ABSTRACT
The first case of the COVID-19 infection in Serbia was recorded on 6 March 2020. This chapter explains that during the resultant pandemic, the responsible administration responded adequately and, within the existing normative framework, took measures that resulted in a decrease in the prison population. Although a swift reduction of the prison population in Serbia was achieved after the start of the pandemic by using the already existing legal framework, the high proportion of prisoners compared to the total population indicates that it is time to move away from “penal populism”.
