Hungary resists trend towards lighter prison terms

Hungary intends to maintain the lifetime prison sentences, resisting a European trend to do away with them, as lawmakers believe that Hungarian society is not mature enough to be as lenient as other countries. Life terms have been abolished in most European states, and the longest prison sentence without the possibility of conditonal release is generally 15 years.

Ferenc Kondorosi, state secretary at the Ministry of Justice, told klubradio.hu on Friday that the life sentence will not be abolished here, denying earlier press reports that stated the opposite. According to mno.hu, doubts about lifetime prison terms have arisen since they were introduced seven years ago, primarily as to whether they are humane, and lawmakers have been seriously considering abolishing this penalty. Kondorosi confirmed that the Ministry of Justice will listen to arguments against the law, but said sentences will not be reduced.

Constitutional courts in several countries have stated that convicts can only retain their human dignity if they have some hope of freedom. Kondorosi accepted that these arguments have to be considered, but said Hungary would need to experience a period free of unusually cruel crimes before life terms could be done away with. He would approve a law that would make it possible to re-examine cases 20 to 25 years after a sentence is issued.

Other experts have expressed different opinions on the topic. István Kónya of the Supreme Court (Legfelsőbb Bíróság) believes a genuine life sentence is necessary, because in some cases it is in society's interest that a criminal remain imprisoned for life. László Réti, chairman of the Budapest Chamber of Lawyers (Budapesti Ügyvédi Kamara), on the other hand, believes that stricter punishment does not help in curbing crime, and that a life term constitutes "torture." Mental therapist Rita Stvrteczky observed that there are unusually cruel crimes for which even a lifetime sentence is not enough. In her opinion, child murderers and multiple murderers should be sentenced to death.

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