SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HUNGARIAN CRIMINAL LAW
| Date | 01 March 1959 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1959.tb02167.x |
| Author | STEPHEN SCHAFFER |
| Published date | 01 March 1959 |
SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES
OF
HUNGARIAN
CRIMINAL
LAW
I.
ORIGIN
OF
THE
NEW
CRIMINAL
LAW
PRIOR
to
the Soviet regime's assumption of power, the development
of Hungarian criminal law followed, by and large, a similar course
to that followed in other European countries.
As in other systems, ancient Hungarian criminal law was based
on the notion of private vengeance. Apart from a few crimes
avenged by common force, criminal acts were matters of private
concern; punishment was merely retribution exacted by the victim.
Around the year
1000,
with the establishment of the kingdom,
criminal law began to be regarded as a matter of public law. But
blood feuds and compositions were still to be found in the fifteenth
century. Although the character of public law gradually increased
in strength, the law was still far from certain. As early as the end
of the eighteenth century public opinion, aware of this deficiency,
began to press for codification. None of the contemporary recom-
mendations were, however, brought into force.
Changes in the attitude towards the criminal law throughout
Europe in the nineteenth century showed their effect also in
Hungary. Following renewed serious recommendations, the Hun-
garian Code of Criminal Law saw the light of day as Act No.
V
of
1878.
After its coming into force, it underwent repeated amendment
and extension; none the less,
it
was, for many decades, the firm
foundation of the Hungarian administration of justice. Its birth
was strongly influenced by foreign legislation; indeed, parts of
foreign statutes (mostly German and Belgian) were incorporated
almost verbatim.2 None the less,
it
was progressive compared with
contemporaneous Codes.
Realising the need for reform, supplementary statutes were suc-
cessfully incorporated into the framework of the Code. Matters
thus introduced included,
inter
alia,
a special criminal procedure
applicable to juvenile delinquents which was enacted at about the
same time as the corresponding English statute, and juvenile
courts
s;
probation and binding over
";
rules dealing with vagrants
and corrective institutions
5;
a law dealing with the responsibility
1
J.
E.
Reti,
First Attempts at the Codification
of
Criminal Law in Hungary
2
Pi1
Angyal,
Textbook
of
Hungarian Criminal Law
(Budapest,
1920,
in
J
Act
No.
XXXVI
of
1908,
and
Act
No.
VII
of
1913.
(Budapest,
1928,
in
Hungarian).
Hungarian).
p.
37.
4
Act
No.
XXXVI
of
1908;
6
Act
No.
XXI
of
1913.
164
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