Mojca M. Plesničar
researcher
Mojca is a research associate at the Institute of Criminology and an assistant professor in Criminology and Criminal law at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana. She studied at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana and at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the topics of punishment, sentencing, and decision-making in criminal justice. She is an active member of the wider European research community and regularly contributes to improving the Slovenian criminal justice system.
Areas of research
Sentencing, punishment and decision-making processes in criminal justice, new technologies and criminal justice, marginalised groups (youth, women, foreigners) in criminology and criminal justice, violent crime, sexual crime.
2025
- Arnež, J., Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2025). Confronting normative frameworks with practical realities: Redefining juvenile justice in Slovenia. Prison Service Journal, 278, 16–25. Available at: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-05/PSJ%20278%20Redefining%20juvenile%20justice%20in%20Slovenia.pdf
- Poama, A., Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2025). Epistemic injustice, state misconduct and sentence mitigation. In Zaibert, L., Roberts, J. V., Ryberg, J. (Eds.), Responding to the culpable state: Is sentence mitigation appropriate? (pp. 193–211). Oxford: Hart Publishing.
2024
- Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2024). The challenges of being imperfect: How do judges and prosecutors deal with sentencing disparity. Frontiers in Sociology, 9, Article 1488786. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1488786
- Mihelj Plesničar, M., Tripković, M. (2024). Communicating confidence: Suspended sentences as communicative punishment. Pravni zapisi (Legal Records), 15(1), 239–271. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5937/pravzap0-50554
- Završnik, A., Briški, L., Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2024). Digitalisation of the Slovenian justice system and its discontents. Journal of Criminal Investigation and Criminology, 75(4), 277–289. Available at: https://www.policija.si/images/stories/Publikacije/RKK/PDF/2024/04/RKK2024-04_AlesZavrsnik_DigitalisationOfTheSLOJusticeSystem.pdf
- Prestor, L. G., Arnež, J., Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2024). Putting people behind closed doors: An analysis of social care detention in Slovenia. Journal of Criminal Investigation and Criminology, 75(4), 316–331. Available at: https://www.policija.si/images/stories/Publikacije/RKK/PDF/2024/04/RKK2024-04_LukaGalPrestor_PutingPeopleBehindClosedDoors.pdf
2023:
- Drápal, J., Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2023). Sentencing elsewhere: Structuring sentencing discretion in post-communist Europe. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 29, 1–20. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-023-09568-4
2022:
- Mihelj Plesničar, M., Jankovič, A. (2022). Punishing sexual violence: The case of rape. In Šelih, A., Mihelj Plesničar, M., Ambrož, M. (Eds.), Responding to sexual crime: Models, transformations and social context (pp. 89–114). Ljubljana: Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law.
- Van Wingerden, S. G. C., Mihelj Plesničar, M. (2022). Artificial intelligence and sentencing: Humans against machines. In Ryberg, J., Roberts, J. V. (Eds.), Sentencing and artificial intelligence (pp. 230–251). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Current projects:
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Social and public health dimensions of cannabis regulation and use (1. 10. 2024 – 30. 9. 2026) – project leader: Dr. Kristina Čufar
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Stalking as a form of domestic violence (1. 10. 2024 – 30. 9. 2026) – project leader: Dr. Eva Bertok
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The Rise of Illiberal Democracies: A Criminological and Socio-legal Analysis (1. 10. 2023 – 30. 9. 2026) – project leader: Dr. Vasja Badalič
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Addressing peer violence: A systemic approach to providing a lasting safe and supportive school environment (1. 10. 2023 – 31. 3. 2026) – project leader: Dr. Jasmina Arnež
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The challenges of processing human trafficking in Slovenia (1. 10. 2024 – 30. 9. 2025) – project leader: Dr. Mojca Mihelj Plesničar
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Validation of a screening tool for risk assessment in penitentiary institutions (1. 10. 2024 – 30. 9. 2025) – project leader: Dr. Dean Lipovac
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Alternatives to conventional punishment of drug offenders: the case of cannabis (1. 10. 2023 – 30. 9. 2025) – project leader: Dr. Kristina Čufar
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Measuring social climate in prisons: methods, procedures and practice (1. 10. 2023 – 30. 9. 2025) – project leader: Dr. Mojca Mihelj Plesničar
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Judicial Selection Under Scrutiny: Judicial Independence, Lawfulness and Merit (1. 10. 2022 – 30. 9. 2025) – project leader: Dr. Samo Bardutzky
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Trasformation of secure units into community services for adults and children with disabilities (1. 10. 2023 – 31. 3. 2025) – project leader: Dr. Vera Grebenc
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Social control, criminal justice system, violence and the prevention of victimizations in the context of high technology market society (1. 1. 2022 – 31. 12. 2027) – project leader: Dr. Renata Salecl
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The Infrastructure Programme for the domain of criminality, crime and penal policy of the Institute of Criminology (1. 1. 2022 – 31. 12. 2027) – project leader: Dr. Matjaž Jager
Past projects:
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Restraining order (1. 9. 2021 – 31. 8. 2023) – project leader: Dr. Katja Filipčič
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Institutional, legislative and awareness-raising solutions and activities in addressing sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence in higher education and research organisations in Slovenia (1. 9. 2021 – 28. 2. 2023) – project leader: Dr. Milica Antić-Gaber
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Sentencing policy for sexual crimes (1. 9. 2021 – 28. 2. 2023) – project leader: Dr. Mojca Mihelj Plesničar
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LAW OF DEBTORS AND CREDITORS – A NORMATIVE AND EMPIRICAL LEGAL ANALYSIS (1. 7. 2019 – 30. 6. 2022) – project leader: Dr. Jaka Cepec
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Psychological mechanisms in criminal justice: Deconstructing objectivity (1. 7. 2019 – 30. 6. 2022) – project leader: Dr. Mojca Mihelj Plesničar
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AUTOMATED JUSTICE: SOCIAL, ETHICAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS (1. 7. 2018 – 30. 6. 2021) – project leader: Dr. Aleš Završnik
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Shifting Boundaries in Criminology and Crime Policy (1. 5. 2017 – 30. 4. 2020) – project leader: Dr. Renata Salecl
