Victims' rights in accelerated and simplified criminal procedures

• In Event: Victims in the Criminal Justice System: Participation, Rights, and Challenges

Abstract

Our research aimed at examining the enforcement of victims’ right in modern, simplified criminal procedures, in comparative perspective, with special regard to the Hungarian regulations. The main goal was to identify those rights which are affected by the acceleration and simplification, reveal those which require attention and to present possible solutions aimed at safeguarding victims’ rights in faster and simpler criminal procedures.
The development of Hungarian criminal procedure has been accompanied by a demand for acceleration and simplification. Overviewing the changes in the regulation of the criminal procedure in Hungary, we find that the legislature has clearly been aiming at accelerating and simplifying the procedures since the enactment of the first code of criminal procedure, that is, Act XXXIII of 1896. Acceleration and simplification of criminal procedures was prioritized during all codification processes. Such acceleration, as well as the simplification linked to the perpetrator’s confession can nonetheless lead to a restriction of the assertion of the victim’s rights, despite all safeguards. In certain cases, the victim may be unable to assert the rights granted to him in the procedure precisely because a faster, more accelerated criminal procedure conducted in line with the relevant regulations – with the participation of the perpetrator – deprives the victim of the that opportunity.
The core of our examination was the question whether the victim’s rights can be fully asserted in the faster and simpler criminal procedure regulated by the effective Hungarian Code of Criminal Procedure. The conducted research touched upon historical issues regarding the development of Hungarian criminal procedure law, the detailed analysis of the victim’s rights which may be affected by the acceleration and simplification, and it also gave insight into the features and best practices of European and other selected countries.

Author

• Szilvia Dr. Dobrocsi, Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Hungary