Full text of the paper:
Collected Papers of the Faculty of Law, University of Novi Sad
2019, vol. LIII, No. 2, pp. 705–723
Language of the paper: English
Overview paper
udk: 343.14:57.088.7
doi: 10.5937/zrpfns53-21427
Author:
Tijana Đurđević, Ph.D. Student
University of Novi Sad
Faculty of Law Novi Sad
durdevict@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The fact that nearly five hundred wrongfully convicted persons have been exonerated thanks to subsequent DNA analysis, after the discovery of DNA and the possibility of identifying person on the basis of DNA, inspired us to research the issue of wrongful convictions and the role of DNA analysis in their correction. This paper firstly discusses the concept and consequences, the estimates of frequency and the causes of wrongful convictions. After that, it gives an overview of some organizations that deal with cases of wrongful convictions in comparative practice. It further explains the role of DNA in exonerations of the wrongfully convicted as well as the assumptions that must exist in order to correct the conviction this way. Lastly, the paper discusses current possibilities and prospects in the Republic of Serbia regarding the correction of the wrongful convictions through subsequent DNA analysis and in other ways.
Keywords:
criminal procedure, wrongfully convicted, DNA, the innocence projects.