Age Limits of Criminal Responsibility for Property Offences: A New Empirical Research on Legal Consciousness in Hungary

Abstract

This research focuses on the question whether novelties of criminal law are mirrored in legal consciousness. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on a representative national sample of the adult Hungarian population and in this paper, the responses related to the age-limit of criminal responsibility for property offences are analysed. The hypothesis that the average person has a fragmented knowledge, even about this sector of criminal law, has been verified. It was not substantiated that this knowledge of law is substantially affected by socio-economic factors, including media consumption and encountering criminality. The cognitive answers were, however, strongly influenced by the attitudes of the respondents.1