Waste management offences are becoming increasingly important in Hungarian criminal law. This is because the problem of waste and environmental law is one of the most pressing global problems, while the cost of waste management has a major impact on production and thus on living standards. The costs of legal waste management are extremely high in Hungary, which acts as an incentive to commit waste management crimes.
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Background legislation on infringements of waste management in Hungary
The offence of infringement of waste management is a framework offence. This means that the rules are not to be found in criminal law, i.e. the Criminal Code. The rules are laid down in Act CLXXXV of 2012 on Waste (Act on Waste) and its implementing regulations. In addition, a significant number of EU law measures regulate waste management.
Scope of the Hungarian Waste Management Act
In principle, the concept of waste and the scope of the Waste Management Act are complex in Hungary. The scope of the Hungarian Waste Act covers waste itself and, among other things, waste management. It does not, however, cover – for example, as a general rule – animal by-products, atmospheric emissions into the air, radioactive waste, dismantled explosives, contaminated soil or waste water. (A Curia decision on this subject can be found here) Waste water is regulated by the Water Management Act. These are therefore not legally waste. The misuse of waste water is therefore not a waste management offence.
The criminal law concept of waste
For a long time (until 2021 to be precise), the concept of waste under criminal law was separate from that under the Waste Management Act. The criminal law used a different, narrower concept for the purposes of the Criminal Code, only what the Waste Act classifies as waste was waste if it was capable of endangering human life, limb, health, land, water, air or their components or the individual of a living organism. This norm is no longer in force, the legal definition of waste is uniform.
The (criminal) legal concept of hazardous waste
Waste management offence in regard of hazardous waste is an aggravated form of the offence. Hazardous waist is the waste that has at least one of the hazardous characteristics (e.g. explosive, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic) set out in the annex to the Waste Management Act.
However, the waste management authority may – negatively – find that the waste is listed in the Annex but does not qualify as such. An important rule is that the waste must be considered hazardous waste until the waste management authority makes a decision. This is set forth by the precautionary principle as it is known in environmental law. The question of whether waste is hazardous waste is a question of fact which should be judged by a forensic expert in a criminal proceedings.
Waste management authorities in Hungary
In Hungary the county government offices act as waste management authorities and issue waste management permits.
Behaviour constituting a waste management offence
- to carry out waste management activities without registration or without a permit or in excess of the limits of a permit
- to carry out any other unlawful activity with waste which is likely to endanger human life, limb, health, land, water, air or their components or any living organism
- the disposal of waste in an unauthorised place which is likely to endanger human life, limb, health, land, water, air or their constituents or the life of a living organism, or the disposal of waste in significant quantities. The unauthorised place may of course be not only public land but also private property.
In relation to the first offence of waste management offences, it should be noted that the Waste Management Act regulates that waste management activities may be carried out on the basis of a waste management permit or registration issued by the waste management authority, unless an exception is provided for by law. The precise conditions and duration of this are set out in detail in the legislation.
However, not all waste-related activities require a permit. There are also some offences that may not be permitted. These activities are referred to by the term „other illegal activities”.
In relation to disposal in an unauthorised place, it should be noted that this is only a criminal offence if it involves a qualifying endangerment under the Act or if it is done in significant quantities. Failing this, only an administrative sanction can be imposed, no penalty or criminal measure.
What are the penalties for deliberate infringements of waste management rules in Hungarian Criminal Law?
The above basic offence of waste management offences is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment. Aggravated forms are if the offense is committed in respect of hazardous waste,
particularly large quantities of waste or as a repeated offence. In these cases the penalty is imprisonment for one to five years. The penalty is imprisonment for two to eight years if the offence is committed with a particularly large quantity of hazardous waste.
According to case law, the courts also apply community service penalties, fines, imprisonment, suspended imprisonment and short term imprisonment as legal consequences for such an offence.
In a well-known case, the Kaposvár Court imposed a custodial sentence. In another case, the Tata District Court applied a community interest labour penalty.
Infringement of waste management regulations by negligence
.The violation of waste management can also be committed negligently, in which case the penalties are less severe. In the case of negligence, the negligence may relate either to the nature of the conduct or to the quality (dangerousness) of the substance.
Interpretative provisions on infringements of the waste management regime in the Hungarian Criminal Code
Waste management activity is to be understood as all forms of waste management under the Waste Act, with the broader interpretation that the term ‘shipment’ includes not only domestic shipments but also imports into, exports from and transit through the country.
The Criminal Code of course defines what constitutes a significant quantity of waste: waste exceeding 1000 kg or waste exceeding 10 cubic metres. A particularly large quantity of waste is ten times this amount.
Other waste-related penalties
Otherwise, waste management infringements may be punished by a waste management fine under the Waste Management Act (administrative sanction), if they do not reach the level of a criminal offence.The amount of the fine is typically calculated as the multiplication of the basic fines set out in the Regulation by the multiplying factors set out in the Annex to the Regulation.