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| Logo for the Office of the Prosecutor General |
Another Wednesday, another field studies adventure with the JSBP kids. Today we found ourselves in the old building of Corvinus listening to a lecture given by Dr. Lajos Korona, a regional prosecutor in Hungary. Dr. Korona basically gave a background of himself and an overview of what role his office serves in the judiciary process in Hungary. Because we had already spoken to Dr. Hack about the current justice system in Hungary, we essentially already knew “Hungarian Justice System 101,” and were able to really focus on what Dr. Korona does. I appreciated his style of “lecture” because he gave us the opportunity to ask questions, and this provided for a range of information specific to our interests to be answered. While I think we all have an interest in law, hearing some of this information repeatedly can be tiresome, so having this type of discussion is refreshing.
Something that we learned that I found incredibly interesting is that Dr. Korona is only an investigative prosecutor. At the regional level, prosecutors are distributed in different departments: investigative and trial. The general role of all prosecutors is to oversee police investigation to make sure it is conducted in accordance to penal code, and to “keep them (police) on the right track,” make an indictment based on the results of the investigation, and pursue in the hopes for a favorable outcome in a court.
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| Following the collapse of communism, Hungary was forced to create a judicial system that would function and thrive in a democratic state... Their system isn't perfect but overall it seems like they have made strides towards liberty. |
This is a single process, but responsibilities are broken up in Hungary. One prosecutor takes on the oversight of investigations, and then passes on the file to a trial lawyer. While Dr. Korona defended this practice as more efficient, I’m not sure that I jump on board to this concept. I actually find this process to be backwards, because I don’t understand why you would break up the continuation of the case. It doesn’t make sense to have a lawyer go to trial about a case that they don’t know all the in-and-out details of. Moreover, I think to make an argument that this is more efficient than dedicating one person to the case, and have them follow it through is ludicrous, because of the time a trial lawyer would have to invest in the case after an investigative prosecutor already put the case together.
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| What is the best way to achieve justice: The American or the Hungarian way? What does justice even really mean? |
Another flaw that I see in this system is the overlap between the police and the prosecution. I know that there needs to be some level of cooperation, but these two arms of the judiciary process need to remain autonomous for there to be a level of justice. I asked Dr. Korona about this, and his response seemed defensive. He said that the prosecutors aren’t looking over the shoulders’ of the police, but they just make sure that deadlines are being met. Maybe my American point of view prevents me from seeing how this can be a good thing, but I think that there needs to be certain independence between the two. I think that the prosecutor should refrain from involvement in investigations as much as possible, to me, this seems like the best way to ensure fairness.
I definitely see both sides of these issues that I’m bringing up, but I keep coming back to my appreciation for the American judicial system. The comparative aspect to this whole experience provides me with context in which to place my opinions. As open-minded as I think I am, I find that I have prejudices against a system that I don’t completely understand or identify with. I guess I’m just lucky to live in a nation with judicial system that I can believe in (it’s ideals at least).
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| Quartet and dance floor of the pub. It was more amazing in person. |
I wrote about our professor Agnes last week. She’s our Hungarian history teacher who insists on providing us the full Hungarian experience. Wednesday night’s excursion took us to a “Dance House” with three of her Hungarian students. Most of us expected to embarrass ourselves in some ballroom attempting movements completely foreign to us. We were taken to a pub for locals that had a room with a live folk string band. After hanging out in the garden for a while, the dancing began. In this cramped space, two couples spun around and around with amazing chemistry and grace. The men were powerful dancers who would slap their legs (how did they do it so loudly?) and whistle or shout as they were jumping and leading their partner. It was incredible and some of us had the chance to do some circle dancing afterwards. Definitely an experience I would love to have again! A lot of us talk about not wanting to see the tourist’s Budapest, but somehow we always end up in the same spots or areas, because we are comfortable there. Last night was a great example of how moving out of your comfort zone can really enrich the experience you have while abroad.
I’ll be dancing and grooving for now,
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| Always having a good time. |
In Amsterdam this weekend,
And hopefully, I’ll keep trying to
Live and learn.
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