all in Hungary. As for the judgements, between 2016 and 31 August 2021, there were 9 convictions
and 3 acquittals altogether, however, in the last five years of that six-year period the total number of
convictions was 3.
This means that in a country of ten million people and hundreds of thousands of crimes per year, the
average number of coercive interrogations is close to zero. Considering that number, one should not
be surprised that the area of exclusion of evidence obtained through torture is virtually nonresearched at all. It is reasonable to assume that in a country where years can pass by without a single
conviction for coercive interrogation, nothing meaningful could be found by only analysing the
decisions excluding evidence obtained by torture; and researching cases where allegations of torture
were made (or should have been made) by the defence but were dismissed by the judge would pose
multiple methodological difficulties.
What can be reasons for the rare occasions of successful investigations into coercive interrogation
cases?
As shown by the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, it is a recurring issue in Hungary
that investigations into police ill-treatment, conducted by the prosecution service, are not effective.
Shortcomings identified in this regard include not hearing the victim, the suspected police officers or
witnesses; and the lack of genuine efforts by the authorities and/or the courts to resolve contradictions
between testimonies and medical reports. But, as the Hungarian Helsinki Committee has also
repeatedly raised in its communications submitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe with regard to the non-implementation of said judgments, there are many more factors that
contribute to this phenomenon. Here is a short list of the most pressing ones:
Installing recording devices in all police detention facilities is still not obligatory. The lack of
such a legal obligation resulted in the fact that as of February 2020, there were only 114
cameras recording in the 297 custody suites in the country.
Police vehicles are not equipped with operational image and sound recording devices in
adequate numbers, and police body cameras are rare exceptions. As of October 2021, only
1.4% of all police vehicles were equipped with recording devices capable of recording both
image and sound, and there were only 70 body cameras in the whole country.
Video recording of interrogations is not obligatory and can only be initiated if the defendant
advances the costs of that. In practice, in most of the interrogation facilities it would
technically be almost impossible to carry out the proper recording of the interrogations and
covering the costs of it might also be difficult for indigent defendants.
Victims of alleged police abuse are not examined by an independent doctor with training in
forensic medicine, and it is not obligatory to take photographs of the injuries.
As a rule, medical examinations (whether they are carried out in police establishments or in
hospitals) are conducted in the presence of police staff, many of whom may have committed
the abuse.
In light of all these shortcomings, it is no wonder that reports are mostly unsuccessful, and
investigations rarely lead to indictments and convictions. Accordingly, the rule on excluding torturetainted evidence can be rarely applied by the courts on the basis of an ongoing criminal procedure
against the police officers or on the basis of their conviction.
It is of no avail either that coercive interrogation can be reported by anybody (i.e. not just the person
who was subject to torture), as these acts mostly happen out of sight of third persons. Neither is the
explicit obligation of officials to report and initiate a criminal procedure if they become aware of a
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