Hungarian war crimes trials and universal jurisdiction

What is it about?

Hungary has had an intense engagement with international criminal justice. During communism and democracy alike, the normative framework and language of international criminal law was used to delegitimise the political opponent. This article aims to describe the way international criminal law was repeatedly instrumentalized to not simply serve as a genuine tool for justice but also as a potent political pawn through presenting the use of international criminal law in four different time periods: (1) during the post-World War II war crimes trials at the People’s Tribunals; (2) the adoption of universal jurisdiction during the communist era as a tool of Cold War status competition; (3) in the 1990s, as an instrument of transitional justice; and finally, (4) in the post-2010s, as a tool for memory politics and anti-migration propaganda.

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Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Please check out this article if you are interested in 1. History's first domestic criminal trial against a former head of state for the crime of aggression in front of the Hungarian People's Tribunals. 2. The origins of the widespread adoption of universal jurisdiction by socialist countries. 3. How international law was used to prosecute crimes against humanity committed in the communist era. 4. How international criminal law was instrumentalized to serve as an anti-communist tool. 5. How and why the first ever trial based on universal jurisdiction in Eastern Europe was conducted in Budapest.