People smuggling

Human smuggling is the crime for which it can be said most accurately that even those who commit it are not fully aware of the consequences of their actions.

Most people are unfamiliar with the punishment Hungarian courts currently impose for human smuggling and with its precise legal definition—at least until they themselves, or perhaps a family member, become subject to criminal proceedings.

From this article, you can learn what human smuggling means in criminal law, the aggravated forms it can take, and what punishment someone can expect if found responsible by the court.

According to our current criminal code, the crime of people smuggling (Section 353 of the Criminal Code) is committed by anyone who assists another person in crossing a state border in violation of the applicable legal provisions.

People smuggling, though it resembles aiding and abetting, is specifically designated by the legislature as a separate, independent crime among those offenses committed against the order of public administration.

Anyone can be a perpetrator of this crime (i.e., the people smuggler), while the passive party to the offense is the person who receives assistance in crossing a state border in violation of legal provisions.

However, many people misunderstand this provision. It is not always clear what kind of conduct constitutes providing assistance to someone in crossing a state border. Assistance does not only mean transporting someone across the border by vehicle.

Such assistance may include transporting someone across the border, giving directions, offering advice, handing over a map showing a planned border-crossing route, or even providing overnight accommodation, food, or clothing before the crossing, as long as the perpetrator is aware of the other person’s intent.

It is important to emphasize that people smuggling can be committed not only near a country’s border, but anywhere within the country, and even beyond its borders.

Due to its significant threat to society, even the basic form of this offense is punishable by imprisonment ranging from one to five years.

People smuggling is considered a more serious offense if it is committed for financial gain (which must be realized in the form of a material benefit).

Another qualifying circumstance arises when people smuggling is committed by providing assistance to multiple individuals (two or more) in crossing the state border.

The third aggravating factor is when people smuggling is carried out by destroying or damaging a facility or device intended to protect the state border.

In each of these three aggravated cases, the law prescribes imprisonment ranging from two to eight years.

The penalty may be further increased if people smuggling is committed by mistreating the smuggled individual, by carrying a weapon, by being armed, for profit (on a business-like basis), or in a criminal conspiracy. In such cases, the punishable sentence increases to imprisonment ranging from five to ten years.

Under the law, mistreatment of the smuggled person generally means subjecting them to humiliation or physical or psychological torment. This aggravating circumstance can be easily established if people smuggling takes place using a vehicle in which a large number of individuals must be crammed into a very small space. If, in such a situation, it can be shown that the transported persons did not receive sufficient oxygen, this aggravating circumstance may also readily be determined.

The offense is considered to be committed “while armed” if the perpetrator has a firearm, explosive, or explosive device on them during the act of people smuggling. There is no requirement for the perpetrator to actually use the weapon for this aggravating circumstance to apply.

Committing the offense “while equipped with a weapon” covers, in addition to the above, any other device capable of causing lethal harm. For this to apply, the smuggler must be carrying it for the purpose of preventing or overcoming resistance.

An offense is committed “for profit on a business-like basis” if the perpetrator regularly aims to obtain financial gain by committing the same or similar offenses.

The penalty may be imprisonment for five to fifteen years if people smuggling by mistreatment of the smuggled person or while armed is combined with any additional aggravating circumstance from those listed above. The organizer or leader of such a crime may face imprisonment ranging from ten to twenty years.

Another means of commission is acting within a criminal organization. If people smuggling is committed as part of a criminal organization, the upper limit of the penalty doubles, although it may not exceed twenty-five years.

Anyone who prepares to commit people smuggling commits the misdemeanor version of people smuggling. People smuggling remains at the preparatory stage as long as, for example, the individuals who are to be smuggled have not begun to cross the border illegally, but the smuggler, that is, the perpetrator, has already carried out the preparatory actions necessary for doing so.

Based on our experience, until they themselves face legal proceedings, most perpetrators have only a very limited understanding of either the true meaning of the factual elements of the offense or the scale of the punishments that may be imposed for such crimes.

In recent years, people smuggling has become one of the most widespread offenses. In part because of this, the legislature has tightened the statutory definition of people smuggling under the Criminal Code. The prevalence of people smuggling and its significant threat to society have also influenced judicial practice.

According to judicial practice and our own experience, if a court finds an offender guilty of one of the aggravated forms of the offense rather than the basic form, then (especially in the southern counties) they typically impose only custodial sentences.