Some Remarks on Judicial Decisions in Penal Cases as Made by Royal County Court of Kaposvar (1879–1918). The Question of Female Offenders and Female Victims

The article presents the issue of judicial decisions and court practices concerning criminal cases in Hungary in the years between 1879 and 1918. The first part contains a brief overview of Hungarian criminal law’s evolution in the 19th century with a strong emphasis on the milestone being the implementation of Csemegi’s Criminal Code of 1880. For example, whereas in the period before the codification court rulings often included penalties or repressive measures of Catholic origins, the new code modifi ed the Hungarian criminal law to a great extent. The studies of the records of the Royal County Court of Kaposvar have enabled the author to present a reader with the picture of a woman – offender, and a woman – vitim characteristic of Hungary at the end of the century. The article presents, inter alia, statistics related to the sex of an offender, and particularly problematic questions concerning cases of abortion, infanticide, rape or adultery. The analyzed judicial decisions show particular court practices characteristic of some cases, for example those of adulteresses, that lead to signifi cant deviation from the normative content of Csemegi’s criminal code.