Historical Background to the Regulation of Compulsory Medical Treatment

From Security Custody to the Emergence of Compulsory Medical Treatment

Abstract

In the present study, I examine certain historical precedents in the development of the involuntary treatment of offenders who cannot be prosecuted due to their mental condition as a criminal sanction, focusing primarily on the regulation of security detention in the Third Amendment to the Codex Csemegi (III. Bn.) and the Btá., as well as the relevant provisions of the Criminal Code of 1961, which introduced involuntary treatment as a measure into the Hungarian legal system. It is evident that numerous elements of the current regulation and practice of involuntary treatment – at least on the level of fundamental principles – were already established under these laws. The continuity of these precedents can be observed in several aspects, including the ultima ratio nature of the liberty-depriving measure, certain criteria for its imposition, the indefinite duration of the sanction – which raises concerns –, and questions arising in the legal practice such as the practical conditions for terminating the involuntary treatment. The balancing between the goal of treating the offender, integrated into the criminal justice framework, and the establishment of legal safeguards that are essential for the liberty-depriving sanction can be observed throughout the development of the measure, generating debates and questions to this day.