Serious economic crimes committed in a period of political and economic transition, have often been neglected in criminal proceedings. The Balkan region is no exception. The study connects international criminal law with discourses of international human rights law, security studies, (supranational) criminology, political sciences, transitional justice and (economic) criminal law in order to find arguments as to why it is necessary to start prosecuting serious economic offences as crimes under international law and why they should find their place in the ICC Statute.

This book provides in-depth analyses of whether, and how exactly, criminal law perceives and adapts to these developments. The main focus of the study are the relevant normative and criminological questions regarding fraud, fraud in economic transactions, subsidy fraud, computer and electoral fraud, and some other forms of fraudulent behaviour. From a comparative perspective, it becomes apparent that a specific group of statutory offences is scattered throughout the criminal codes of Croatia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and also the neighbouring countries in the Balkan region, all of which fit the same pattern and reveal the same core features of fraud.

This volume provides a first comprehensive account of the prevalence and incidence of juvenile crime in the Balkans, based on self-reports in youth populations of five countries of the region: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The analyses focus on differences and common characteristics among the five country samples, involving a total of 8,460 respondents. Based on these findings, further analyses are centered on indicators that might impact the development of juvenile crime. In general, this study is focused on theory-testing and the search for mechanisms that explain juvenile crime in the region. The main theory that was tested is the social control theory. The study presents important empirical evidence for establishing, developing and evaluating prevention programmes, which are an important component of rational, evidence-based crime policies in the Balkans.