CRIMINALISTICS IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA: SITUATION AND PERSPECTIVES (original) (raw)

the study of criminalistics in Republika Srpska (RS) represents continuity in the studies of criminalistics system in former Yugoslavia. Nowadays, criminalistics is systematically studied at the College of Internal Affairs, the group of criminalistics subjects (Annex 1), including the existence of a separate criminalistics orientation. Also, Law Faculties in RS teach criminalistics as a compulsory or optional (elective) subject. Besides that, it is important to mention that the significance of studies of criminalistics in RS is especially accentuated by the introduction of prosecutorial concept of investigation, imposing the necessity that the prosecutors adopt criminalistics knowledge and skills, not only police officers. However, the present degree of development and representation of criminalistics in our society is not on a satisfactory level. Two groups of problems are especially dominant: first, the nomenclature of fields and narrow scientific branches in RS has not precisely determined to which field and narrow scientific branch criminalistics belongs. Criminalistics, with criminality being the subject of its scientific research (detecting and proving criminal offences and perpetrators i.e. informational-cognitive activity in the field of proof theory) uses scientifically grounded ways of cognition, research and treatment of the objects of criminalistics cognition that belongs to scientific branches of social sciences, natural sciences, engineering and technology, medicine and health care sciences as well as human sciences. Hence, we are at liberty to say that criminalistics belongs to an interdisciplinary branch of science (as the branch of science of various branches, fields and narrow branches of science and technology). Since the fields within the interdisciplinary branch are set up for each individual case, we can speak of the field of criminalistics in that context as well. The second group of problems is the concept of studies of criminalistics. The issue that arises is that how the current contents of criminalistics, as the scientific discipline, corresponds to the criminal practice. The problem above all is in the compatibility of the criminalistics content with the criminalistics practice. It appears that the criminalistics contents (including its disciplines) lag behind the criminalistics practice. We are lead to this conclusion by an analysis of criminalistics contents present in scientific and expert papers, including the monographic and textbook contents. Besides that, the problem is also the quantity of those contents, with regards to the fact that the number of source criminalistics papers is limited, with the greater number of works concerning " big " topics. There is also a problem that previously issued contents are being partially or even entirely copied, without monitoring current problems and practical situations. The special problem is in neglecting technological aspects of criminal investigations i.e. nonuse of modern technology and software in detecting and investigation of criminal offences.