Removing legal deficiencies of final judgments

Once a court renders the final judgment, it sets in motion the procedure for the execution of the decision stated in the formal/operative part of the final judgment (disposition). The final judgment is the result of a meticulous factual reconstruction of the committed criminal act and the application of criminal law norms to the established facts. Being rendered in the final stage of the conducted criminal proceedings, the final judgment is the pinnacle of the institutional response to the suspicion that the defendant's conduct has satisfied the essential elements of a specific criminal offence. The right to file an appeal against the final judgment of the first-instance court ensures the judicial control of legality and regularity of the final judgment rendered in the first-instance proceedings. The appellate court decision is final, legally binding and enforceable. The harmful effects arising from the execution of a final and binding judgment (or legal deficiencies stemming thereof) may be removed only by a subsequent decision of the supreme court rendered in the proceeding initiated by lodging a claim for extraordinary legal remedies, in compliance with the legally prescribed procedure. The final judgment of a lower court may be annulled for factual or legal (substantive or procedural) shortcomings. This paper examines the deficiencies pertaining to the legal grounds of the final judgment.