European Integration Studies

Arrest practice and habeas corpus principle

Balázs Elek — 2024-11-14

The legal history of habeas corpus goes back to the period of the 'Golden Bull' issued by King Andrew II of Hungary. In the development of English law, the Magna Carta Libertatum marked the emergence of the principle before that. The essence of the principle is that deprivation of liberty may be pronounced by a person vested with judicial power and that the person concerned must be brought before a judge in order to be heard by the accused before an arrest can be ordered. The judicial order for arrest is also provided for in the Fundamental Law of Hungary. The principle raises a number of questions of law enforcement in domestic court practice, but also in the context of EU cooperation.

Main characteristics of the Hungarian criminal records system

Andrea Jánosi — 2024-11-14

The aim of this study is to present the development of the Hungarian criminal records system, to examine the general principles of the existing Hungarian framework and criminal data management. Moreover, it aims to analyse how the present Hungarian legal system meets the requirements of applicable EU legislation.

The cornerstones of the protection of fundamental rights in criminal matters in the EU

László Kis — 2024-11-14

The present paper aims to provide an outline of the protection of fundamental rights, especially the right to a fair trial, from the perspective of criminal procedure and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters in the European Union. It concentrates on the attitude of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) towards the protection of fundamental rights on a European level - as opposed to national level -, also taking into account the evolution of the system of the European judicial protection of fundamental rights with respect to the dialogue between national ordinary courts and national constitutional courts and the CJEU. The central thematic element is the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, concentrating on the evolution of its case law concerning fundamental rights in criminal procedure and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters during the last two decades, which is the era
of the growing importance of criminal law and criminal procedural law in EU law. The background is rather the horizontal and vertical cooperation in
criminal matters, its evolution, the central role of the principle of mutual recognition and the underlying mutual trust of the Member States’ authorities in respect of each other’s criminal justice systems. The relevance of both harmonisation and the application of the mutual recognition principle to mutual legal assistance is inevitably connected to both the similarities and the differences of national legislation and criminal justice systems which are the basis of the preliminary ruling procedures of the Court of Justice of the European Union which also serves as a driving force of mutual trust and development in the area of European criminal law, while also bearing a growing importance in the system of judicial protection of fundamental rights throughout Europe.

The procedural legal status of migrants transported by smugglers in European jurisprudence

Anna Kiss — 2024-11-14

In this paper, we present the approach of criminology and criminal procedure law to migrant smuggling, a phenomenon that is also significant at the European level. The characteristics of migrant smuggling as defined by the UN Protocol are presented, followed by the responses at the European level and the most recent statistics. The procedural status of smuggled persons, their status as victims, witnesses or perpetrators (suspected or accused), and the approach taken by the different branches of law are also discussed. After that, we summarize the results of our research conducted in the spring of 2024 with the cooperation of EUROJUST and Legicoop members. The following research questions were formulated, concerning the procedural status of migrants transported by smugglers in their countries

 In criminal cases of migrant smuggling, what is the procedural position of the person transported by the migrant smuggler? (victim, witness, instigator, abettor)
 Are there any individual criminal proceedings or other (i.e. administrative, misdemeanour) procedures against the person transported by the migrant smuggler?
In most European countries, migrants are considered victims of migrant smuggling and in the criminal proceedings that have been initiated, they take the position of victims: at most they are questioned as witnesses. Due to illegal border crossing, no separate criminal proceedings are usually initiated against them, most of the time these cases are resolved within the framework of public administrative proceedings.

The Relevance of the Passing of Time in Criminal Law, with Special Reference to Due Process

Ágnes Pápai-Tarr — 2024-11-14

The requirement for the conclusion of criminal proceedings within a reasonable time appears as a component of the right to a fair trial in international human rights documents as well as among the national fundamental rights. The passage of time and the prolongation of criminal proceedings are considered by courts as mitigating factors during sentencing. However, taking these factors into account as mitigating circumstances is not unproblematic, as there is no objective point in time after which one can definitively state that the criminal authorities violated the requirement for adjudication within a reasonable time. In my study, I am investigating the criteria by which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) examines compliance with the requirement of reasonable time and how the prolongation of proceedings is treated as a mitigating factor in Hungarian judicial practice.

Allocating investigative resources within the Hungarian police force

Vince Vári — 2024-11-14

The distribution of authority and competence is essential for all organizations, including law enforcement. The main focus is not just the existence of this distribution but its actual functionality, particularly from a professional and scientific standpoint regarding resource allocation. Distributing work tasks involves determining the general investigative authority's capacity to respond to crimes across different geographical areas. The aim is to deploy the appropriate forces and tools to different cases. Efficient distribution of resources is crucial as it impacts the quality of criminal investigation work, minimizes crime-related costs, and mitigates social effects. This study aims to evaluate how well the current regulations and practices match investigative resources with arising tasks and what principles guide the allocation of police forces and assets for law enforcement purposes. The focus is on whether the police's investigative activities are effective socially and scientifically rather than purely from a statistical viewpoint.