Efficiency of criminal procedure as international legal standard and reform of criminal procedure legislation of Serbia: Standard and practice

The question of efficiency of a criminal procedure is analyzed in this paper from two aspects. First, there are general remarks on efficiency of criminal procedure as international legal standard and as a key goal of the reform of criminal procedure legislation of Serbia within which some questions are particularly prominent that relate to criminal-political reasons of practical efficiency of criminal procedure and the reasons why it is necessary to implement criminal-procedural instruments of efficiency of criminal procedure into national criminal procedure legislation. Second, there is expert and critical analysis of certain assumptions of practical realization of efficiency of criminal procedure within which special attention is paid of legal standards as a key factor of efficiency of criminal procedure. However, in addition to this there is also, only within necessary scope, the review of other factors of efficiency of criminal procedure (complexity and severity of a concrete criminal case; judicial organization; mutual relationships and cooperation of criminal-procedure subjects; abuse of law; expertise and involvment of certain procedural subjects and their motivation - which is particularly epxressed in courts, public prosecutor's offices, police and expert defense). Finally, we should point out that the paper presents certain suggestions de lege ferenda which, according to the author's opinion, should contribute to the increase of criminal procedure efficiency, and thus to the achivement of the key goal of almost fifteen-year long reform of criminal procedure legislation of Serbia.