Hacking out the Hungarian Justice System, with Dr. Peter Hack

Only two weeks into our field studies class, and we are already dissecting the Hungarian justice system with a former member of the Hungarian Parliament. Is this real life? Yesterday, we sat down with Dr. Peter Hack. His resume is extensive - twelve years in the Hungarian Parliament, four years as Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional and Judicial Affairs, member of the National Judiciary Council, lecturer at the Academy of Judges, faculty member at the Budapest Law Faculty. His dizzying list of accomplishments might have created an intimidating atmosphere among a classroom full of students, but Dr. Hack was completely humble.

He began by outlining the Hungarian legal system, which is based off of the German model. My attention was captured immediately. This system is so completely unlike our own. The procedure begins when a victim or witness reports a crime. Police have three days to make a decision - either begin the procedure, or drop the case completely. Right away, this seems like it would create an extremely ineffective system. The moment a crime is reported, a countdown begins. Police, especially in urban areas, must be constantly playing a game of double-dutch. Do they take the risk, continue with the case, and perhaps end up wasting their time and efforts down some dead-end? Or do they drop it, potentially robbing a victim of justice and allowing a criminal to remain unpunished? Three days to decide. Do you think you're judgement is good enough to handle a burden this big?

Of course, there is a bit of a built-in safety net. If the police decide to drop the case, the individual or legal entity, whomever the victim is, has the right to go to the courts directly. Back in the States, this would create absolute chaos. People already think that watching a few hours of CSI or Criminal Intent automatically entitles them to aptly defend themselves in court. Integrating citizens directly in the legal and judicial process - while seemingly very "by the people, for the people" - can sometimes create a tangle of uneducated ineptitude. While misplaced shouts of "I object!" continuously interrupt proceedings, the judicial process will remain at a standstill. It would be like me trying to fix the electrical socket that keeps sparking in my room...or Nellie making dinner.

After the presentation, I discussed many more seemingly faulty points to the Hungarian legal system. A few of us were baffled at the judge's responsibilities. It's the judge's task to read all of the documents gathered during pretrial. The judge must learn the case, know all the ins and outs of both sides. Dr. Hack stated that this method increases the relevance of the case, when the defense and prosecution enter the scene. Most of us, however, saw this as a terribly inefficient way to conduct court proceedings. The judge must be wasting valuable time studying up on all these cases, like a student studies for an exam. Surely our system works better, I thought.

It suddenly struck me how narrow-minded I was being. I was picking apart all these little pieces of someone else's culture, someone else's law, and all I could see were the cracks in it's foundation. I like to consider myself pretty open-minded, and found myself embarrassed at my slew of misconceptions about Hungary's justice system. They must be doing something right, I rationalized. Dr. Hack stated that Hungary had 154 murder cases last year. In Washington D.C. alone, the murder rate dropped 9% to 131 murders - and the whole city celebrated. Of course, with such limited knowledge, I can't really grasp what is actually accountable for the discrepancy between the two reports. But the figures alone were enough to stop my judgements in their tracks.

Traveling has always brought out the best parts of me - I get stir crazy if I stay in Maine for too long. Even wandering around in this enormous, fantastic city we're calling home lets me breathe a bit easier. The situations that travel puts me in - getting lost, grappling with a new language, meeting new people - always spits me out as a stronger person. Dr. Hack inadvertently stirred up something that I'll have to work on - not jumping to conclusions. It's a fault that might fit perfectly into our field studies, since we'll constantly be confronted with so many different views, scenes, and situations. I'm looking forward to fixing things.

P.S. So how about Dr. Hack throwing out the statistics about 60% of Hungarian judges being women? How awesome is that! My mother is a judge, and I don't look up to anyone more than I look up to her. She deals with bickering parents in divorce court, troubled teenagers in drug court, lying violators in traffic court, and even child custody matters. She's the strongest woman I know, facing one of the hardest jobs I know. It's pretty empowering to hear that Hungary has so many women in such strong, powerful positions. Get with it, America!

(Here she is officiating my sister's wedding last year. Hi, Mom!)