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PETRA BÁRD
THE MAIN TOPICS DISCUSSED
IN THE ANNIVERSARY VOLUME
Following the introductory contributions presenting the professional work of
Károly Bárd, the studies in the first, Hungarian language volume, center on four
major topics. Ihe studies in interdisciplinary legal theory, criminal policy and
criminology refer back to Karoly Bard’s work of 8 years in the government beginning
with the transition after the fall of the Hungarian socialist system, where he played
a significant role in developing criminal policy at the Ministry of Justice. His
professional goals included the gradual modernization of criminal law, including
the reform of the rules on juvenile offenders. In academic circles, Karoly Bard is
considered one of the first” to have formulated the goal of establishing a reasonable
and humane criminal policy in Hungary following the change of political system
and to curb excessive criminalization.? In his first book, a groundbreaking work in
procedural dogmatics, he explored, among other things, the possible application
of social sciences to criminal justice.’
The chapter comprising studies from the area of substantive criminal law are
also a reference to Karoly Bard’s codification work, since he played a major role
in both the amendment of the Criminal Code in 1993 and the codification of the
Criminal Code at the time of the Gönczöl Committee. He also participated in the
preparation of foreign penal codes, such as the Russian and the Albanian criminal
codes. In the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) he took stock
of, and analysed the signatory states’ crime prevention strategies.
The most important work of Karoly Bard lies at the intersection of criminal
procedure law and human rights. As co-chair of the codification committee, he
took part in the drafting of the 1998 Code of Criminal Procedure, took the lead
in drafting an amendment to the Penitentiary Decree, participating also in the
preparation of foreign criminal procedure codes, such as the relevant Albanian
law. At the European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control affiliated with
the United Nations (HEUNI), he authored a discussion guide on non-prosecution
? Karsai Krisztina, Az európai büntetőjogi integráció alapkérdései (Basic issues of European
criminal law integration), Budapest, KJK-KERSZÖV Jogi és Üzleti Kiadó Kft., 2004, 42.
3 Bárd Károly, European Criminal Law?, in Lahti, Raimo (ed.), Towards a Rational and
Humane Criminal Policy = Kohti rationaalista ja humaania kriminaalipolitiikkaa:
Dedicated to Inkeri Anttila = omistettu Inkeri Anttilalle, Helsinki, European Institute
for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI), 1996, 241-253; Bard Karoly, Eurdépai
büntetőpolitika, in Erdei, Árpád (szerk.), Tények és kilátások: tanulmányok Király Tibor
tiszteletére, Budapest, KJK-KERSZÖV Jogi és Üzleti Kiadó Kft., 1995, 149—158.
Bárd Károly, A büntető hatalom megosztásának buktatói: Értekezés a bírósági tárgyalás
jövőjéről. (Failures inherent in the division of penal power: Disseration on the future of court
hearings), Budapest, Közgazdasági és Jogi Könyvkiadó, 1987.
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