Between Scylla and Charybdis – Lawyers of the High Judge Conference in 1861

Abstract

With the proclamation of the October Diploma in 1860, Emperor Franz Joseph partially restored the Hungarian constitutional order. As soon as the decision had been made that the Hungarian judiciary was to be revived, the newly formed courts of law in the counties began to operate on the Hungarian laws. The issues presented themselves fairly quickly, since the Austrian laws enacted in the 1850s made so fundamental changes to the legal system that it seemed impossible to reinstate the Hungarian laws without any changes. A conference was convened by the highest-ranking judge of the country in January 1861, and its members had to resolve this seemingly impossible situation. Between Scylla (keeping the unconstitutionally introduced Austrian legal norms) and Charybdis (reinstating the “old” Hungarian laws at the expense of legal certainty), they had to find a way to restore the Hungarian legal order in such way that it would not harm the rights of the citizens.