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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the one hand, you seemed to reject the view that everything that had been adopted before the change of regime should be repealed, and as such, you were not a stickler for radical, ideologically driven change.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. + 29 +
