The Criminal Court of First Instance has granted a release decision to Zoran Jovanov, the father of Vasil Jovanov, following an investigation into the fatal accident that occurred on “Aradhet Partizane” boulevard in Skopje, which resulted in the death of Frosina Kullakova. In its ruling, the court determined that criminal liability cannot be established solely based on the ownership of a vehicle, particularly when the vehicle was operated by an adult son without the owner’s authorization. The court placed significant emphasis on the principle of personal and individual responsibility within criminal law.
The judicial body concluded that the direct cause of the accident stemmed from the actions of the driver himself, meaning the owner could not be held automatically accountable for the operational conduct of another individual. During the proceedings, the prosecution had formally reclassified the alleged criminal act as “endangering traffic safety.” However, the court’s assessment focused on the nexus between the driver’s actions and the resulting incident. By ruling in favor of Jovanov, the court underscored the legal distinction between property ownership and operational accountability.
This decision reinforces the legal standard that criminal culpability must be directly linked to an individual’s own conduct, thereby absolving the father of responsibility based merely on his association with the vehicle driven by his son, Vasil.
Topics: #court #vasil #father
