September the 1st, 2026 – Croatia is set to introduce life imprisonment for 15 criminal offences as of the 1st of January 2027.
The liability of companies, i.e. legal persons, for criminal offences committed through them by responsible persons will be sanctioned significantly more severely than before. From the 1st of January 2027, life imprisonment in Croatia will be able to be imposed on perpetrators of 15 types of the most serious criminal offences, including those related to irreversible or long-term environmental pollution.
Poslovni reports that the harshest penalty will be able to be imposed on all persons who were 18 or older at the time of committing the offence, which means that younger adults will not be spared either, writes Kristina Turčin for Jutarnji. However, all those sentenced to life imprisonment, regardless of age, will have the right to conditional release after serving 25 years of the sentence.
Specifically, for offences that have caused the most severe environmental pollution, i.e. ecocide, fines will rise to as much as 50 million euros.
Reports (including statements linked to the Ministry of Justice and coverage of the reforms) highlight that life imprisonment will apply to the most serious offences currently punishable by long-term imprisonment. Specific examples repeatedly cited include aggravated/serious murder, femicide, certain forms of genocide, serious forms of human trafficking, sexual abuse and the exploitation of children, terrorist attacks and terrorism-related offences and the aforementioned ecocide.
