10.3. The authorities’ responses to the major measures taken by the NPM
should be ensured from the first moment of the deprivation of liberty232 but
in the report on the implementation of apprehension, it was not mentioned
that the police patrol had informed the apprehended person on this right
of his, or that they ensured the conditions thereof, so I maintained my recommendation in this respect.
I was informed by the National Police Headquarters that during a police measure, in lack of a communication device and information on the
threats to the effectiveness of the procedure, the police patrol is not in the
position to allow such notification, or fulfil the notification obligation at
the site of taking the police measure. As long as the duration of the police
measure increases due to notification on the site, on the one hand, this
would increase the risk of the occurrence of an extraordinary event, on
the other hand, this may be contrary to the interests of the person subjected to the police measure. The fulfilment of the requirement of notification without delay, which is specified in the CPT recommendations, can be
expected from the Police in the form of notification without unjustified delay,
and in the view of the National Police Headquarters, currently there is no
such normative provision related to the notification obligation in effect,
whose effect extends to the Police as well, which would be contrary to the
practice applied by the Police.
I called the attention of the head of the National Police Headquarters to
that the provisions on the right to notification set out in Section 18 of the
Police Act also list the circumstances that allow the restriction of this right.
Pursuant to Section 18(1) of the Police Act, the detainee cannot exercise this
right to the extent that this threatens the fulfilment of the objective of the
measure. Pursuant to Section 18(3) of the Police Act, a detainee can be restricted in exercising his rights “to the extent that this serves the prevention of
escape or hiding, that of changing or annihilating physical evidence, the prevention
of committing a new crime, or the security of guarding and the maintenance of the
order of the holding facility.” The existence of these circumstances should be
examined individually in each case and in lack of these, the right of notifying relatives or third persons should be ensured for the detainee from the
first moment of the deprivation of liberty. The National Assembly amended
Section 18(1) of the Police Act with effect from January 1, 2019. In accordance with the amendment of the law, the obligation to notify the person
232
CPT: Report to the Hungarian Government on the visit to Hungary carried out by the European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(CPT) from 5 to 16 December 1999 [CPT/Inf (2001) 2], Sections 23 and 30; CPT: Report to the
Hungarian Government on the visit to Hungary carried out by the European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 3 to 12
April 2013 [CPT/Inf (2014) 13], Section 22.
113
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