CRIMINOLOGICAL AND CRIMINAL-LAW ASPECTS OF PEER VIOLENCE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
CRIMINOLOGICAL AND CRIMINAL-LAW ASPECTS OF PEER VIOLENCE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Summary/Abstract: Peer violence is a complex social phenomenon that cannot be reduced either to a school-discipline problem or exclusively to juvenile delinquency. It includes physical, psychological, social, sexual and digital violence among children and young people, while criminal-law relevance depends on the concrete act, its consequences and the age of the perpetrator. The paper examines the criminological and criminal-law dimensions of peer violence in the Republic of Serbia and evaluates whether the existing normative and institutional framework enables early detection, effective prevention, proportionate accountability and adequate victim protection. The research combines doctrinal legal analysis, documentary analysis, criminological interpretation and secondary analysis of official statistics and the first comprehensive national survey on peer violence and students’ well-being in Serbia. Three analytical hypotheses are examined: (H1) Serbia has a relatively comprehensive formal framework whose effectiveness is reduced by fragmented implementation and records; (H2) criminal-justice statistics on juveniles cannot by themselves measure the real extent of peer violence; and (H3) the principal systemic deficit lies in prevention, data integration and multi-agency coordination rather than in the absence of a broadly defined stand-alone criminal offence of “peer violence”. Statistical Office data for 2021-2025 show fluctuations in registered juvenile delinquency but also demonstrate the limits of using those figures as a proxy for peer violence. The representative national school-violence survey conducted in 2024 and published in 2025 found verbal violence to be the most common form and reported that 27% of students who experienced violence did not inform parents or school staff. The paper identifies important strengths of the Serbian system - specialised juvenile justice, broad educational prohibitions, intersectoral protocols and the “Čuvam te” reporting platform - but also weaknesses related to inconsistent records, treatment of children under fourteen, digital violence and continuity of victim support. Accordingly, the paper separates peer violence as a criminological relationship from criminal-law qualification and proposes a common cross-sector “peer-violence marker” with a minimum data set. The findings support a shift from incident-centred reaction to evidence-based risk management, early intervention and coordinated protection.

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