The system of criminal law norms passed in the so-called Independent State of
Croatia (NDH) from its inception in 1941 was aimed at creating and
maintaining an atmosphere of terror implemented by the Ustasha government.
Although the framework of substantive and procedural rules of the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia was formally retained, immediately after the establishment of the
NDH regulations introducing many new crimes punishable by death were enacted.
Defining the ?honour and vital interests of the Croatian people? as an
appropriate object of criminal law protection enabled the creation of a
regime of legalized repression against non-Croat populations, with an
extensive jurisdiction of martial criminal justice. In addition to abuse of
the court martial mechanism, the criminal character of government was also
manifested in the wide application of administrative and punitive measures of
sending to concentration camps as well as collective punishment. In line with
Radbruch?s thought, the author denies the legal character of the system of
criminal law formally established in the territory of the NDH in the
circumstances of genocide.
An order of crime the criminal law of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) 1941-1945
