A Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Levéltár évkönyve 21. 1994 (Debrecen, 1994)

Tanulmányok - Nagy Sándor: A hajdúkerületi büntető törvényszék 1861-1871. évi működésének vázlata

OUTLINE OF FUNCTION OF THE CRIMINAL LAW-COURT OF HAJDÚ DISTRICT IN 1861-1871

Sándor Nagy

After the fall of the freedom fight of 1848/49 the Hungarian courts were abolished by the Austrian absolutism that forced foreign-minded judicial organizations to Hungary. The change of conditions of internal and foreign politics in 1860, forced the Austrian emperor, Franz Joseph the First to re-establishment of the Hungarian legal practice. As a consequence of the development of bourgeois mentality the orders became necessary were worked out by the Conference of Lord Chief Justice in 1861 Regarding the criminal procedures it enlarged the orders of old Hungarian laws concerning the noblemen also to the persons being not of noble birth. It meant among other things that unlimited right for appeal against the punitive judgements of law courts became the legal due of defendants without distinction as to their feudal position.

The criminal law-court of Hajdú district started functioning on the 6 th of June in 1861, after II years of involuntary cessation. The procedure in the law-court started with the certification of depositions of witnesses and continued with reinterrogation of defendants. Then the municipal attorney introduced the indictment and the defence attorney eployed compulsorily in every case submitted his point of view regarding his juristic and factual judgement of the case. The law-court passed its judgement in closed sitting and then pronounced it publicly. From the 2336 defendants arrested in 11 years 1701 was found guilty, 548 was declared not guilty and against 87 persons the procedure was finished by referring the case to military authority or by abandonment of proceedings e t c. 2 defendants were sentenced to death, 1618 were sentenced to imprisonment and 80 were sentenced to reprimand or to other light punishments. In cases of 71% of the people lodging an appeal the Royal Court of Appeal allowed to stand the judgement of the law-court, in 18.2% the rate of punishment was raised or mitigated and in 10.8% the decision of the Court of Appeal is not ascertainable because of lack of documents.

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