Trial Waiver Systems in Europe (2019-2021)

The “Trial Waiver Systems in Europe” project focused on the use of trial waiver systems in certain European states through which suspected or accused persons waive their rights to a full criminal trial. The international research project was supported by the European Union and covered Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia. The project was coordinated by Fair Trials, with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee as one of the project partners.

The project’s objectives were to 1) ensure that the EU’s Directives on the procedural rights of defendants are effectively implemented during trial waiver negotiations and proceedings whenever they are in use in the EU; and 2) to prevent the spread of trial waiver systems from fundamentally undermining the positive progress that the EU has brought about in criminal justice in Europe thanks to EU Directives on the procedural rights of defendants.

In Hungary, the project focused on two types of trial waiver as introduced in 2018: (i) the settlement between the prosecution and the defence to plead guilty, and (ii) the procedure to be followed if the defendant confesses and waives their right to a trial at the preparatory session of the court.

As part of the national research conducted by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee in the framework of the project, beyond analysing the legal framework, we submitted freedom of information requests, conducted research interviews with various actors of the criminal procedure, and reviewed relevant case files, in order to map the practice. The research results pertaining to Hungary were summarized in a research report, the draft of which was discussed with affected stakeholders in the autumn of 2021 in the framework of a workshop.

The research report is available here in English and in Hungarian:

• Trial Waiver in Hungary – Research report
• Az egyezség és az előkészítő ülésen való beismerés – Kutatási jelentés

In an additional document prepared in the framework of the project, titled “The settlement to plead guilty and the confession at the preparatory session of the court –Recommendations for the protection of the rights of defendants”, we summarised the most important conclusions of the research report on Hungary, and, building on those,
we presented our country-specific recommendations as well, which aim to ensure that the rights of defendants are respected also in the procedures of the settlement to plead guilty and the confession at the preparatory session.

The recommendations are available here in English and in Hungarian:

• The settlement to plead guilty and the confession at the preparatory session of the court – Recommendations for the protection of the rights of defendants
• Az egyezség és az előkészítő ülésen való beismerés – Ajánlások a terhelti jogok érvényesülésének előmozdítása érdekében

The international research results were analysed by the project coordinator Fair Trials in a comparative regional report, which is available here in English:

• Efficiency over justice: Insights into trial waiver systems in Europe

Fair Trials has also produced a guide for policy makers in the framework of the project, based on the international research results, which is available here in English:

• Trial waiver systems – A guide for policy makers

The project was funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014-2020).