The press and jury trial legislation of the Croatian Diet 1875–1907: Liberalism, fear of democracy and Croatian autonomy

Abstract

SUMMARY In the political reality of the nineteenth century the efficient guarantee of freedom of the press lay in trial by jury, which offered an additional guarantee of judicial independence; trial by jury was always (and sometimes only) connected with criminal offences committed through printed materials. Selection of jurors implied certain social preferences and was rooted in the ideological background. Therefore legislation dealing with press matters and jury trial can be taken as indicative of how liberal and democratic (or not) were political movements and political and judicial systems. Press and jury trial regulation was a particularly delicate issue in Croatia both because of internal politics and because of the special autonomous position of Croatia in the unbalanced union with Hungary. As a result the legislative policy of the Croatian Diet on freedom of the press and jury trial can be taken both as evidence of liberal and democratic attitudes and as a sensitive indicator of the actual and formal influence of the central government on the Croatian Diet. This legislation also reveals the real restrictions on Croatian autonomy and the actual channels of heterogeneous influences on it. Dalibor Čepulo reconstructs and analyses the substance and enactment of the press and jury trial legislation in the Croatian Diet from the first laws that regulated these fields in 1875 until the last amendments of the laws in 1907. The earlier press and jury trial regulation valid in Croatia is also reconstructed, as are the attempts to enact legislation in the Croatian Diet. The author indicates moreover the channels and degree of political influence of the central government in Budapest on the legislative policy of the Croatian Diet, i.e. on autonomous Croatian legislation in the mentioned fields. The central government exercised significant indirect influence on the Croatian press and jury trial legislation, basically using the procedures of sanctioning and ‘pre-sanctioning’ legislation as well as political pressure. Both the Hungarian and Croatian liberals declared their dedication to liberal principles but pursued autocratic and anti-democratic policies. In spite of their different rationales, the common denominator was strict political control of society through which the domination of particular national or social interests could be guaranteed.