Index – National – Further and further away from jury trial

Who wouldn’t have seen Sidney Lumet’s classic film drama? Twelve angry people (12 Angry Men) in which a jury (Henry Fonda) has doubts about the defendant’s guilt and tries to convince his fellow jurors? The film presents the essence of the so-called secular trial almost in a narrative way: juries from various civilian occupations, weighing the evidence, decide whether the defendant is “guilty” or “not guilty.”

The two pillars of freedom

Few people may know that there were also juries in Hungary. This is evidenced by the fact that the largest court of the Metropolitan Court is still called a jury. Trial by jury appeared in the mid-19th century in the 18th century. in a law that established:

[…] press violations are publicly tried by a jury.

Based on this, in April 1848, the Minister of Justice Ferenc Deák issued a decree regulating the jury procedures, which was already based on the principles of orality, frankness, publicity, mandatory protection and equal treatment of clients, free weighing of evidence, although only one decree was concluded in Bratislava. Then, from 1867 to 1900, the press juries operated. Contemporaries believed that the two pillars of freedom were united in this institution: the free press and the jury system. And while the jury’s presentation was certainly met with great enthusiasm, the zeal faded after a while, thanks to the fact that jurors did not attend hearings more and more frequently. The many, many absences were mainly explained by a loss of income due to the long sessions.

The jury is defined more broadly in the Criminal Procedure Code of 1896 and in Law XXXIII of 1897 on the Organization of Courts of Juries. he incorporated him into the Hungarian judiciary. The jury courts (made up of twelve jurors and three judges) heard the most serious cases of insults, infidelity and rebellion, “crimes against personal liberty”, intentional homicide, serious bodily injury, kidnapping of minors, arson, robbery and bribery .

Jury instead of presidents of people

Even in the absence of a jury, the judiciary was not without justice. In 1949 the presidents system was introduced, which has been in operation ever since, implementing the principle of social justice in such a way that the president (the judge) and the presidents jointly decide on all matters of fact and law; the legal classification of the act, but also the guilt and punishment.

Law II of 1954 on the judicial organization of the People’s Republic of Hungary by law, non-professional judges, already called people’s deputies, were elected by the district and county councils as well as professional judges. A list of presidents who elected the president of the court at the appropriate level was sent. THE “Information for popular speakers” According to a publication published in 1954, a worker who might have been worthy of choice

who has sufficient socialist self-awareness, is aware of the wealth of the people, the importance of protecting social property, has sufficient political education, is aware of the importance of maintaining state and labor discipline, knows the life and affairs of working people , warrior comrade.

After the regime change, the idea of ​​presenting a jury came up again. The Minister of Justice of the Antall government, István Balsai, considered the participation of lay judges in criminal cases justified. The judgments of the jury were also included in the 1993 concept of criminal proceedings developed by the Ministry. This procedure would have covered cases where the emphasis was on clarifying the factual issue and not on legal classification. The working material, such as the Law of 1848, cited press demands as an example. The final concept, however, rejected this idea.

Constitutional judges also said no

Recently, the issue of trial by jury was back on the agenda when a referendum question was presented to the National Electoral Commission for verification in November 2005:

Do you agree that the courts of first instance in criminal cases in the Republic of Hungary, before their sentencing, may request, at the request of the accused, a decision of a jury of six natural persons on guilt or innocence, which is binding for the sentencing judge?

Along with the fact that the question contained a spelling error, in a part of the compound sentence for the plural subject [„bíróságok”] statement number one [„kikérje”] the initiative has been referred to the Constitutional Court on several occasions. Finally, in May 2007, the constitutional judges declared the issue unconstitutional because it was directed at a decision made solely by a secular body to determine the question of guilt. In his opinion, the decision would oblige the court to render its ruling, as it would exclude professional judges from the substantive decision.

“Room decor” in the courtroom?

Experts have been debating the legitimacy of the session system for years, many of which consider the participation of presidents in court proceedings formal. There is also the view that presidents are simply “room decorations” in the courtroom.

While 9,956 presidents were elected in 1995, 7,345 in 1999, 4,800 in 2011, in 2019, and only 2,232 people were elected in the last presidential elections.

As regards the election of the president itself, a Hungarian citizen who has reached 30 years of age but has a criminal record of less than 70 years and has the right to vote can be elected president. During their term, they cannot be members of a party or participate in political activities. The judge, whose term is 4 years, has the same rights and obligations in the trial as the professional judge. He will enjoy procedural immunity with respect to the acts performed by him in the administration of justice.

In addition to criminal cases, presidents also participate in civil and labor proceedings. For example, in labor lawsuits, in the first instance, as a rule, they act with the assistance of a president.

While the presence of older people of retirement age was dominant in the 1990s, this proportion has “improved” slightly and is now represented by the youngest age group, around 40, mainly the unemployed. Experience has shown that women are more likely to request seats. However, most of them are still over 60 years old.

The job is not financially attractive enough. The president is entitled to an absence allowance or an honorarium for the duration of his mandate. In 2021, the daily remuneration of the presidents will be 6,000 HUF (25 per cent of the amount of the judicial base salary of 507,730 HUF per working day).

Regarding personnel issues, it is revealed that a short resolution was published in this year’s third issue of the Magyar Közlöny, in which

(Well, it doesn’t hurt to know that the Pest Central District Court is the largest court in the country. Its size is revealed by the fact that the building, which houses two hundred judges, more than five hundred court officials, and thirty judges , has 87 courtrooms and more than one hundred study rooms).

Special knowledge instead of life experiences.

The Code of Criminal Procedure, which entered into force on July 1, 2018, further reduced the role of the secular judiciary: Presidential participation was maintained in criminal proceedings against the military and minors only. In other words, the litigation is not based on the general life experiences of the laity, but only on their special knowledge (military, pedagogical, psychological).

Miskolcziné Juhász Boglárka paints a similar vision “Participation of the laity in criminal justice” in his study titled:

Today, social control over justice can no longer prevail by the “simple son of the people.” On the other hand, it could definitely raise the standard of judgment if they could sit on the presiding councils (accountants, tax advisers) specialized in certain groups of cases, who could substantially help the work of a professional judge. Of course, making such a decision would completely reform the rules for presidents.

necessary.

(Top Image: Scene of the Twelve Angry People)