54
While, pursuant to Section 247(2)sz) of Act CLIV of 1997 on Healthcare, the competent Minister
should issue a decree “on the nutritional standards of foodstuff provided within the framework of organized catering of
regular meals, the personal conditions of catering, and preparing dietetic meals, and the rules of official control,” the
MoHC Decree on public catering does not cover regular, organized catering for penitentiary
institutions.168 To enforce the detainees’ right to health, I requested the Minister of Human Capacities
to consider to extend the effect of the Decree on mass catering onto penitentiary institutions.
Reintegration activities provided by the institution (work, education, organized free time activities) did
not meet the detainees’ requirements. The increased difficulty of access to these activities by inmates
belonging to special detainee groups (juveniles, women, foreigners) resulted in discrimination. I
requested the Director General of the Hungarian Prison Service to ask the Operator to expand the
scope of reintegration activities available to the detainees. I suggested that the warden of the institution
should ensure the conditions of efficient communication between the personnel and the foreign
detainees. I initiated the organization of reintegration programs taking into account the special needs of
juvenile detainees. I called on the warden to ensure equal participation for female detainees in
reintegration activities, including locations outside the cell blocks.
It was particularly worrisome that even members of the medical staff did not have a clue who should
be considered and treated as a disabled person under the prevailing legal regulations. The institution did
not have any information regarding the identities and the special needs of the detainees living with
disabilities. It cast serious doubt on whether the protection of the special rights of persons living with
disabilities could be ensured in practice. I requested the Director General of the Hungarian Prison
Service to organize training sessions, including practical training, for prison service personnel on the
relevant provisions of the CRPD. I made a recommendation to the warden to identify detainees living
with disabilities and assess their special requirements.
8.3. Police custody
8.3.1. The custody unit of the 14th District Police Department of the Metropolitan Police
Headquarters of Budapest169
Upon taking into custody, the police may restrict someone’s personal liberty only for the necessary
period, not longer than eight hours. If the objective of police custody is not reached, the head of the
competent police organ may extend this period, if justified, on one occasion, by four hours. The period
of police custody shall be counted from the beginning of the police measure.170
The custody unit of the 14th District Police Department of the Metropolitan Police Headquarters of
Budapest (hereinafter the “Police Department”) with a capacity of 10 arrestees, located on the first
floor of Building B, consists of three custody rooms, a staff recreational room, a hallway, a cold food
storage / finishing kitchen, two lavatories and restrooms. The width of the benches the custody rooms
were equipped with would make them rather uncomfortable for a larger man wanting to have a good
night’s rest; however, the furnishing was suitable for a custody period shorter than 12 hours. 171
Arrestees are separated by age, gender, smoking habits and cases. If more than ten arrestees are in the
building of the Police Department, they stay in the hallways guarded by policemen until they are taken
Minister of Human Capacities Decree 37/2014. (IV. 30.) EMMI on the nutritional standards of public catering “Section 1(1) – The
scope of this Decree shall cover: a) service providers, as well as educational institutions under the Act on National Public Education and
inpatient care institutions (hereinafter together the “institutions”) providing basic social services and special care, as well as child
protection services, b) all institutions, organs, organizations, economic associations, and natural persons providing public catering service
through their own, operating service kitchen.”
168
Report № AJB-1522/2018
The ruled of police custody are stipulated in Section 33 of the Police Act
171 Clause 42, CPT/Inf (92) 3
169
170
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