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• Cheating at the genetic lottery - the regulation of human germline gene editing in Hungarian criminal law

  71-104

  Miklós Pete

  Views:

  20

  Germline gene editing has undergone a revolutionary development in recent decades: genetic intervention has the potential to bring about drastic changes in human lives, or even in the human race. However, this development has not been matched by legal and, in particular, criminal law: the response of criminal law to the development of genetic engineering is outdated, insufficiently elaborate and the deterrent effect of the penalty is disproportionate to the gravity of the offence. In my thesis I am outlining the development of genetic engineering, its ethical and social risks, the international regulation reflecting these, the domestic regulations and their shortcomings, and - as a synthesis of my experience - I am making a de lege ferenda proposal to remedy the latter in an effort to create the most appropriate criminal law regulation possible. The aim of my proposal is, first and foremost, to regulate germline gene editing through more specific, modernised and, in certain aspects, stricter criminal law provisions, which will protect the individual, society, humanity and the interests of society from the dangers that can be expected from the imminent spread of human germline gene editing.

• The Appearance, Development, and Reception of Danger to Society in Hungarian Criminal Law

  105-120

  Ádám Szemán

  Views:

  166

  The concept of danger to society is perhaps the most controversial element of the Criminal Code's definition of crime. This concept plays a prominent role in the determination of criminal liability in domestic criminal law. In the 20th century, its necessity in our Criminal Code, which was in force at the time, was the subject of debate among jurists of repute in the field of criminal law.

  In the socialist criminal law of the pre-communist era, the concept of danger to society was used to express the 'class nature' of criminal law. After the 1990s, this concept - in the science of criminal law, in legislation and in the application of law as well - was cleared of the content elements adopted from Soviet law to serve the aims of party-state policy. Nowadays, the definition of danger to society is so devoid of ideological, party-political connotations that it is regarded by a significant number of legal scholars in the field of criminal law and even by case law as the conceptual equivalent of material illegality, taken from German legal theory (ÚJVÁRI, 2003).

  In this paper, I will present the emergence and reception of the concept of danger to society in Hungarian criminal law and criminal jurisprudence, from the preceding period – which applied formal illegality – to the Criminal Code of legal force.