The deprivation of liberty is one of the most serious restrictions of fundamental rights that can happen to a person. If a coercive measure was applied against you, but your innocence was proven at the end of the proceedings, the law entitles you to compensation. Many do not know that the state has objective liability: if the criminal proceedings were ultimately terminated or an acquittal was reached, financial restitution is due for every single day of detention.
You can claim compensation if, during the proceedings:
It does not matter whether the suspicion was originally well-founded. If the end result proves your innocence or you were acquitted for other reasons, the state is obliged to compensate you.
The Hungarian legal system offers two paths to obtain compensation.
The simplified compensation procedure is faster, and fixed compensation amounts can be expected.
This is an out-of-court procedure, the advantage of which is speed since it can be concluded within a few months. In this case, you can calculate with fixed daily rates:
Example: After 6 months of unlawful detention, approximately 1,260,000 HUF can be paid out in the simplified procedure without any special proof.
The other path is the compensation lawsuit, where every suffered and proven damage must be reimbursed by the state.
If your actual damage (lost income, business loss, serious non-pecuniary injury) significantly exceeds the above amounts, it is worth initiating a lawsuit. Here, you can claim:
What you must definitely pay attention to, however, is the deadline for enforcing the claim. This is a preclusive deadline, so in the event that the claim is submitted late, the entire compensation will be lost. The deadline for this is one year from the delivery of the decision on termination or the acquittal.
Do not wait until the last moment; procuring the documents and setting up the strategy takes time.
The experienced criminal law and tort law specialists of our office help you to receive the highest possible amount for the lost months or years.
What we offer:
Do not let your due go to waste! The state will not automatically transfer the money – you have to ask for it.
