The National Assembly of Republika Srpska has adopted amendments to the Criminal Code introducing a change to the existing practice under which convicted persons could, if they chose, commute prison sentences of up to one year into fines.
Under the amendments, a custodial sentence of no more than one year may be commuted, at the request of the convicted person, into a fine or community service, provided the court assesses that serving a prison sentence would not be necessary to achieve the purpose of punishment.
In assessing a request by a convicted person, the court will take into account the individual’s character, whether their behaviour has changed since the conviction, their attitude towards the criminal offence committed and the victim, their willingness to compensate for damage or return any unlawfully obtained financial gain, as well as other circumstances indicating that the execution of a prison sentence would not be necessary to achieve the purpose of punishment.
These provisions will not apply to persons convicted of human trafficking or child trafficking, sexual offences against a vulnerable person, the exploitation of a child, terrorism, or repeat offenders.
Under the amendments, those who cannot afford to have a prison sentence commuted to a fine may apply for the sentence to be commuted to community service.
Presenting the amendments to the Criminal Code, Republika Srpska Justice Minister Goran Selak said the changes stemmed from a ruling by the Republika Srpska Constitutional Court in September 2025. The court concluded that the previous practice amounted to discrimination based on financial means, effectively privileging those able to pay BAM 100 for each day of a custodial sentence.
The court also found that allowing prison sentences to be commuted to fines solely at the request of the convicted person left no scope for judicial assessment of the specific facts and circumstances of a case, thereby undermining the principle of fairness in sentencing.
During the debate in the RS National Assembly, Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minić said the previous solution had been better.
“By granting discretionary powers to the courts, we will create even greater confusion,” Minić said, warning that in practice, individuals convicted of the same type of offence could be treated unequally, with one having their sentence commuted while another would not.
The amendments apply only to persons convicted by courts in Republika Srpska. Elsewhere, criminal legislation continues to provide that prison sentences of up to one year may be commuted to fines at the request of the convicted person. The difference lies in the amount payable: those convicted by courts in the Brčko District pay BAM 100 for each day of imprisonment; those sentenced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina pay BAM 100 per day or a daily amount calculated in relation to the average monthly salary; while those convicted by courts in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina pay BAM 150 for each day of imprisonment.
