when the initiative to prove the guilt is at the prosecution, that the defense gets a significant role, often aimed at proving the presumption of innocence, although this right is guaranteed to every defendant during criminal proceedings.
For the defense, the novelty that is reflected in the collection of evidence and proposing the same, is certainly important. Under the current law, the defense, as well as the defendants as parties to the proceedings, have the right to propose evidence in favor of the defendant, but all evidence on which the defendant’s defense is based must be presented at the latest at the preliminary hearing, or at the first main trial if the preliminary hearing was not held, with the warning of the court that the evidence that was known and not proposed during this period, will not be presented. In such a situation, it is of great importance that the efficiency of the defense counsel is up to the task so as not to jeopardize the defendant’s defense, which would result in a more unfavorable position of the defendant during the criminal proceedings.
The current Criminal Procedure Code provides for a number of other novelties which give a significant role to defense counsels during the investigation, as well as during the criminal proceedings. What is certain is that the most important interest of every defense counsel should be to provide the most effective defense to the defendant before the bodies of the proceedings with the full disposition of professional knowledge and skills.
