106 10. Dialogue on the measures taken by the NPM detainees squat on their heels was to enable the guards to check whether the detainees had hidden forbidden objects and/or psychotropic drugs between their legs or in their private orifices. The Prison Code regulates the search of the convict’s body and clothes in three stages. First, frisking the convicts and checking their clothes, which may be done only by a person of the same sex (except when the clothes are checked using a technical device);214 second, inspection of the body orifices, which may be done only by a physician;215 and third, as an exception to the second, inspection of the oral cavity, which may be done by prison service personnel of the opposite gender as well. The Prison Code did not define body orifice; therefore, it was up to discussion whether inspecting the part of the penis covered by the foreskin and searching for forbidden objects hidden between the legs or in the rectum may be done only by a physician, or it may be done by the members of the security personnel in the presence of other detainees, as well. In my view, this unclear legal situation threatened the enforcement of the prohibition of degrading treatment. To eliminate this impropriety, I recommended the amendment of the Prison Code and its implementing regulations. Instead of amending the Prison Code, the Minister of Justice suggested reaching a consensus regarding acceptable practices. In my response, I pointed out that, based on the taxonomic and logical interpretation of Section 151 of the Prison Code and Section 59 216 of Minister of Justice Decree No. 16/2014. (XII. 19.) IM, the provisions on body search are not clear. I also pointed out that neither the practices of the penitentiary system nor the teaching materials used in training penitentiary service personnel are in compliance with the prevailing legal regulations. On January 17, 2017, the Ministry of Justice convened a consultation meeting on the methods of body search in the penitentiary system and on implementing the NPM’s recommendations. During the consultation held in the building of the Ministry of Justice, in addition to the organisers and my colleagues authorised to perform tasks related to the NPM, the representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Human Capacities, the Hungarian Prison Service Headquarters, and the Office of the Prosecutor General explained their positions. As a result, the representative of the Ministry of Justice promised that the Ministry would propose the amendment of the Prison Code’s concept of body search, and consider the regulation of the methods of inspecting “private parts”. 214 215 216 See Section 151 (1) of the Prison Code: See Section 151 (3) of the Prison Code: Minister of Justice decree No. 16/2014. (XII. 19.) IM on the detailed rules of the implementation of imprisonment, confinement, pre-trial custody and confinement replacing penalty.