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propose that the Parliament debate the matter before the annual report is put on its agenda. Parliament
shall decide on whether to put the matter on the agenda.
The inspected authorities and/or their supervisory organs responded on the substance of the
recommendation made in my reports prepared in 2017, and the NPM’s visits did not find any violation
of the law that would have prompted me to turn to Parliament.
I maintain a dialog with the addressees of my measures mainly in writing, involving, as necessary, the
supervisory organs, as well. There is no legal obstacle to hold oral consultations within the framework
of the dialog. During the constructive talks held on January 17, 2017, with the participation of the
representatives of my Office, the Ministry of Interior. the Ministry of Human Capacities, the Hungarian
Prison Service Headquarters, and the Office of the Prosecutor General, my colleagues explained in
detail the reasons for amending the legal regulations on conducting body search in penitentiary
institutions. 236 Acting on my recommendation made in the report on the visit to the Forensic
Psychiatric and Mental Institution, the Minister of Justice set up an inter-professional working group,
with the participation of my colleagues authorized to perform tasks related to the NPM, for reviewing
and redressing the systemic problems of compulsory treatment. The working group had two meetings
in 2017.237
Another form of dialog is the follow-up visits, in the course of which I try to check the
recommendations made in the report on the previous visit, as well as to re-examine the most
problematic fields. Follow-up visits provide an opportunity to discuss the findings of the previous visit
and, in their light, the practical implementation of my measures with the personnel of the places of
detention. In 2017, while performing the tasks of the NPM, I made a follow-up visit to the Platán
Integrated Social Institution of Bács-Kiskun County.238
The civil suit brought in connection with certain conclusions of my report on the visit to the Cseppkő
Children’s Home, for damaging the reputation of the Children’s Home, is another form of the dialog
between the NPM and the place of detention.239 Court proceedings were still underway on December
31, 2017.
The NPM’s operational costs in 2017 amounted to 76,217,024 Forints; this amount was allocated by
my Office from its budget provided by the Parliament.
The Subcommittee on Prevention paid a regular visit to Hungary between March 21 and 30, 2017; on
the first working day of their visit, the delegation visited my Office. During the visit, the delegation met
with the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights performing the tasks of the NPM, the staff members
of the Department, and the representatives of the CCB’s member organizations. The report prepared
by the Subcommittee on Prevention for the National Preventive Mechanism arrived at my Office on
December 8, 2017, with the request to send back my response to its conclusions and recommendation
before June 7, 2018. 240 The report was published on the NPM’s website.241
See the part on the law amendment recommended in my report on the visit to the Somogy County Remand Prison in chapter “Dialog
about the measures taken by the NPM”
237 See the part on the establishment of an inter-professional working group for handling the systemic problems of compulsory treatment
in chapter “Dialog about the measures taken by the NPM”
238 For the major findings of the follow-up visit, see Chapter “Persons deprived of their liberty at the places of detention visited by the
NPM”
239 See the part on the Cseppkő Children’s Home in chapter “Dialog about the measures taken by the NPM”
240 The Subcommittee’s report № CAT/OP/HUN/R.2. is filed in my Office under № AJB-791/2018. See Annex 2
241 Available at: www.ajbh.hu/opcat-SPT-jelentes-2017
236
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