Károly Csemegi (1826–1899) was a Hungarian judge who was instrumental in the creation of the first

criminal code A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...

of Hungary. Though born Jewish, he later converted to Christianity. After serving as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and commanding troops in the unsuccessful

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

, he worked as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

in the countryside. Following the

Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...

, Csemegi became a high official in the new Hungarian Ministry of Justice, in which capacity he drafted the 1878 Criminal Code as well as the Code of Criminal Procedure. Soon after, he was appointed to the post of Presiding Judge of the Hungarian Supreme Court. Csemegi was also the founder and first president of the Hungarian Jurists' Association.

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Footnotes

1826 births 1899 deaths People from Csongrád Judges from Austria-Hungary Hungarian jurists Knights Commander of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Converts to Christianity from Judaism Hungarian Jews Hungarian Christians Hungarian judges {{Hungary-law-bio-stub