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“THE ‘ETERNAL CANDIDATE’ — THAT WAS ME”: INTERVIEW WITH KAROLY BARD
have read some of your writings from that time, where you considered the reforms
implemented as well as their critique. I sensed a sort of pragmatism emanating
from your writings, in two ways: on the one hand, you seemed to reject the view that
everything that had been adopted before the change of regime should be repealed,
and as such, you were not a stickler for radical, ideologically driven change. On the
other hand, you warned against the misconception that law is a sort of panacea,
a solution to complex social problems. Is this a more or less accurate rendering of
the spirit in which you guided the codification work?
K. B.: Yes, you are right on mark, especially with your first observation. Around
the time of the regime change a lot of laypeople brought me their strange ideas
on how to reform criminal law. Their ignorance and the total lack of knowledge
of foreign academic literature was disappointing. From DamaSska, one of the
most renowned experts on criminal justice however, I had learnt that reforms
presuppose certain conditions. Knowing this, I could distinguish between feasible
plans and mere lipservice. But even so, I sometimes implemented ideas that tested
the Hungarian mindset. For example, even though we had tried to very cautiously
balance the rights of prosecution and defence, we eventually failed.
Basically, I wanted to correct the flaws of the criminal law in effect at the time.
The government agreed, because they were aware that parliament would not accept
any radical change. Take for example the rules governing drug abuse, this was a
field of law where Miklés Lévay was also involved in the drafting. I remember we
received a lot of criticism from human rights activists, even though it later turned
out that ours were the most progressive rules conceivable. Then, when I left the
ministry, measures were tightened. Nevertheless, I am very proud to have pushed
the amendments governing juvenile delinquents through parliament. It’s also the
reason why I was awarded the Ferenczi prize, for which I was really grateful.
Some had expected me to come up with something unprecedented. But I have
to admit I had no far-reaching idea that would have put Hungarian criminal law
on a completely new footing. There were only a few people around me on whom I
could rely. In fact, Tibor Király was the only one to provide substantial assistance
in drafting the Code of Criminal Procedure. I really enjoyed legislative drafting,
however, it turned out that it is really hard to come up with new solutions. During
my travels abroad I made the experience that the preparation of legislative bills
was normally not entrusted to people in academia. Instead, it is customary for
governments to set up policy institutes to develop a criminal justice policy, which
is then translated into norms through codification.
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