Dr. József Domokos (25 October 1890 – 25 January 1978) was a Hungarian jurist, who served as

Chief Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

(1945–1953) and President of the

Supreme Court of Hungary The Curia (, ), also known as the Supreme Court (''Legfelsőbb Bíróság'') before 2011, is the supreme court and highest judicial authority of Hungary. The Curia was founded in 1949 as the People's Republic of Hungary Supreme Court. It was pre ...

(1954–1958).

Biography

He studied law at the Budapest University and the

Franz Joseph University Royal Hungarian Franz Joseph University () was the second modern university in the Hungarian realm of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Founded in 1872, its seat was initially in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca). After World War I, it first moved to Budap ...

. He was a junior lawyer in

Békéscsaba Békéscsaba (; ; see also #Name, other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, the capital of Békés County. Geography Békéscsaba is located in the Great Hungarian Plain, southeast from Budapest. Highway 44, 47 ...

and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He protected movement activists. He was a member of the National Council in Békéscsaba and the local branch of the

Hungarian Social Democratic Party The Social Democratic Party of Hungary (, , MSZDP) is a social democratic political party in Hungary. Historically, the party was dissolved during the occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany (1944–1945) and the communist period of Hungary from ...

(MSZDP) since November 1918. During the

Hungarian Soviet Republic The Hungarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Socialist Federative Soviet Republic of Hungary was a short-lived communist state that existed from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919 (133 days), succeeding the First Hungarian Republic. The Hungari ...

he was elected to the Worker's Council. He was a delegate in the Congress of the

Hungarian Communist Party The Hungarian Communist Party (, , abbr. MKP), known earlier as the Party of Communists in Hungary (, , abbr. KMP), was a communist party in Hungary that existed during the interwar period and briefly after World War II. It was founded on Novem ...

in June 1919. He emigrated to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1920 and participated in the editing of ''Bécsi Magyar Újság''. He returned to home in 1925 and became a lawyer in 1927. Domokos was one of the founders of the Organization of Social Democratic Jurists in 1927. He became pleader of the United Trade Union Opposition in 1931. He served as lawyer for the prosecuted Communists and Socialists between 1931 and 1944. He was the pleader of the leather workers' union since 1940. After the Nazi occupation of Hungary (March 1944), he was arrested and deported to the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. He returned to Hungary in May 1945. He served as Secretary of State for Justice in August 1945. After that he was appointed the first Chief Prosecutor of Hungary. He requested his dismissal and retired in May 1953. He was recalled and became President of the Supreme Court in 1954. He had an important role in building a new justice system, impeachment of the war criminals and rehabilitation of the victims of show trials.

References

Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domokos, Jozsef 1890 births 1978 deaths People from Békéscsaba Social Democratic Party of Hungary politicians Hungarian Communist Party politicians Members of the Hungarian Working People's Party Members of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party Hungarian judges Hungarian jurists Hungarian expatriates in Austria Mauthausen concentration camp survivors 20th-century Hungarian journalists