Antal Tamás: Törvénykezési reformok Magyarországon 1890-1900. Ítélőtáblák, bírói jogviszony, esküdtszék - Dél-Alföldi évszázadok 23. (Szeged, 2006)

A JOGÉRT MINDHALÁLIG - SUMMARY

SUMMARY REFORMS OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN HUNGARY (1890-1900) APPEAL COURTS, LEGAL STATUS, JURY In the era of the dual monarchy, the judicial system was ever changing, reorganising and improving. A stable judicial system existed only for certain periods of time i.e. only for a couple of decades. Both ordinary and special courts gained their final, 'classical' forms by way of complementary reforms that took place before the end of World War I. This study will focus on the hitherto unexamined key events of the last decade of the nineteenth century. Namely, it will concentrate on the appeal court reform, the related modification concerning the legal relationship of judges as well as the changes introduced to the system of the consular tribunals in 1891 which, until now, have eluded academic attention. The second part of the study will deal with the development of the jury system, placing a special emphasis on the accomplishments of the great reformers Boldizsar Horvat and Dezso Szilagyi. 1. There was much to change in the judicial system: its every aspect provoked harsh criticism. For this reason, Szilagyi started the implementation of reforms in medias res with the most spectacular intervention, i.e. the decentralisation of the appeal courts [itelotdbldk]. There was one sensitive issue concerning the drafting of Act XXV of 1890, and this was chiefly not a legal one: the seats of the appeal courts had to be chosen. Most major Hungarian cities were not willing to forego the chance of acquiring an appeal court and the resulting socio-economical boom. Hence, they had already started campaigning when the law was being drafted. The campaigns initiated then by the cities of Debrecen, Szeged and Arad have been analysed in a greater depth here because I had the opportunity to do research there, and the campaigns of the abovementioned cities took place at a national level. However, not all cities campaigned so vigorously. For example, Nagyvarad, another major city in the region, did not canvass votes. After submitting its proposals to the legislature, it calmly waited for their decision. In the case of Debrecen, however, the issue of selection caused much greater excitement. The government tried to come up with objective criteria for the selection of seats. Among others, these included the socio-economic level of development in the applicant cities, their regional gravitational status and, in minority-inhabited regions, and a display of feeling of Hungarian national identity among the citizens as well. The outcome of the selection-process was severely criticised in the political debates primarily along local and non-party lines - but in the end the pro-government majority adopted the minister's version. The allocation of seats was defensible from one aspect,