Question Time: Introduction of life sentence and ecocide

Responding to a parliamentary question during Question Time in the Croatian Parliament, Minister Habijan announced changes to the criminal legislation

Minister Habijan stressed that addressing the issue of fires and waste requires broader interdepartmental cooperation, and then referred to the legislative changes in his portfolio.

'For the first time, we are introducing the instrument of life imprisonment in our legislation, which is absolutely necessary. It will be envisaged for the most serious crimes', the Minister said.

'Another very important thing, for which I want to thank Minister Hrstić and Deputy Prime Minister Božinović, is the work of a Working Group which, in just 14 days and through 12 sessions, produced amendments to six laws in the field of criminal legislation and a completely new law, which will be presented by Minister Hrstić', the Minister added.

The new package of laws is introducing a special measure of monitoring after a served sentence for up to five years, or up to ten years if the crime was committed to the detriment of a child. Particularly dangerous offenders will be covered by a special law regulating their further treatment and placement in a specialised institution after having serving their sentence.

The mentioned Working Group, established in May 2025, primarily worked on the transposition of the EU Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law, but the decision was made to go a step further than the European framework.

'Neither the Directive nor any other document of the European Union, the Council of Europe or UNESCO defines the issue of ecocide. We are the first in the European Union, and beyond, to introduce a new criminal offence of particularly serious environmental crime - colloquially known as ecocide', said the Minister.

The new offence of ecocide will be punishable by a sentence ranging from a minimum of 10 years’ to long-term imprisonment, with the possibility of a life sentence. This offence will not be time-barred because its consequences are often visible only after a few years.

The amendments also include tighter sanctions for causing fires resulting in great material damage and loss of human lives, such as the fatal fire in Omiš this summer. Penalties for such offences will be increased to a minimum of five years’ to long-term imprisonment, also with the possibility of a life sentence.

Furthermore, legal persons active in the waste sector will face significantly higher financial sanctions as the maximum fines under the Act on the Liability of Legal Persons are being raised from €25 million to €50 million.

The package of amendments is also expanding the criminal law protection of animals by introducing two new criminal offences - sexual exploitation of animals and unauthorised veterinary practice, while tightening sanctions for existing offences. The Minister made a special mention of the animal protection associations which collaborated intensively on this draft law and thanked them for their contribution.

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