The establishment of the Hungarian public administration was marked by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, after which the establishment of the Hungarian state police came to the fore. In 1848, Bertalan Szemere entrusted Paul Hajnik with the establishment of a national police force, in 1873 a state police force in the capital, in 1903 a border police force, and in 1918 the Wekerle police bill. At the beginning of this process, the Police Act proposal of 1871 by Pál Csepy, which clearly calls for the establishment of a national police force, was drafted and survives.
Aim: The aim of the study is to present the circumstances and content of the first Police Act proposal, from the beginning of the police nationalisation process.
Methodology: The author of the article examines the beginning of the nationalisation of the police, the first police act and its content by searching and analysing the literature on policing around the Compromise.
Findings: The Compromise of 1867 also provided opportunities for the restoration of autonomy in the field of police and policing. After Habsburg rule, the following three ideas for future policing emerged: strengthening the old Pandour world, organising a military-style gendarmerie or a civilian-style police force. After a professional debate in the first police journal, the participants in the first Congress of Police Chiefs advocated a national police force, for which a high-quality police act was drafted and submitted to the political leadership.
Value: The nationalisation process of the police started in 1848 and lasted until 1920. In the preceding period, a law on the field police was passed in 1840, and after 1872 laws were passed on the metropolitan police, the border police, the police of Fiume and the gendarmerie. Comparing the 1871 Police Act with the laws on the above subjects, it can be seen that the latter was comprehensive, covering all aspects of policing, and proved to be valuable and timeless.