5 May 2025 – University of Miskolc
On 5 May 2025, the Hungarian members of the Transnational Migration Crime research project (Prof. Dr. Judit Jacsó full professor, Dr. Ferenc Sántha associate professor and Dr. Bence Udvarhelyi Bence) organised a dissemination workshop about the aims, objectives and most important results of the research project. The workshop was organised in person at room No. 131 of A/6 building at the University of Miskolc and online, via Google Meet.
At the beginning of the workshop, the lecturers introduced the Transnational Migration Crime research project. In their lecture, they stressed that the project aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of migrant crime from the perspective of Polish, EU and international law. The participants of the projects as well as its most important results were also presented. The most important results of the Hungarian research group are the following:
- Book chapter: Transnational migration crimes, with particular emphasis on illegal immigrant smuggling – international requirements and the Hungarian regulation
- Scientific article: ‘Some reflections on border barriers and their legal protection’
- Blog post (I): ‘Committing a criminal offence within the framework of a criminal organization, with particular emphasis on Illegal Immigrant Smuggling’
- Blog post (II): ‘Criminal offences against the border barrier’
- Scientific lecture (I): 12-13 December 2024. Warsaw – I POLISH-HUNGARIAN SCIENTIFIC FORUM – Migration-related criminal offences with particular emphasis on the regulation of illegal immigrant smuggling
- Scientific lecture (II): 24-25 April 2025. Miskolc – II POLISH-HUNGARIAN SCIENTIFIC FORUM – Some reflections on border barriers and their legal protection with particular emphasis on the Hungarian regulation
In the second part of the workshop, the audience heard a comprehensive lecture about the substantive criminal law questions of transnational migration crimes. The lecturers emphasized that (legal and irregular) international migration has increased to an unprecedented extent and has become a global challenge in the recent years. Mass immigration poses a serious public security deficit in Europe, which can also be seen in criminal statistics. Irregular migration is accompanied by other forms of crime, e.g. the intensification of human trafficking and terrorism.
The lecturers highlighted that criminal offences linked to irregular migration can be classified in several ways. In the research, the lecturers elaborated the following categorization. The first group of criminal offence includes offences in which migrants appear as victims. Most of the crimes can, of course, be committed against migrants, but in this context, special mention should be made of those committed with a discriminatory motive, because of the victim’s membership of a particular group (e.g. homicide or assault against migrants and various hate crimes). The second group of offences related to irregular migration includes crimes in which migrants are in the position of perpetrators. This includes, on the one hand, the already existing ‘traditional’ criminal offences committed by migrants (theft, robbery, rape, etc.). On the other hand, the other types of crimes committed by migrants are not ordinary traditional offences, but the so-called crimes against the border barrier (under the provisions of the Hungarian Criminal Code, three criminal offences fall into this category: unlawful crossing the border barrier, damaging the border barrier and the obstruction on construction work of the border barrier) which is a real Hungarian characteristic. Finally, the third group of offences are those that are inherently linked to illegal migration in a narrow sense, which can be considered crimes based on and exploiting illegal migration. This includes, on the one hand, trafficking in human beings, which potentially targets irregular migrants, in particular women, children, and unaccompanied young adults. On the other hand, it includes crimes committed with the aid of another person or through specific organizational activities.
The lecturers also highlighted that criminal offences related to illegal migration are often committed in the territory of more than one states. Because of its international dimension, international cooperation of the states is required in order to combat these criminal offences effectively. The requirements of the international organisations and the European Union are also important because the state parties and the Member States have to comply with their provisions, therefore these documents significantly influence the Hungarian criminal law as well. Therefore, the lecture shorty presented the most important international requirement at the level of the United Nations (Palermo Convention and its Additional Protocol) and the European Union (Schengen-acquis, secondary legal acts, non-binding legal instruments).
In Hungary, as a respond to the mass immigration, the construction of the southern border barrier began in July 2015 along the entire length of the Hungarian-Serbian border. The establishment of the physical border fence, its effective legal protection was also ensured with the so-called ‘legal border fence’, which included the modification of the Hungarian Criminal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and other relevant Acts.
The final part of the lecture presented the most important criminal offences in the Hungarian Criminal Code (Act C of 2012) in connection with irregular migration, i.e. illegal immigrant smuggling on the other hand, and the so-called crimes against the border barrier (unlawful crossing the border barrier, damaging the border barrier and the obstruction on construction work of the border barrier) on the other hand. According to the Hungarian Criminal Code, illegal immigrant smuggling can be committed by any person who provides aid to another person for crossing state borders in violation of statutory provisions. The conduct of the crime is so-called sui generis aiding and abetting conduct which means that the legislator punishes an aiding and abetting-type act as a separate criminal offence: the perpetrator aids the unlawful crossing of the state border. The criminal offence can only be achieved through active acts, with either physical or psychological aid. Physical aid is, for example, when the perpetrator transports the person intending to cross the border to the nearest point of the entry or when he presents himself at the border crossing point while hiding the person in his vehicle. Psychological assistance is such as providing the person intending to cross the border illegally with appropriate information, advice and guidance.
In 2015, the Hungarian legislator created not only a physical border barrier but also a legal border barrier by introducing into Hungarian criminal law the so-called crimes against the border barrier. According to the statutory definition of unlawful crossing the border barrier, any person who enters unlawfully the territory of Hungary across the facility installed for the protection of state border. The crime is punishable by imprisonment up to three years in the simple case, but increasing to one to five years if the crime is committed with weapons or other deadly instruments or as a participant in a riot, and in the most serious case – causing death – to two to eight years. Unlawful crossing the border barrier is basically a special case of illegal crossing of the state border. Damaging the border barrier can be committed by anybody who destroys or damages a facility or device installed for the protection of state border. This criminal offence is no more than the crime of criminal damaging committed on a specific object: on the one hand the facility installed for the protection of the border, and on the other hand the device installed for the protection of the border. The last criminal offence is the obstruction on construction work of the border barrier which can be established if a person who obstructs work on the construction or maintenance of a facility installed for the protection of the state border.
As a conclusion, the lecturers summarized their opinion that the legal regulation of the Hungarian Criminal Code provides an effective and efficient tool against illegal, irregular migration. If the border barrier was examined with regard to the EU law and international requirement, it can be concluded that the Hungarian regulation does not violate these obligations. The relevant international and EU standards prohibit neither the construction and operation of the border barrier nor its criminal law protection. From the point of view of effectiveness, the Hungarian physical and legal border fence can be considered as a positive tool, since it has significantly reduced the number of illegal border crossings. The Hungarian criminal law regulations relating to illegal immigrant smuggling and the crimes against border barrier do not violate but harmonise with the relevant EU and international standards. However, examining the new criminal offences from the point of view of the criminal law principles, critical observations can also be formulated.
At the end of the workshop, the audience were allowed to ask questions. The workshop was extremely successful, the participants were really enthusiastic and interested which is also showed by the fact that they posed several questions.
