Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A Chat with Peter Hack


Stay with me, this is a long post, but today was a big day.

JSBP spent an hour and a half with Peter Hack today.  Dr. Hack is an extremely intelligent man; Hack was a Member of Hungarian Parliament from 1990-2002, was Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional and Judicial Affairs and Chairman of the Judiciary reform Committee of the Hungarian Parliament from 1994-1998, among his other major accomplishments.  Dr. Hack's lecture enlightened us about Hungary's criminal procedure and its justice system. 
           
Peter Hack: man, myth, legend
Part of what made this lecture really informative was that Hack was very aware in highlighting the features of Hungary's procedures and system that are in stark contrast with the American justice system.  In Hungary, the system functions in two major parts: pre-trial and trial.  In the pre-trial stage, information about an alleged crime is reported to the police, and within three days the police can choose to investigate or refuse the case.  From there begins a series of investigation and interviews to uncover evidence relevant facts to move ahead with an indictment. My impression of this stage of the process is that individual rights in Hungary are thus sacrificed for the sake of the case and uncovering the truth.  I was especially shocked to learn that police can search a private home/yard/car without judicial approval (only a law or doctor's office is exempt).  In America, that's a basic right...the Fourth Amendment ensures that we are secure in our homes.  

Another investigative practice (most often used for intellectual and corruption crimes), recently implemented to "increase efficiency," allows the police to hold an individual for 72 hours; the first 48 of those are without legal representation.  Again, I find this to fall under our Fifth Amendment right, or more aptly, a Miranda right.  Based on my limited knowledge, I think that the right to legal representation may be more necessary in Hungary than in the United States because the accused, or the individual, is already at a huge disadvantage when it comes to their absolute rights.  The defendant does not even have the right to know what has been said about him during investigations.  If this was applied to cases in America, the Duke Lacrosse case for example, I think that innocent people would be punished for crimes they did not commit, simply because their defense counsel is at a disadvantage in representing their client without a full understanding of the evidence against them.

Dr. Hack asserted that these proceedings are more relevant in the system than in America because all the material that is collected goes to trial so the judge can fully understand the case.  He also said that 60% of cases are dropped after investigations; 40% of cases that go to the indictment stage are decided without a trial (Dr. Hack's words, and I think he was implying that these cases get settled).  After learning about the trial process, I'm pretty sure that I would avoid going to trial as well.  

The Hungarian justice system puts all the power during trial in the hands of the judge.  The judge has the power to focus on certain points of a case, bring forth witnesses and ask them the questions of his/her choice.  I inquired Dr. Hack about how judges can remain unbiased about cases when they are effectively running the show.  I was disturbed by his answer.  Dr. Hack said that often, judges have an idea about the outcome of a case before it even begins.  In my mind, if this is how the system works, then the trial is almost irrelevant.  For all its flaws, the American justice system makes a veritable effort in striving for fairness.  This system as a whole is a reminder that until relatively recently, Hungary was under communist rule.  Citizen rights are limited while the state seems to be all knowing and all-powerful.  I’m sure that many Hungarians look at this system as an improvement, but they are familiar with a system that completely deprives them of the rights and processes that I take for granted.

Learning about the Hungarian justice system made me extremely proud and appreciative of the American legal processes in place today.  I’m really glad we had this opportunity to learn about the system in Hungary, because I feel like it’s taking advantage of the place we are in.  When we compare foreign legal systems, we can contrast the strengths and weaknesses of each system, enabling us (and making me think that bigwigs in Washington should do more of this) to understand that maybe the American way is not the best way, and showing us that it’s definitely not the only way.  Taking this approach really orients and enhances the learning process, I love being in the thick of it.  I love seeing everything and experiencing it for myself, and meeting important people who really know what they are talking about. 

Every field studies experience only makes me more grateful that I have the opportunity to learn here, and inspires me to really do something with all this knowledge that I believe I’m really grasping.

Still living, still learning!

Evan in post-lecture amazement.


Studious!

...Not so studious (kidding)

Mike writing questions while Ildiko speaks

5 comments:

  1. Mary I really enjoyed your post - The pictures are very nice too, glad you captured some!

    You make some of the exact same points I have made within my blog which I think is great because we share many of the same thoughts about Peter Hack's presentation of the Hungarian Legal System. I still have trouble believing how little rights the citizens of Hungary have. If we lived here for a longer period of time I would be more concerned about it, but we can only hope that the police don't take advantage of this throughout Hungary. I have a feeling that they only enter houses, view phone bills, bank statements, cars, etc. if they have a reasonable suspicion. But this I do not know and hopefully won't ever have to know, in America or here!

    I also enjoyed your discussion of how this talk made you appreciate the American legal system a little more. I completely agree with this - thank god we have the fourth and fifth amendments.

    Overall, wonderful job my lady!

    ps. ill miss you tomorrow :(

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  2. hiiiii mer!

    EXCELLENT JOB. I am super impressed with this entry of yours! I don't know if you realize the vast amount of knowledge you included- but it was a lot! The thing I like the most about this entry is that you linked up all the information between America and Hungary in the procedures and court systems to the point where you gave such specific examples, that Peter Hack did not discuss, you clearly know your stuff. I agree with your statement about the amendments- especially the Fourth Amendment. As I said in my post, it blows my mind how their search procedures work. You are exactly right about the reaction there would be in America. I also agree with your statement about how our system seems to work for our citizens much better because we at least have absolute rights. They don't have many rights here and they can get searched on very loose terms.

    More importantly, I could NOT agree more about what you said involving thinking more about what really goes on in Washington and our systems. It really does open your eyes to the possibilities of there being other ways to do things. Whether they would be more effective or not is hard to say, but being able to learn about them certainly makes a difference.

    I would also like to point out you did a fantastic job in class asking questions and really finding out some very important deals- you made for a very interactive conversation.

    GOOD JOB GIRLLLL, keep it up!

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  3. Mer-Bear,

    I also loved how comparative Dr. Hack was and how that’s how he decided to explain the Hungarian justice system to us. For me at least, by comparing the system to the US’s system it helped me better appreciate the difference and made me realize how big of a one there was.

    I love how you took all of the information we learned and instead of being overwhelmed by it you actually took it to heart. The fact that you feel luckier to live in America after this talk makes me feel like you really took what we learned and thought about it.

    Your very passionate about being here and clearly feel like a very lucky person (as do I of course). This is going to make your experience here ever better because you will appreciate everything that much more. Live it up girl!

    :)

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  5. Mary,
    Very impressive blog. Unfortunately you're making my blog look terrible...
    But anyway, I love that you focused on individual rights within the Hungarian system compared to our own. In the US we definitely tend to take our Constitutional rights for granted as citizens. The right to speak with a legal representative directly after we're arrested is paramount to the ethical aspects of our system. Suspending someone's right to legal council for 72 hours after they're arrested will absolutely "increase efficiency" within the Hungarian legal system, but it will not be doing so in a positive manner.
    I loved the pictures too, you got some sneaky shots in.
    Keep up the good work (but try not to make it too good)
    Tito

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