3.2. The meetings of the CCB
reports. The operation of the NPM could be more efficient if for instance,
the staff members of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who have substantial experience in this field, could take part in the visits of the police
holding facilities. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee intends to take part
in the monitoring of the places of detention so that its staff members could
transmit their professional expertise and notes – completed by analytical
comments – to the person leading the visit, who could then integrate that
into his/her own report at his/her discretion. According to the Hungarian
Helsinki Committee’s position, their activity would be no different from
the assistance of a medical expert.
The Deputy Head of Department said that the main reason for the high
turnover rate was the employees’ ambition of higher salaries. The NPM
relies on the capacities of the civil society organizations mostly in the selection and involvement of non-lawyer experts. The Ombudsman Act differentiates between staff members who are public servants and have the
NPM’s permanent authorisation for this task and those external experts
who are involved and authorised on a one-off or a regular basis. Regarding the external experts involved, the Ombudsman Act stipulates that in
addition to staff members who are public servants, the Commissioner for
Fundamental Rights may authorise other experts as well on an ad hoc or a
permanent basis. External experts involved in the given visits are entitled
to access only those data that are necessary for the preparation of their
expertise. It is only the public servant staff members of the NPM authorised on a permanent basis who have the full scope of eligibilities listed and
provided by the Ombudsman Act as National Preventive Mechanism. The
writing of the draft reports on the visits is the task of the NPM staff composed of authorised public servants, and it may not be delegated to the
staff members of civil society organizations. The performance of the tasks
of the NPM is the duty of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, who
may proceed both in person and through his authorised staff members.
The necessary legal expertise for the performance of the task is available at
the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. Non-lawyer experts – especially medical experts, dietitians, interpreters – involved in the
performance of the NPM’s tasks are employed by the National Preventive
Mechanism on an ad hoc basis through civil law contracts.
Based on the experience so far acquired during the activities of the NPM,
following the preparation of a specific visit, participation in it, and then writing their expertise, public servants qualified in fields other than law (e.g. physicians) are unable to contribute efficiently to regular office work. The NPM
intends to initiate the amendment of the Ombudsman Act in such a way that
would allow the NPM to employ lawyers to fill vacancies reserved for physicians. The requirements regarding non-lawyer experts can be met by involv-
29
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents