The History of Hungarian Patronage

Abstract

The history of Hungarian patronage dates back to the end of the 18^th century. The idea of humanizing Hungarian prisons was already the subject of discussion at that time. The Csemegi Code was the first to make provision for prisoner aid. In the First Penal Novella, the possibility of probation for juveniles was introduced, but it did not take off. In 1909, Pál Angyal was the first lawyer to argue for a change from the “old system of handing out money” to the individualisation method. In the old days, those released from detention centres were given a cash allowance. It was at the Third Patronage Congress, held in 1911 in Kassa, that the question of making this issue a state responsibility was first raised. Under socialism, the development of patronage lagged behind for several decades. Patronage for juveniles was established in 1970 and, according to the legislation of the time, it was incorporated into the system of child protection. From 1976 onwards, probation supervision became applicable not only to young people but also to adults. The courts were responsible for coordinating aftercare, and professional and social probation officers operated in addition to the county and metropolitan courts. The lack of development made it impossible for the probation service to function by the end of the 1990s.
There was a sharp decline in the quality of both the juvenile and adult probation services. This dilemma was caused by the inability of the probation service to implement the
specific rules of conduct imposed by the courts and the prosecution service, in the absence of specific programmes. The reform of Probation Service was carried out on 1 July 2003. At that time, the Government created a central office with national jurisdiction, the National Office of the Probation Service of the Ministry of Justice.