Criminal acts of extortion represent a form of classic criminality;
however, since the 20th century, they have also got the dimension of
organised criminality if we take into account the circumstances under
which they are committed, the intent of the perpetrator and the way in
which the aim is achieved. They have been systematised within the
Criminal Code in the group of criminal acts against property, which
represent the most numerous criminal acts starting from the oldest
written legal documents, to modern criminal legislation. The scope,
dynamics and great prevalence of property offences in the structure
of overall criminality in general, and particularly the specific
character of the criminal acts of extortion, which are property
offences, but, at the same time, criminal acts of violence, while
certain forms and manners of their expression occur as a segment of
organised criminality, and the complexity of the methods and ways of
their suppression and prevention have b...een the motive for the author
to pay special attention to this topic so that criminal acts of extortion
could be analysed by a multi-disciplinary approach: theoretical,
historical-legal, comparative-legal, judicial-practical, criminological
and criminal-political.
On the basis of national and foreign legal theories, judicial and
statistical practice, historical legal documents, and the positive
criminal legislature of Serbia and other modern countries,
systematically and in the logical order, the notion, elements,
characteristics, forms and manners of expression are presented in this
paper, as well as the place, role and significance of the criminal acts
of extortion within the structure of property criminality from the
oldest written legal documents of Serbia to the present day, as well as
within the comparative criminal law, and the criteria for the
distinction of these criminal acts from other similar criminal acts in
the Criminal Code of Serbia from 2005, i.e. in the legal theory and
judicial practice. These criminal acts are also analysed throughout
their historical development, from the Middle Ages and the
application of the oldest legal documents to the present day. This is
followed by the analysis of criminal acts of extortion in the
comparative criminal legislation and their critical comparison to the
decisions from the Serbian legislation. This kind of paper is also
characterised by the analysis of the legal-theoretical, criminaljudicial,
criminological and judicial-practical aspects of criminal acts
of extortion, while simultaneously pointing out the faults in the
application of certain legal decisions, and proposing decisions for
overcoming and solving them.
Criminal acts of extortion, as real, usual criminal acts in the area of
classic, general criminality (of property and violent characters), but
also as a form of expression of organised criminality, have required
the application of various scientific-research methods in this study,
such as: the observation method, the method of content analysis, the
method of synthesis, the legal-dogmatic method, the historical-legal
method, the comparative-legal method, the judicial-statistical
method, etc., with the aim of conducting a comprehensive analysis of
the research subject of this doctoral thesis – criminal acts of extortion
and the ways and methods of their suppression and prevention.
The analysis of criminal acts of extortion explores, to a certain extent
and in a certain manner, certain general legal-historical institutes
which, here, have a special place, role and significance, such as:
complicity, an extended criminal act, a collective criminal act, the
attempt of a criminal act and the concurrence of criminal acts, i.e. the
application of certain forms of criminal sanctions (punishments,
security measures), but also other criminal-legal measures such as:
the confiscation of material gain which has been obtained by
committing a criminal act and the confiscation of property originating
from a criminal act.
