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those juveniles who cannot be placed in reception groups, and ensure that detainees under and over 16
years of age be placed in the same group only in exceptional cases, by order of the Head of the
Reformatory.
Both institutions had a special group where juveniles were placed temporarily, as a form of punishment,
thus the objective of the special group could not be achieved. The improper operation of the special
groups, originally created for the education of young people with mental and/or psycho-social
disabilities or personality disorder, infringed on the State’s obligation to help, by means of separate
measures, to achieve equality of opportunity, and the enforcement of the protection of young people
living with disabilities by means of separate measures.
The operating orders of the closed and special groups were confused. Although the relevant legal
regulations do not provide any opportunity to operate a closed unit within an institution exclusively for
juveniles in pretrial detention, there were such groups in the Reformatory. Placement in a closed unit as
a form of punishment caused an impropriety related to legal certainty, deriving from the principle of
the rule of law, as well as an impropriety related to the right to freedom. I asked the Head of the
Reformatory to take measures in order to place juveniles with mental and/or psycho-social or other
disabilities in groups matching their condition, whether they were sentenced to correctional education
or placed in the institution in pretrial detention. I suggested that the Head of the Reformatory should
work out the rules of procedure of placing juveniles in closed groups as a form of disciplinary
punishment and operating such groups.
Since there were problems with the operation of the complaints mechanism at both locations, I asked
the Head of the Reformatory to inform the juveniles on the possibility to lodge a complaint
anonymously, to install complaint boxes, and to work out the relevant rules of procedure.
Participation in education was full at both locations. In addition to classes, individual forms of
education and training were also provided. Juveniles over the mandatory school age could participate in
formal education on a voluntary basis. I suggested considering the amendment of Section 29,
Subsection (2) of Minister of Human Capacities Decree 1/2015 (I. 14.) EMMI on the operation of
reformatory institutions so that juveniles without a completed primary education, detained in a
reformatory, could be compelled to graduate from primary school irrespective of their age. I requested
the Minister of Justice to create a central registry of illiterate detainees and the personalized measures
taken by the institutions to eliminate illiteracy.
Comparing the forms of maintaining contact with the outside world with the possibilities authorized in
penitentiary institutions, I established that juveniles sentenced to correctional education are at an
unjustifiable disadvantage as regards the time limit of phone conversations, which results in an
impropriety related to the prohibition of discrimination. I called the attention of the Head of the
Reformatory to the fact that increasing the time limit, allowing detainees belonging to a nationality
living in Hungary to communicate in their mother tongue would contribute to improving family
relations and could become an important milestone in the resocialization of juveniles.
There was a shortage of caretakers and nurses at both locations. Part of the nurses and 30% of the
child carers in Debrecen did not have adequate professional qualifications. There were primary school
teachers employed as educators at both locations. I pointed out that the education of teachers does not
conform to the age-related needs of juveniles living in reformatories. I suggested that the Minister of
Human Capacities should consider the amendment of Annex 2 of Minister of Human Capacities
Decree 1/2015 (I. 14.) EMMI on the operation of reformatory institutions in order to make primary
school teacher qualification insufficient for being employed as teacher-educator in a reformatory.
The experience of my colleagues shows that the staff members of child protection institutions are not
provided with an opportunity to discuss cases, and there is no regular supervision or mental health
support. Exhausted employees at the risk of burn-out cannot show the required patience and attention
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