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Hungary - Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1998 [2005] UNCRCSPR 9; CRC/C/70/Add.25 (24 May 2005)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/70/Add.25 24 May 2005
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF
REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE
CONVENTION
Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1998
HUNGARY*
[17
February 2004]
* For the initial report submitted by the Government of
Hungary, see CRC/C/8/Add.34. For its consideration by the Committee, see
documents CRC/C/SR.455457 and CRC/C/15/Add.87. The annex is available for
consultation at the Secretariat.
GE.0542017 (E) 120905
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Introduction 1 10 5
I. GENERAL INFORMATION 11 39 7
A. Social conditions 20 35 9
B. Health care 36 37 13
C. Education 38 39 13
II. INFORMATION ON THE SPECIFIC PARAGRAPHS
OF THE REPORTING GUIDELINES
40 576 14
A. General measures of implementation 40 81 14
B. Definition of the child 82 98 25
C. General principles 99 176 27
1. Nondiscrimination (art. 2) 99 122 27
2. Best interests of the child (art. 3) 123 142 32
3. The right to life, survival and development (art. 6) 143 157 36
4. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12) 158 176 39
D. Civil rights and freedoms 177 227 44
1. Name and nationality (art. 7) and preservation
of identity (art.
8) 177 194 44
2. Freedom of expression (art. 13) 195 196 48
3. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
(art. 14) 197
202 48
4. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly
(art. 15) 203
206 50
5. Protection of privacy (art. 16) 207 211 50
6. Access to appropriate information (art. 17) 212 220 52
7. The right not to be subjected to torture or other
cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or
punishment (art. 37 (a)) 221 227 54
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
E. Family environment and alternative care 228 344 56
1. Parental guidance (art. 5) and parental
responsibilities (art. 18,
paras. 12) 228 244 56
2. Separation from parents (art. 9) 245 259 59
3. Family reunification (art. 10) 260 270 64
4. Illicit transfer and nonreturn (art. 11) 271 274 66
5. Recovery of maintenance abroad (art. 27, para. 4) 275 279 67
6. Children deprived of their family environment
(art. 20) 280
292 70
7. Adoption (art. 21) 293 305 73
8. Periodic review of placement (art. 25) 306 - 310 77
9. Abuse and neglect (art. 19), including physical and
psychological
recovery and social reintegration
(art. 39) 311 344 79
F. Basic health and welfare 345 420 86
1. Disabled children (art. 23) 345 364 86
2. Health and health services (art. 24) 365 397 91
3. Social security and childcare services and
facilities (arts. 26
and 18, para. 3) 398 419 98
4. Standard of living (art. 27, paras. 13) 420 104
G. Education, leisure and cultural activities 421 490 104
1. Education, including vocational training and
guidance (art. 28)
421 461 104
2. Aims of education (art. 29) 462 475 116
3. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art. 31) 476 490 120
H. Special protection measures 491 576 123
1. Children in situations of emergency 491 504 123
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
(a) Refugee children (art. 22) 491 502 123
(b) Children in armed conflict (art. 38), including
physical and
psychological recovery and
social reintegration (art. 39) 503
504 126
2. Children involved with the system of administration
of juvenile
justice 505 536 127
(a) The administration of juvenile justice
(art. 40) 505
516 127
(b) Children deprived of their liberty, including
any form of
detention, imprisonment
or placement in custodial settings
(art.
37 (b)(d)) 517 532 131
(c) The sentencing of juveniles, with particular
reference to the
prohibition of capital
punishment and life imprisonment
(art. 37
(a)) 533 135
(d) Physical and psychological recovery and
social reintegration of
the child (art. 39) 534 536 136
3. Children in situations of exploitation, including
physical and
psychological recovery and
social reintegration 537 570 139
(a) Economic exploitation of children,
including child labour
(art. 32) 537 543 139
(b) Drug abuse (art. 33) 544 557 141
(c) Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art. 34) 558 563 144
(d) Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35) 564 567 145
(e) Other forms of exploitation (art. 36) 568 570 146
4. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous
group (art. 30)
571 576 146
Introduction
- In
1996, Hungary submitted its initial report on the Implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child to the Committee
on the Rights of the
Child, the discussion of which took place in June 1998. The Government of
Hungary commissioned the Ministry
of Child, Youth and Sport to draft the
secondthird periodic report. The Committee compiled a set of guidelines
consisting of 166
points for the preparation of the periodic reports. The
Ministry of Child, Youth and Sport has decided that it would present to
the
Committee all the relevant Hungarian legislation in force based on the points
referred to above. Thereby we intend to provide
the Committee with a
comprehensive picture of the current legal framework in Hungary.
- In
our view Hungarian legislation is in compliance with the international
agreements and meets the requirements of democracy with
regard to most of the
issues. At the same time, however, even today, we have a large backlog in the
field of the implementation
of the existing laws. Unfortunately, it is not only
that those concerned are not aware of their rights, but even the institutions
and authorities whose task it is to protect and enforce children’s rights
do not properly know the relevant laws.
- With
regard to our previous report the Committee stated that Hungary lacked a
comprehensive national policy aimed at enforcing the
realization of the rights
of the child and that the knowledge of the Convention by the various
professional circles was not satisfactory.
At the same time the Committee gave
voice to its concern over the living conditions of Roma children as well as over
instances of
discrimination against them. In order to improve awareness of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee considered
it necessary
that the text of the Convention be translated into the languages of the
minorities.
- Unfortunately,
the proposed comprehensive national policy does not yet exist in Hungary,
although the legal conditions are already
in place. An important step in this
direction was the establishment of the Ministry of Child, Youth and Sport in
1999, whereby matters
related to the youth were elevated to ministerial level.
The next major stage in this process was that as of 2002 the Ministry proceeds
in matters related to children as well. It was then that the Ministry’s
name was changed to the Ministry of Child, Youth and
Sport. Fortunately, in
Hungary all the incoming Governments intend to give emphasis to the handling of
child affairs, so it can
be said that there is an expressed intention to create
further forums in the interest of the protection of the child. In collaboration
with the International Department of the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of
Child, Youth and Sport arranged for the translation of
the Convention into the
languages of most of the minorities living in Hungary. The text of the
Convention is now available in the
Polish, Greek, Slovenian, Romanian,
Ukrainian, Roma, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Serbian and Slovak languages, but
not in Ruthene
(Transcarpathian Ukrainian) and Armenian.
- As
for lawmaking in the period covered by this report, the adoption of Act XXXI of
1997 on the Protection of the Child and on the
Management of Public Guardianship
is of outstanding importance, as it meant the fullfledged incorporation of the
Convention into
the laws of Hungary. The experiences of the past years have
shown that the Act successfully ensures the realization of the rights
of the
child and assists the creation of a transparent and controllable child
protection system. However, to increase the efficiency
of the system it became
necessary to modify some of the provisions of the Act. Act IX of 2002 on the
Amendment of the Child Protection
Act (Gyvt.) puts an even greater emphasis on
the better regulation of the rights of the child, the improvement of preventive
actions
and services, the strengthening of the network of substitute and foster
parents and the conditions of care for expectant and battered
mothers.
- As
this report will show, current Hungarian judicial practice always takes into
consideration the provisions of the Convention. Besides,
the Hungarian
Ombudspersons in office have on several occasions launched investigations into
the realization of the rights of the
child. Therefore, this report makes
reference to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil
Rights and those
of his General Deputy, the Parliamentary Commissioner
(Ombudsman) for Data Protection, and to the recommendations of the Ministerial
Commissioner for Education Rights. The rights of minorities, including those of
the Roma, are guaranteed by a separate law and their
realization is monitored by
the Parliamentary Commissioner for Ethnic and Minority Rights. In 2002, in
addition to all these, a
Ministerial Commissioner Responsible for the Social
Integration of Disadvantaged and Roma Children was appointed, while as of July
2003 a Minister without Portfolio Responsible for Equal Opportunities also works
as a Cabinet member.
- The
most comprehensive umbrella organization acting in the field of social welfare
and facilitating collaboration between the Government
and nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) is the Social Council. Besides the representatives of the
governmental bodies concerned,
the members of the Social Council and its
socalled social stratum councils include representatives of various
nongovernmental and
religious organizations. The main organ of the dialogue
with the organizations of people with disabilities is the Council of the
Affairs
of People with Disabilities. As of 2003, in the framework of the Social
Council, Social Welfare Policy Councils have to
be set up for the task of
drafting opinions on social policy and child protection concepts, decisions or
bills, and of analysing
and evaluating various types, forms and systems of
services. Also, there are consultation forums outside the Social Council, e.g.
Drug Affairs Coordination Forums, which participate in the elaboration of local
drugprevention strategies in addition to their role
of consulting.
- The
Office of the Ministerial Commissioner Responsible for the Rights of the Child
is expected to be set up as of January 2004 within
the Ministry of Child, Youth
and Sport. Our goal is to carry out coordination comprising all sectoral
activities required for the
facilitation of the realization of the rights of the
child. Furthermore, it is considered to be one of the most important tasks
of
the Ministerial Commissioner to act as the spokesman for children, calling
attention to children’s rights and any abuses.
The Ministerial
Commissioner Responsible for the Rights of the Child will perform his duties on
the basis of the Convention and
he will participate in drawing up the Act on the
Child and Youth currently under preparation.
- In
May 2002, as part of our preparation for this report, we requested all the
ministries, national institutions, three research institutes
and 30 NGOs to
provide us with relevant data on the matter concerned. The present report has
been compiled from the materials received.
The contributions received from the
NGOs have been attached to this report and will be forwarded to the
Committee.
- There
have been several coordination sessions in the Ministry of Child, Youth and
Sport to which all parties who had sent their data
were invited. At these
sessions we received information from the drafters of the previous report and
the members of the delegation
heard by the Committee. We hope that on the basis
of the wideranging data collection we have succeeded in compiling a report that
provides a true and fair picture of the situation of the children in Hungary.
It highlights the accomplishments achieved so far
and presents the existing
shortcomings as well.
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
- Hungary
has successfully overcome the most difficult phase of its economic
transformation and has now become a dynamically developing
openmarket economy
that has started to catch up with the member States of the European Union. In
2001, due to the worsening of the
external economic conditions, there was a
change in the economic policy. The exportorientated growth policy of the
previous years
was replaced by a policy of stimulating domestic consumption,
raising the standards of living, developing the infrastructure and
fighting
inflation. Fiscal expansion a dynamic increase in wages and pensions and
largescale State investments managed to curb
the slowdown of economic growth to
some extent, but both the external and internal balance considerably
worsened.
- From
the second half of 2001 the development of Hungary’s economy was slowed
down by falling external demand, the decrease in
corporate investment and the
strengthening of the Hungarian currency. Throughout 2002, gross domestic
product (GDP) growth dropped
to 3.3 per cent, falling short of
the dynamic growth in the previous years, but still quite high by international
standards. Growth
was mainly stimulated by domestic consumption, which last
year increased by a record figure of 8.8 per cent, mainly due to
increasing
wages and the successful antiinflationary processes. As a result of
the latter, the 2001 domestic consumption index of 9.2 per cent
fell
to 5.3 per cent by 2002.
- There
was a fast increase in real wages in 2001 and 2002. Wage increases in real
terms exceeded 13 per cent in 2002 while productivity
increased only
by nearly 3.2 per cent. The largescale wage increases were also due
to the very low rate of increases in the previous
years. As a result of the
efforts aimed at boosting the income level in the civil service, the earnings in
the budgetary sector
increased considerably in 2002.
- The
transition to a market economy has fundamentally transformed the Hungarian
labour market: at the beginning of the 1990s it was
marked by a drastic
decrease in the number of the employed, the increase in the number of the
inactive population, a drastic increase
in unemployment and the redistribution
of the workforce between the economic sectors and jobs. Due to the transition
the number
of jobholders fell by more than a third, i.e. nearly 1.5 million.
Employment levels and business activity hit rock bottom in 1997,
when the
employment rate in the 1564 age group of the population fell to
52.7 per cent, and their activity fell to 57.8 per cent
far
below the average EU level. From 1997, following the twodecadelong decrease,
employment and business activity increased again.
In 2002, the average number
of people in employment was 3,884,000, with the employment rate of the 1564 age
group at 56.3 per cent.
The proportion of the employed by gender has
been unchanged for years, i.e. 45 per cent are women. In 2002,
men’s employment
rate was 63.1 per cent, women’s was
49.8 per cent and the rate of men was higher in all age groups.
The unemployment rate
reached a peak of 12.5 per cent at the beginning
of 1993, then steadily decreased until 2002: by 2002 the number of the
jobless
fell by less than half, i.e. 239,000, and the unemployment rate
dropped to 5.8 per cent. Fortyfive per cent of the
unemployed are
those in permanent unemployment, partly due to the shortage of
jobs and partly due to their lack of skills and/or because their ability
to work
decreased. In 2002, the number of inactive people of employment age was 2.3
million. Of the inactive, 171,000 men and 260,000
women did not study and did
not receive a pension, unemployment benefit or maternity allowance.
- The
transformation of the economy brought about major changes in the sectoral and
regional structure of employment: the weight of
agriculture decreased and the
number of those employed in the service sector increased as a typical trend. In
2002, 3.2 per cent
of the workforce worked in agriculture,
34 per cent in industry and 59.8 per cent in services. The
sectoral structure of employment
is also marked by quite large regional
differences. The regional disparities in employment and unemployment have
decreased in the
past years. Despite the low level of employment and largescale
inactivity, there are regions where there is a shortage of skilled
labour and
insufficiencies in the qualifications and skills of the available
workforce.
- In
the disadvantaged regions, besides the high level of unemployment and the large
number of inactive people, their composition is
also unfavourable: among the
youths the proportion of those with only a primary education who are permanently
jobless is higher
than the Community average. The number and proportion of
employment fell in the 1524 age group: within a year, the employment rate
in
the 1519 age group fell from 7.7 per cent to 5.4 per cent,
whereas in the 2024 age group it fell from 51.1 per cent to
49.3 per
cent. In 2002, only 29.1 per cent of the 15 to
24year olds had a job. Unemployment hits young people more than adults. Until
2001,
youth unemployment decreased more than the average, but in 2002 youth
unemployment figures indicate a worsening of the situation
of the young: the
unemployment rate for the 1524 age group increased from 10.9 per cent
to 12.3 per cent.
- With
regard to the labour market, the main losers in the transformation into a market
economy are the Roma population. Following
the change in the socialpolitical
system, more than half of the Roma population accustomed to being in employment
lost their jobs
and today their level of employment is roughly half, their
unemployment level has increased by three to five times, and the rate
of
dependents per single wage earner is three times that of the nonRoma population.
There are hardly any jobs in the primary labour
market for unschooled and
unskilled Roma people and they are also disadvantaged even in the area of
temporary jobs.
- As
regards handicapped people, the gravest difficulty lies in creating equal
opportunities for them in the labour market. According
to a survey done in 2002
by the Central Statistical Office, of 656,000 people of employment age with a
permanent health problem,
fewer than 95,000 were present in the labour market
and nearly 10,000 of them were unemployed. The opportunities of people with
permanent health problems or disabilities are rather limited: only 1 in 10
has a job, and overall only one fifth of those concerned
were employed in
special (protected or subsidized) jobs.
- In
retrospect, over a 10year period, the proportion of welfare expenditure in GDP
decreased (from 30 per cent in 1993 to 24 per cent
in 2002),
whereas the ratio of the main budgetary items of expenditure can be described as
stable. The efforts of the Hungarian
budgetary policy, considerably influenced
by the expectations of the main international financial institutions, have in
past years
been aimed at continually decreasing social redistribution. It is
expected that this tendency would be halted in the coming years.
Only those
items of expenditure are to be increased that are connected with key goals of
the social and social welfare policy (e.g.
support of families, housing
support), or with the development of welfare infrastructure and
institutions.
A. Social conditions
- Hungary’s
population has decreased by 500,000 in the past 20 years. The main causes of
the population decrease are the low
and falling birth rate (9.5 per thousand in
2001, 10.6 per thousand in the EU) as well as the mortality rate (13.0 per
thousand),
far exceeding the European average (9.5 per thousand). The
composition by age of the population is largely similar to the European
average:
the rate of under15s in 2001 was 16.6 per cent (EU
17.2 per cent), the rate of the 1564 age group was
68.2 per cent (EU
66.4 per cent) and that of the
over64s was 15.2 per cent (EU 16.4 per cent). The
worsening trend which started in the 1960s seems
to be reversing. Recently, the
population decrease has somewhat lessened and life expectancy has increased
68.1 years for men and
76.5 years for women. However, the mortality rate is
still far more unfavourable almost double the EU average measured with the
standard mortality rate whereas life expectancy at birth falls six to eight
years short of the EU average.
- According
to the family budget survey by the Central Statistical Office,
12.5 per cent of the population had less than 60 per cent
of
the national average per capita income. Poverty stood at 10 per cent,
both for men and women. However, there is a marked discrepancy
between the
social status of poor women and poor men, basically due to the two
genders’ different type of participation in
the labour market. Among poor
women the proportion of those on maternity allowance, at home in the household,
pensioners, on social
benefit or supported in other ways is high. Among poor
men, however, there is a high proportion of those in temporary jobs, students,
and unemployed, on social benefit or depending on other types of support.
- With
regard to the family life cycle, the poverty risk continues to be high for
children: 16 per cent of the under16s live in poverty,
which is double the national average. Within this group there is a high risk of
poverty in singleparent families and in families
having three or more children.
The size of the household or the number of children is also a risk factor. The
poverty rate is the
lowest in threemember (one child) families, then it
increases gradually and jumps high: in households with six or more children
the
risk is three times higher than the average.
- All
poverty surveys show that a low level of education is the major poverty risk
factor. The poverty rate among those even lacking
elementary education is
25 per cent and it stands at 20 per cent for those who
finished primary education. Gaining a certificate
of higher education minimizes
the risk of poverty the poverty rate stands at a mere 2 per cent for
this group. In Hungary, the
structure of the education level of the population
has considerably changed in the past years.
- The
underlying role of ethnicity can be attributed to the widespread and high level
of poverty among the Roma population. The lower
the threshold level of poverty
is set, the more people of Roma origin can be found in that group. Whereas the
overwhelming majority
of the poor are not Roma (and even within the group of the
poorest the proportion of the nonRoma is also high), the rate of the poor
in
Roma households is tenfold compared to that of nonRoma. The poverty of the Roma
people is further increased by discrimination
and prejudice. Today,
approximately 20 per cent of the Roma population live in separation,
often in segregated neighbourhoods with
poor public utilities, in housing
estates with minimal infrastructure or in derelict inner city colonies.
- The
regional and other differences are visible in two fields: on the one hand there
is the downward trend in the level of urbanization,
and on the other is the
eastwest geographical divide. The risk of poverty is high in the villages and
virtually has not changed
in past years. Life opportunities are much better in
the west of the country than in the east, while it should be pointed out that
the risk of poverty is less influenced by the eastwest axis than by the
hierarchical divisions in housing settlements: differences
between villages and
towns or in the size of settlements have a marked influence on the differences
in life opportunities. Currently,
no increase or decrease in the poverty rate
can be found with regard to the differences between the regions.
- The
proportion of the Roma completing primary education improved, but there is still
a considerable lag in the number of those gaining
secondary or higher education
compared to the nonRoma population. Of the 1874 age group of the Roma,
86.3 per cent have only a primary
education this ratio is only
27.9 per cent of the whole population. The proportion of the Roma
with higher education is only 1
per cent, while this proportion is
13.5 per cent for the whole population. Sociological surveys have
revealed that there are about
700 schools where Roma children receive segregated
education (placed in special classes). According to estimated data
7 per cent
of all Roma children are enrolled in schools with a special
curriculum (schools for children with disabilities), whereas only
12
per cent of the children of the majority population attend such
schools. A further difficulty for the Roma in schooling and school
results is
the low rate of nursery school education or the delayed access to and use of
nursery school education for the disadvantaged
Roma families. Half of the
dependent children in Roma families live in households with no active wage
earners. Among children removed
from their families the number of Roma children
is disproportionately high; in the northern and eastern counties of the country
this
ratio reaches 8090 per cent. The processes of social
selforganization have increased among the Roma population as well: the number
of minority selfgovernments and NGOs has steadily increased in the past 10
years.
- The
expansion of employment has to be assisted by encouraging the return to the
labour market of the jobless and of the inactive population
previously excluded
from the labour market, as well as by preventing people becoming permanently
unemployed. What we need is an
integrated approach to assist the entry into the
job market of the most disadvantaged groups of the society, i.e. the
unschooled
and unskilled, those with disabilities, members of the Roma minority,
the homeless, people living in disadvantaged regions and those
with various
forms of addiction. In the field of human resources management it is a
challenging task to harmonize primary education
and continued vocational
training with the requirements of the labour market, to strengthen the
connection between schools and businesses,
to increase the standard of education
and to reduce the dropout rate (especially among the Roma).
- Income
shortage is the main cause of the most extreme forms of poverty. Therefore,
within a relatively short space of time measures
have to be taken to guarantee
for everyone a nationally accepted minimal level of subsistence through a
properly coordinated correction
of minimum wages, social welfare services and
social benefits. In this field special emphasis must be given to decreasing
child
poverty, the vulnerability of people with disabilities, of the permanently
unemployed, of single parents and of the elderly citizens
and to the improvement
of the situation of the Roma population. Through the improved coordination of
the existing State support
schemes the efficiency of combating all forms of
exclusion can be increased, the development of the most backward regions or
settlements
can be accelerated, the complex rehabilitation of housing conditions
in housing estates, small settlements and areas mainly inhabited
by Roma people
can be accomplished and the activity networks dealing with various problems can
be improved. The improvement of the
collaboration of the State and the
selfgovernments requires the better harmonization of the responsibilities and
the resources available.
- The
Republic of Hungary respects the human and civil rights of all persons in the
country without discrimination on the basis of race,
colour, gender, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, financial
situation, birth or any other
grounds whatsoever. Equality before the law is
also assisted by measures aimed at eliminating inequalities of opportunity.
This
shows that the requirement of the elimination of inequalities of
opportunity is already present in law enforcement on the basis of
the
Constitution, and this is supplemented by a number of detailed legislation of
the legal system, i.e. by sectoral regulations. For example, there
are
antidiscrimination provisions in the Civil Code, the Labour Code, as well as in
the legislation on education, people with disabilities
and other laws on special
areas of law. In addition to all these, however, the Hungarian
antidiscrimination laws need to be developed
because the laws on the
implementation of substantive law are insufficient and the country has to meet
the requirements of the approximation
of the laws necessitated by
Hungary’s accession to the European Union as well. A Lawyers’
Network for AntiDiscrimination
was set up under the auspices of the Ministry of
Justice, which provides free legal counsel for the public. A national crime
prevention
strategy was elaborated in March 2003, which offers new approaches to
decreasing child and juvenile delinquency; to improving security
in cities; to
the prevention of violence in families, of repeated crime and repeated
victimization; and to the elaboration of means
to assist victims.
- The
preparations for the elaboration of regulations compatible with the EU
requirements have already begun. The concept of a general
antidiscrimination
act has been worked out and its assessment by the State administration and by
the public forums has ended. In
line with the EU directives and international
standards, the concept provides for the definition of direct and indirect
discrimination,
the sanctions, as well as for the settingup of an
antidiscrimination body. The Government sponsors various media campaigns
against
prejudice and xenophobia so that there should be a tolerant and
inclusive approach towards the most excluded groups of the society.
- There
is a variety of means to preserve and maintain the integration role of the
family: ensuring financial stability and better
living conditions by way of
various support and tax schemes; various information, counselling and support
services to prevent the
breakup of families or to provide assistance if there is
a divorce; the promotion of the harmonization of work and family life; home
help
for those in need and supporting disadvantaged families. Basic forms of social
and child welfare maintenance as well as health
care and mental hygiene services
contribute to all these forms of assistance. Our family assistance system is
internationally recognized
as being of a high level and progressive. Support
provisions in case of birth of a
- child
are provided for a shorter period and are of less value in most countries of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation for Development
(OECD) than in Hungary. A
positive aspect of the provision of schooling support is that eligibility is
very wide.
- In
Hungary, the Roma population enjoys cultural autonomy and has its minority
selfgovernment system unknown in the EU as well as a
widespread network of NGOs
and foundations. The network of Roma legal protection offices promoting the
protection of the rights
of the Roma population covers the whole country. In
1996 the Government set up the Public Foundation for the Roma Population in
Hungary with the task of supporting Roma integration projects. Mediumterm
action plans were adopted, first in 1997 and then in 1999,
to ease social
inequalities and to prevent or reduce prejudice and discrimination. In 2002,
the Office of Roma Affairs was set up
in the Prime Minister’s Office and
its activity is directed by the Minister for Equal Opportunities. Under the
chairmanship
of the Prime Minister the Council of Roma Affairs was set up to
function as the Government’s advisory body. There is a ministerial
commissioner or desk officer for Roma affairs in each ministry to assist the
processes facilitating social integration and equal
opportunities. Each
government portfolio is represented by its deputy State secretary in the
Interdepartmental Roma Committee, whose
task is to assist cooperation within the
Government.
- Despite
these steps there have been no considerable changes in the living conditions of
the Roma population. Poverty and unemployment
continue to be high among the
Roma. The Government’s goals for 20032006 concerning the promotion of
equal opportunities for
the Roma are as follows: the strengthening of equality
before the law, the improvement of the quality of life and physical and mental
conditions, lifelong learning, incentives for the improvement of knowledge,
ensuring better housing conditions, the elimination of
environmental hazards,
the development of marketable employment conditions in addition to the provision
of temporary employment,
the dissemination and nurturing of cultural values, the
promotion of cultural activities, the development of Roma identity as well
as
the promotion of a social dialogue aimed at the acceptance of values free from
prejudice and violence. The monitoring and the
followup of implementation are
also important.
- In
Hungary there is a minor in one third of the households and a dependant
requiring care in 40 per cent of the households, with family
responsibilities mainly falling on women. In the 1990s the companyrun childcare
facilities had disappeared and the capacities of
childcare facilities maintained
by the municipalities had decreased, especially in the case of crèches.
Currently, about
8 per cent of children of 03 years of age can receive
institutional day care (for nursery schoolchildren this ratio was
87.3 per
cent in 2000). In Hungary, both the entitlement to receive
benefits and the amount of most types of benefits are determined in comparison
with the lowest sum of the oldage pension. However, the increase in the
national minimum wage was not followed by increases in the
minimum oldage
provision, so the relative position of the benefits gradually worsened. In
Hungary, the system of essential and specialist
forms of social welfare services
provided for in the legislation on social protection and child welfare has for
the most part been
established. Ninety per cent of the population
live in settlements where access to basic forms of care is guaranteed. However,
considering either the number of people requiring these services or the types of
services provided, it can be stated that the system
does not wholly satisfy all
needs. In the field of basic forms of care it is a problem
- that
the large number of small settlements are not able to financially maintain these
facilities (in 2001, 30 per cent of the municipalities
operated
all forms of facilities providing essential social welfare services), so the
principle of accessibility cannot prevail in
the case of those people who live
in small settlements. Daytime or temporary care for children needs improvement.
The specialist
services, especially the various permanent or temporary boarding
facilities and homes, cannot meet the increasing and changing needs.
In the
case of boarding facilities, problems arise from inadequate equipment and
fittings whereas in the case of daytime or temporary
social welfare facilities
it is the incomplete nature of the entire system that causes the problems.
- It
is important that the social welfare services should contribute to the
preservation of family functions by strengthening family
support services, by
the creation of services facilitating the compatibility of family and work, as
well as by providing increased
support for the child’s upbringing in the
family. The integrating role of social welfare services is to be strengthened
by
the improvement of services for people with disabilities, by facilitating the
access of the Roma to social welfare services, by the
systemwide development of
caring for the homeless, by the provision of specialized support services as
well as by the launching of
model schemes to increase the integration
opportunities of those having been discharged from social welfare
institutions.
B. Health care
- The
access of socially excluded groups of the population to essential health
services is ensured, but there are still some difficulties.
This can be the
consequence of causes due to geographical location, infrastructural conditions,
low levels of education, inadequate
income conditions, disability, or
discriminatory attitudes by the careproviding system itself. The National
Programme in the Decade
of Health devotes special attention to youth matters,
the creation of equal opportunities and the creation of healthsupporting
conditions
in various fields of life.
- Achieving
the prevalence of the principle of primary prevention is an important goal.
Steps have to be taken to prevent avoidable
deaths, illnesses or disabilities.
It is an outstanding goal that the health conditions of cumulatively
disadvantaged groups of
the society the Roma, disabled people, the homeless and
children brought up by the State should be improved and that they have
the same
chance of access to health care as other groups of the society. It is our task
to supplement graduate and postgraduate
health education with training in
increasing awareness of and respect for being different and for living with
disabilities.
C. Education
- The
dropoutrate among the disadvantaged Roma schoolchildren of schoolage is high.
One way of returning them to the education system
is to provide them with a
levelling system of education that helps them to catch up. The main goal is
that disadvantaged/cumulatively
disadvantaged schoolchildren who until
schoolleaving age have not successfully completed their primary education should
be given
special education helping them to catch up so that they can enter into
vocational training and eventually access the labour market.
The aim of the
- introduction
of the integrationassisting normative support is to facilitate the social
integration of Roma children. With regard
to Roma schoolchildren, special
educational programmes have been introduced to provide them with equal
opportunities in education.
It is a remarkable achievement of the education
policy of the past years that a system of grants provided by public foundations
has been created, mainly with State support, to help Roma youths to participate
in secondary and higher education in the framework
of which their education in
boarding facilities can also be financed. By assuming the costs of education
the Government helps Roma
youths to engage in higher education. In the case of
young people with disabilities, legal provisions providing for positive
discrimination
support the successful completion of their education. These
include solutions that already help them in compulsory public education,
e.g.
the use of sign language interpreters or the acceptance of an oral examination
instead of a written one.
- It
is our task to assist the access of the children of disadvantaged families to
placement in nursery schools, and in respect of the
conditions of going to
school. In future, the possibilities of receiving grants should be enhanced and
better targeted. Young people
dropping out of the education system before they
comply with their obligation of schooling should be brought back to school. The
quality of compulsory public education, higher education and vocational training
systems has to be improved through the introduction
of unified measuring and
evaluation systems. Equal opportunities for schoolchildren with disabilities
should be created by involving
them in integrated education and vocational
training, which will facilitate their social integration and entry into the
labour market.
II. INFORMATION ON THE SPECIFIC PARAGRAPHS
OF THE REPORTING
GUIDELINES[*]
A. General measures of implementation
Paragraph 12
- In
the course of ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child all
organs of the Government examined ex officio whether
there were any instances of
incompatibility with Hungarian legislation. Currently, the Hungarian laws
include no provisions that
are contrary to the provisions of the
Convention.
Paragraph 13
- With
regard to lawmaking in the period concerned, the adoption of Act XXXI of 1997 on
the Protection of the Child and on the Management
of Public Guardianship (Child
Protection Act Gyvt.) is of outstanding importance, meaning the
fullfledged incorporation of the Convention
into the laws of Hungary. In
conformity with the Constitution, the Convention, as well as the provisions of
the Act on Family Law, the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) provides for the
enforcement
of the rights of the child as well as the rights and obligations of
the parent. The Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) determines the
children’s
fundamental rights and the guarantees of
- their
enforcement; certain forms of basic or specialized care and maintenance provided
in money or in kind to protect the child; the
conditions of entitlement; the
principles of financing and its institutional background; certain forms and
rules of child protection
and the organizational structure of public
guardianship. It is the fundamental principle of the Child Protection Act
(Gyvt.) that
the child’s parents have the fundamental responsibility for
the upbringing and development of the child and that the State
and the
municipalities have to render appropriate assistance to them in performing their
responsibilities. Any interference in the
life of the family by the authorities
is only admissible if it is unavoidable in the true interest of the child.
Children removed
from their family environment have in the first place to be
placed with adoptive parents, foster parents or, if these are not possible,
in
children’s homes. As for the whole of the law, the definition of
childcare and support, child welfare, children’s
rights, vulnerability and
relatives of the child is of utmost importance. The care and maintenance of the
child is provided within
a unified system of care and maintenance, which
includes various forms provided either voluntarily or as a result of measures
ordered
to be taken by the authorities.
- The
experiences of the past years have proven that the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.)
successfully ensures the effectuation of the rights
of the child and assists the
creation of a transparent and controllable child protection system. However, to
increase the efficiency
of the system it became necessary to modify some of the
provisions of the Act. Act IX of 2002 on the Amendment of the Child Protection
Act (Gyvt.) puts an even greater emphasis on the better regulation of the rights
of the child, the improvement of preventive actions
and services, the
strengthening of the network of foster parents and the conditions of the care
for expectant and battered mothers.
The setting up of expert committees of
child protection will provide guarantees that the forms of care and support
foster parent,
children’s home, special children’s home will truly
be determined to meet the needs of the child. The Act gives greater
emphasis to
adoption, the conditions of which will be finetuned so that suitability can be
judged more realistically. In the sphere
of basic child welfare services it
will be of great importance that the activity of crèches, the provisional
homes of children
and families as well as the operation of child welfare centres
will be defined taking into consideration the number of the population
of the
settlements concerned.
- In
addition to the above, the harmonization of child support legislation with the
relevant EU legislation was started in recent years.
In order to coordinate the
aims and activities, the National Family Policy Concept was drawn up in 2000,
the fundamental elements
of which are the strengthening of family life, the
improvement of the conditions of having children and the halting of the decline
of the population of the country. This programme is in line with the principles
of the Convention and the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.),
i.e. families need
to be supported in their tasks related to the child’s upbringing so it
sets out to reinforce the institution
of the family in the first place. To
accomplish the programme’s goals, it makes use of the various forms of
family policy:
social welfare policy, employment policy, health policy, housing
policy, women policy and other means.
- In
the recent period, the adoption by Parliament of Act XXVII of 2001 on the
promulgation in Hungary of Convention No. 182 Concerning
the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour
adopted at the eightyseventh session
in 1999 of the International Labour
Organization was an outstanding piece of legislation. In Hungary, the
Convention entered into
force on 2 April
2001.
Paragraph 14
- The
Republic of Hungary is an independent democratic State where the rule of law
prevails. As regards the realization of the principles
set forth in the
Convention, the legal framework is provided by the Constitution. Under article
15 of the Constitution the Republic of Hungary protects the
institutions of marriage and the family and parents are entitled to choose the
type of education
they want to give to their children. The Constitution states
that the Republic of Hungary makes special efforts to ensure secure standards of
living, instruction and education for the
young and protects the interests of
the young. In the Republic of Hungary every child is entitled to receive the
extent of care
and support from their parents, the State and the society that is
necessary for the evolving of their physical, intellectual and
moral capacities.
Furthermore, the Constitution prohibits any form of discrimination,
i.e. discrimination on the basis of age as well.
- The
Convention serves as a reference at all levels of lawmaking and law enforcement
against any provisions or regulations violating
or suppressing the rights of the
child. In the event of legal dispute the Hungarian courts regularly apply the
provisions of the
Convention, often as directly applicable source of law or as
governing source of interpretation.
- The
Convention, promulgated by Act LXIV of 1991, has become part of Hungarian law.
This means that the lawmaker is obliged to adopt
laws that are in full
conformity with the provisions of the Convention, and to review all domestic
legislation to see if it is in
compliance with the Convention. In making their
decisions lawmakers have to consider the provisions of the Convention and in
cases
of legal dispute reference can be made to the provisions of the
Convention. All requirements invoked by the Convention have to be
applied in
all branches of law and in all fields of the society.
- Article
7 of the Constitution provides that the legal system of the Republic of Hungary
accepts the generally recognized principles of international law and ensures
harmony between domestic law and the obligations assumed under international
law.
- Pursuant
to the Act on the Constitution Court, it falls into the competence of the
Constitution Court to examine whether legislation or other means of State
authority are in full conformity with international agreements. Once
the
Constitution Court finds that a promulgating legislation or a lowerlevel legal
instrument of State control is in conflict with an international
agreement, it
will annul it in part or in full. If the Constitution Court states that a
legislative body has failed to perform its duties deriving from an international
agreement, it will call upon
that body, setting a deadline, to duly perform its
legislative duties within the time limit set.
- Act
LXXXIV of 1998 on the Support Provided for Families introduced and systemized
the form of educational care and support (maternity
support, childcaresickness
benefit, childcare aid, childcare support, childraising support, family
allowance). This meant the beginning
of the elaboration of a support system
based on principles that differed from those of previous years. Under this
principle entitlement
to support no longer depends on the family’s income
as it is a civic right, which means that each child is equally important
for the
society. This law meant the elaboration of the first pillar of a wider, more
unified and more efficient system of
support.
- The
second pillar of the support for families with children is the system of income
tax allowances, the restoration of which took
place from 1999. The third pillar
of family support is the regular child welfare support set forth in the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.).
Paragraph 15
- As
was mentioned earlier, the Hungarian courts regularly apply the Convention, both
as a source of law and as a guide for the interpretation
of the law. This is
proven by the publication of court rulings referring to the Convention adopted
in the period covered and published
in the official journal of the Supreme Court
entitled Court Decisions. (Among others, see BH 1997.12, BH 1997.231, BH
1998.154, BH 2000.451, BH 2001.230, BH 2002.401.)
Paragraph 16
- Entitlement
to legal remedy is set forth by the Constitution as a basic principle: in the
Republic of Hungary everyone may seek legal remedy, in accordance with the
provisions of the law, to
judicial, administrative or other official decisions
that infringe on his/her rights or justified interests.
- Under
the provisions of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) the child has the right to
lodge a complaint before forums determined by
the Act in matters that concern
him/her, or to resort to courts or other institutions specified in the Act to
initiate proceedings
in the event of the infringement of his/her rights.
- In
the event of the infringement of rights recognized in the Convention, there is a
wide range of guarantees to ensure the possibilities
of seeking legal remedies
(e.g. complaint, appeal, compensation, initiation of disciplinary or penal
proceedings; resorting to the
prosecutor, the courts, the parliamentary
commissioner for citizen’s rights, international human rights
forums).
- Under
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) the protection of children’s rights is
the responsibility of all natural and legal persons
who deal with the education,
instruction, care/maintenance and the affairs of the child.
- The
protection of the constitutional rights of the child is assisted, among others,
by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights.
The Parliamentary
Commissioner and his deputy investigate the abuses infringing the constitutional
rights of the child, initiate
measures, and, on the basis of Act LIX of 1993,
report annually to Parliament on their findings, on their general assessment of
the
realization of constitutional rights as well as on their recommendations,
how they were received and what results they brought about.
The Parliamentary
Commissioner and his deputy have made several recommendations in the field of
child protection and public guardianship,
most of which have been incorporated
in the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) and its amendments.
- All
child welfare and child protection institutions have to set up a special
interest forum to protect the interest of those receiving
support. These forums
may express their opinion on matters concerning children. The parent of the
child as well as the children’s
selfgovernment may make complaints to the
various institutions to remedy the complaints about the forms of
- care
or in the event of the abuse of children’s rights. If within a specified
time limit the forum does not notify the complainant
of the result of the
investigation, the child’s parent or the children’s selfgovernment
may turn to the countylevel public
guardianship authority.
- The
Act on the Amendment of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) introduced new legal
institutions to serve the protection of children’s
rights: the
representative of children’s rights (child protection) and, pursuant to
the Act on Social Administration, the
representative of the sick and those
receiving benefits. The representative of children’s rights (child
protection) performs
the task of protecting the rights of children receiving
child protection care as set forth in the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) and
helps
children to be informed about their rights and to enforce them. Those
performing child welfare and child protection activities
have to ensure that the
child and his/her relatives can get to know the person of the representative of
children’s rights and
that they are informed about how they may get into
contact with him.
- The
representative of children’s rights is expected to start work in 2004 in
the Ministry of the Child, Youth and Sport. The
representative will first of
all try to remedy problems incurred with regard to children’s rights by
way of mediation and in
the case of failure he will use the measure of making
recommendations.
- The
Office of the Ministerial Commissioner Responsible for the Rights of the Child
will commence its operation within the Ministry
of the Child, Youth and Sport in
2004. The Office of the Ministerial Commissioner will be assisted by regional
representatives.
- As
a general rule, the provisions of the Act on Public Administration Procedure
have to be applied in respect of child protection
proceedings, which provides
for the possibility of appeal or court review of the decision made by a public
administration body.
- Government
Decree No. 149/1997 on child protection and public guardianship procedure
ensures that if the child is for some reason
hindered in handling his/her own
affairs, a guardian, an ad hoc guardian, a guardian ad litem or a provisional
guardian may be appointed.
The guardianship authority will provide for a
provisional guardian if there is a conflict of interest between the incapable or
partially
incapable person and his/her legal representative.
- Order
No. 11/1987 of the General Prosecutor contains measures on the performance of
child and youth protection tasks by the prosecutors.
Under his competence of
legal supervision the prosecutor for juvenile affairs examines the realization
of children’s rights
set forth in the laws of the Republic of Hungary in
public administration proceedings, in the activities of educational and training
institutions as well as in those of child and youth protection institutions. In
the event of finding any indication of vulnerability,
the task of the
prosecutors is to take measures within their sphere of competence in order to
put an end to the conditions infringing
children’s rights. Such tasks
include: monitoring the activities of State administrative (guardianship)
organs, taking action
against decisions infringing the law (protesting or
complaining) or proposing the child’s placement in an orphanage if
immediate
help is required. It is also their task to monitor the operation of
the probation officers’ system from the point of view
of
legality.
Paragraphs 17 and 18
- Parliament
adopted Act IX of 2002 on the Amendment of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.),
thereby ensuring complete harmony with the
provisions of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. The amended law entered into force on 1 January 2003,
while certain provisions
are to take effect by 1 January 2006. This report
already makes reference to the new legal institutions.
- In
meeting its obligation set forth in Parliamentary Decision No. 106/1995, the
Government annually prepares a report on the general
situation of children and
young people, their living conditions and the relevant measures taken by the
Government in these fields.
In preparing this report the Government always
takes into consideration the provisions of the Convention. The aim of the
report
is to provide a general picture of the situation of children and young
people and give an account of the most important government
measures taken in
various fields that concern the situation of the young. The preparation of the
analyses of specific areas was
facilitated by a largescale survey in 2002 under
the title “Youth 2000”. The report on the findings of the survey
was
compiled by the Ministry of the Child, Youth and Sport in cooperation with
the National Institute for Youth Research based on the
documents provided by the
ministries.
- The
Amendment of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) provides for the creation of the
post of a representative of children’s rights
(child protection). The
representative of children’s rights performs the task of the protection of
the rights of children
receiving child protection care as set forth in the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.) and helps children to be informed about their rights
and
to enforce them. He is entitled to request information from institutions
performing child welfare and child protection activities,
he may carry out
onthespot inspections and monitor child protection activities in educational
establishments and facilitate the realization
of children’s rights in this
field as well. Therefore, he may, in justified cases, initiate proceedings with
the authority
maintaining the institution or with the guardianship
authority.
- Upon
complaint about the possible occurrence of discrimination or incorrect education
organization practices in the field of public
education, the Ministerial
Commissioner for Education Rights will investigate the case and submit
recommendations for remedying the
complaint. Under Education Ministry Order No.
40/1999, the actions of the education commissioner may be targeted at decisions
made
or measures taken in individual cases or their omission if they violate
the constitutional or other rights of children, schoolchildren,
parents,
teachers, students, researchers or lecturers, or if the grievance leads to
immediate harm.
- The
supervision of the management of guardianship is performed by the Minister for
Health, Social Welfare and Family Affairs. To
perform the tasks related to
professional methodology, training and inservice training, the Child Protection
Act (Gyvt.) created
the National Family and Social Welfare Policy Institute.
The functions of the Family and Child Protection Council are to provide
assistance, opinions and proposals for the Minister for Health, Social Welfare
and Family Affairs. The county guardianship authority
is responsible for the
professional direction and supervision of the activity of the notary of the
local municipality and
- of
the city guardianship authority within his territorial competence, and exercises
secondinstance scope of authority in child protection
or guardianship cases in
respect of the local notary and the guardianship authority. Upon the advice of
the National Family and
Social Welfare Policy Institute and of the experts on
the Official Experts’ List, the county guardianship authority makes a
selection of child protectionproviding institutions which perform the tasks of
providing professional methodological guidance. It
supervises child welfare and
child protection services provided by the State and nonState sectors. It
appoints the members of the
child protectionexpert committees in the county and
in the towns. The framework for data collection with regard to child protection
services and the management of guardianship has taken shape. In addition, in
exercising their State administration tasks, the county
guardianship authorities
perform an inspection at least once every four years of the legality of the
activities of the guardianship
and child protection authorities as well as on
the realization of the rights of the child in the area of their competence. The
supervisory
activity of the county guardianship authority is exercised according
to an annual supervision programme, which specifies the authorities
affected and
the topics to be dealt with as part of the supervision. Due to the amendment of
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), there
was an expansion of the scope of
authority of the county guardianship authorities because with the licensing
obligation of all child
welfare and child protection activities, professional
supervision is obligatory for the activities of all participants in the child
protection system.
Paragraph 19
- There
are a number of nongovernmental organizations involved in child welfare
activities, such as the associations or foundations
supporting people discharged
from State care institutions and those providing specialist care and
maintenance, or children’s
interest groups or professional associations
involved in education, training and publishing, as well as various religious
organizations.
Their work on behalf of children is supported by various
ministries through their contribution to the costs of training, children’s
programmes and publications.
- In
1997, the Family and Child Protection College of Experts was set up with the
task of providing expert advice and opinions in matters
related to family and
child protection. The College has 17 members and they include the National
Association of District Nurses,
the Association of Large Families, the Hungarian
Maltese Charity, the Hungarian Guardianship Society and the Awakening
Foundation.
With the amended Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), the College’s
name was changed to the Family and Child Protection Council.
Paragraph 20
- Under
Act CXXXIII of 2000 on the National Budget of the Republic of Hungary for the
years 20012002, the forms of support for children
were as described in the
following table showing the normative share of contributions by the State and
the normative share of income
taxes allocated by the State to
selfgovernments:
No.
|
Title
|
Appropriations for 2001 (million HUF)
|
Appropriations for 2002 (million HUF)
|
1.
|
Primary social welfare and child welfare tasks: (a) primary
contribution (b) supplementary contributions (c) operation of family
assistance and/or child welfare services
|
15 419.5 (HUF 1 100 per capita) (HUF 380 per capita)
|
16 389.3 (HUF 1 160 per capita) (HUF 410 per capita)
|
2.
|
Child protection specialist care: (a) provision of home
(b) care
at children’s home (c) followup care (d) operation of regional child
protection specialist services
|
13 164.7 (HUF 576 100 per capita) (HUF 664 800/recipient) (HUF
576 100/recipient) (HUF 49 700 per capita)
|
14 628.9 (HUF 640 590 per capita) (HUF 714 400/recipient) (HUF
640 590/recipient) (HUF 62 200 per capita)
|
3.
|
Crèche care
|
3 059.9 (HUF 177 600/recipient)
|
3 602.0 (HUF 208 800/recipient)
|
4.
|
Social welfare institution methodology tasks: (a) family support
methodology tasks (b) boarding facility methodology
tasks (c) child welfare methodology tasks
|
264.2
|
285.7
|
5.
|
Nursery school education
|
38 675.8
|
42 954.5
|
6.
|
Education in schools: (a) primary education
(b) vocational
education, trade school education, remedial education (c)
secondary education
(d) vocational training
|
105 605.0 (HUF 120 300 per capita) (HUF 120 300 per
capita)
54 153.9 (HUF 143 700 per capita) 4 653.5 (HUF 66 000
per capita)
|
119 066.6 (HUF 135 300 per capita) (HUF 135 300 per
capita)
61 701.4 (HUF 161 200 per capita) 6 049.2 (HUF 74
000 per capita)
|
7.
|
Special care provided in the form of: (a) special educational care of
disabled children (b) early development and care
(c)
development training
|
13 111.5 (HUF 250 000 per capita) 278.9 (HUF 127 000 per
capita) 521.7 (HUF 174 300 per capita)
|
15 983.5 (HUF 300 300 per capita) 372.3 (HUF 163 300 per
capita) 678.0 (HUF 218 000 per capita)
|
8.
|
Basic art education music
Fine arts, applied arts, dance,
acting, puppeteering
|
5 437.9 (HUF 65 000 per capita) 1 865.5 (HUF 48 500 per
capita)
|
5 895.8 (HUF 69 000 per capita) 2 047.2 (HUF 50 000 per
capita)
|
9.
|
Public education in boarding schools Care/support at school
dormitories Dormitory care/support of schoolchildren with
disabilities
|
13 263.4 (HUF 215 000 per capita)
2 851.3 (HUF 430 000 per
capita)
|
14 932.8 (HUF 237 300 per capita)
3 220.2 (HUF 474 600 per
capita)
|
10.
|
Supplementary contribution to other public education tasks: (a)
development and remedial instruction (b) primary school daycare
education to facilitate the learning process of disadvantaged
children (c) education in nonHungarian languages, education of the
Roma minority (d) institutional provision of meals in
nursery schools, dormitories and schools (e) care/support of
commuting schoolchildren (f) support for children
attending nursery schools and primary schools maintained by
the association of several institutions (g) support for
smallsize settlements
|
603.5 (HUF 27 500 per capita) 6 096.8 (HUF 15 000 per
capita)
4 737.8 (HUF 29 000 per capita)
18 995.4 (HUF 21
800 per capita)
1 322.8 (HUF 14 000 per capita) 2 276.9 (HUF 20
000 per capita)
10 053.8 (HUF 12 000 per capita)
|
752.4 (32 000 per capita) 6 984.3 (HUF 17 000 per
capita)
5 604.7 (HUF 33 000 per capita)
20 924.2 (HUF 24
000 per capita)
1 289.5 (HUF 14 000 per capita) 2 295.0 (HUF 20
000 per capita)
10 053.8 (HUF 12 000 per capita)
|
11.
|
Contribution to sports activities at settlements
|
1 032.9 (HUF 100 per capita)
|
1 032.9 (HUF 100 per capita)
|
12.
|
Care/maintenance of psychiatric and addiction patients provided at boarding
facilities (Note: both children and adults are included because there are no
separate data)
|
11 656.6 (HUF 537 900 per capita)
|
13 147.6 (HUF 606 380 per capita)
|
- The
following table shows central budgetary appropriations available for the
municipalities:
No.
|
Title
|
Appropriations for 2001 (million HUF)
|
Appropriations for 2002 (million HUF)
|
1.
|
Tasks related to the child and youth
|
160
|
5 170
|
2.
|
Supplementary support for the maintenance of the nursery schools and
schools of ethnic minorities
|
320
|
340
|
- The
following table shows the predetermined normative share forms of
support:
No.
|
Title
|
Appropriations for 2001 (million HUF)
|
Appropriations for 2002 (million HUF)
|
1.
|
School textbooks purchased by schoolchildren
|
3 324.8 (HUF 2 390 per capita)
|
3 344.6 (HUF 2 390 per capita)
|
2.
|
Supplementary support for the “János Arany Talent Nurturing
Programme”
|
348.8 (HUF 200 000 per capita)
|
780.8 (HUF 225 000 per capita)
|
3.
|
Support for tasks related to schoolchildren’s sports activities
|
1 639.4 (HUF 1 200 per capita)
|
1 667.2 (HUF 1 200 per capita)
|
Paragraph 21
- The
Republic of Hungary is continuously ratifying conventions fostering the
improvement of the situation of the child. Hungary is
a State party to the
major relevant cooperation schemes and programmes. As regards the enforcement
of the rights of the child, special
attention is paid, inter alia, to the
project “Programme on Education for Democratic Citizenship”, the
purpose of which
is to educate active citizens and support education on the
protection of democratic values. The first phase of the project (19972000)
involved mainly theoretical research, drafting the concept of democratic
citizenship, evaluating experiences and innovative approaches,
and
preparing the directives to integrate the education on
democratic citizenship into public education. Phase 2 of the project
is
aimed at implementing the results of phase 1 in practice and in the educational
policies of the member States. Every year 3040
Hungarian teachers participate
in the Council of Europe’s inservice training programme for teachers.
Within this programme
an international teacher further training seminar, with
the title “Democracy at School”, was organized in the fall of
2000
with participants from Hungary, as well as teachers, school inspectors and
headmasters from 21 European countries. The participants
were
informed about the legislation governing school life and the implementation of
the laws in practice.
- Hungary
is participating in the work of the Council of Europe’s European Centre
for Modern Languages. The Centre’s responsibility
is to disseminate the
Council’s language policy, modernize teacher training and inservice
training, and manage the research
in language teaching.
Paragraph 22
- Nongovernmental
organizations and government institutions prepared information material for
children on the Convention, the rights
of the child, and the means and
opportunities of implementing such rights. Compulsory inservice training for
social and child welfare
staff was introduced in 2000 pursuant to Decree No.
9/2000 of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. It is the responsibility
of the National Committee for InService Training and Specialists Exams in the
Field of Social and Child Welfare to accredit inservice
training courses,
determine their credit value and specify the amount of funding. The standards
of specialists’ exams were
published; child welfare workers may now take
specialists exams in the following subjects: family welfare, family assistance,
basic
childcare and specialized childcare. Inservice training courses are
launched during the inservice training period of seven years.
A standardized
national education plan for foster parents was prepared with regular further
training programmes in addition to a
oneoff preparation course. A preparation
course of 60 classes, called the “FIKSZ” programme for normal foster
parents,
and a course of 300 classes qualifying professional foster parents were
designed and registered in the National Training List.
- Among
the rights of the student the Public Education Act states: “It is the
student’s right in particular to obtain information necessary to exercise
his/her rights and be informed
on the procedures to enforce such rights.”
In the framework curricula of schools within the subjects of history and
citizenship
studies, “the rights of the child” were included as a
compulsory element.
- The
general principles and provisions of the Convention have been incorporated into
the administrative (legislative) regulations governing
education.
- Unfortunately,
we have to note in general that children’s rights issues are not tackled
with the appropriate emphasis in the
above inservice training programmes. The
accreditation of seminars and training courses aimed at making the Convention
and children’s
rights widely known would be essential. An obstacle to
this is that although formal training courses already exist, the change in
mentality has not fully taken place yet. Making the publications widely
available for children and making them known is a task of
special
importance.
Paragraph 23
- The
Convention has been translated into the languages of every minority living in
the territory of Hungary. Every competent ministry
was requested to participate
in the compilation of the report and also nongovernmental organizations have
prepared their views, which
are attached.[*] The
Ministry of the Child, Youths and Sport organized consultations on the draft
report. On these occasions the authors of the
previous report and the members
of the former delegation were interviewed. Government agencies and
nongovernmental organizations
were informed on the issues covered during the
consultations. The report and the remarks of the Committee will be published
and
sent to the staff of institutions concerned with the education of children.
In addition, we plan to launch a nationwide awareness
campaign for children
about their rights.
B. Definition of the child
Paragraph 24
- Pursuant
to Hungarian legislation persons under the age of 18 are minors, unless they
are married. A child under the age of 14 has
no legal capacity, while a
child of 14 has limited capacity.
- Compulsory
schooling commences in the year in which the child reaches the age of 6,
provided that he/she is mature enough to attend
school. Compulsory schooling
ends in the year in which the student is 18 years old. Compulsory education
until the age of 18 applies
to students who started the first grade of primary
school on 1 September 1998. For pupils who had started school earlier,
compulsory
education lasts until the age of 16. Compulsory education of
children with physical, sensory or mental disabilities or impaired
speech may be
extended by two years.
- Pursuant
to the provision of the Labour Code, persons having attained the age of 16 may
be employed in regular employment. Pupils
attending the regular day session of
primary schools, vocational schools or secondary schools may be employed in
regular jobs during
the holidays provided they are 15 years old.
- In
accordance with the Family Welfare Act, only males and females of (legal) age
may marry. Minors may marry only with the preliminary
approval of the
guardianship authorities. The guardianship authorities shall grant the approval
only in wellfounded cases and only
if the intending spouses are at least 16
years old.
- Pursuant
to the provisions of the Penal Code (Btk.) the main rule is that sexual
relations based on the free consent of persons having
attained the age of 14 are
not punishable.
- An
official ruling suspending, or in a serious case terminating upon court ruling
the parent’s right of supervision shall
be adopted after hearing the child
and upon his/her consent provided he or she has reached the age of 14.
- The
National Defence Act provides that conscription into the armed forces commences
at the age of 17.
- Under
the Criminal Code (Btk.) childhood excludes punishability, i.e. persons who
are under 14 when committing a crime are not punishable.
Hungarian law does not
apply capital punishment and there is no possibility to sentence juvenile
delinquents to life imprisonment.
- The
Criminal Procedures Act (Be.) provides that minors may be heard as witnesses
only if it is most probable that their testimony
contains evidence that cannot
be obtained otherwise. According to the special provisions of Criminal
Procedures Act (Be.), if the
afflicted party to a criminal proceeding or the
person to be heard as a witness is under the age of 14, it is the duty of the
chairman
of the judicial board to ensure that he/she stays in the courtroom only
as long as is absolutely necessary to exercise his/her rights
of
procedure.
- Based
on the above, children are entitled to launch complaints and initiate judicial
proceedings on issues related to them.
- The
legal guarantee for children under guardianship to express their opinion freely
is under section 105 of the Family Act (Csjt.),
which states that the
guardianship authorities, before making decisions shall, in important
matters related to the minor, hear any
child over the age of 12.
- In
an adoption procedure the guardianship authorities shall hear the child to be
adopted if he/she is 14 years of age, and the child
under 14 if he/she has the
capacity of judgement.
- Guaranteeing
the fundamental right of the child to be acquainted with the conditions of
his/her birth, his/her biological family,
as well as the right to maintain
contacts with the family, the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) provides that any
adopted child having
reached the age of 14 may, without the consent of his/her
legal guardian, lodge a claim in person to obtain information on his/her
biological parents.
- The
rules pertaining to inheritance are defined in the Civil Code (Ptk.). By and
through intestate succession the legal heirs are,
first of all, the children of
the testator; if there is more than one child, they shall inherit in equal
shares. Should the parent,
within his/her legal capacity, being the legal
representative of the child, in respect of a right or obligation to which the
child
is entitled by virtue of inheritance, or in respect of a waiver of any
inheritance due to the child, make any statement on behalf
of the child, such
statement shall be valid only upon the approval of the guardianship authorities.
- Under
Hungarian law the right of association is a fundamental right to which everyone
is entitled, and the law does not specify any
age limit to this right. However,
we have to note that although the law provides for the right of association, we
have no exact
information on whether it is really exercised. In our opinion, a
survey and evaluation of the results should be conducted on how
far the right of
complaint ensured to children is exercised.
- Act
XLII of 1999 on the Protection of NonSmokers and Particular Rules of Consumption
and Distribution of Tobacco Products prohibits
persons under the age of 18 to
smoke in public institutions, at events organized in closed areas and means of
public transport, even
in areas marked for smoking.
- Government
Decree No. 4/1997 on the Operation of Shops and the Conditions of Pursuing
Domestic Trade Activities prohibits selling
or lending sexual goods to persons
under 18 years. The Decree prohibits the serving and/or sale of
alcoholic drinks to persons under
18 in hospitality establishments and
retail shops. Government Decree No. 218/1999 on Particular Law Infringements
states that persons
serving alcoholic drinks to persons under 18 in hospitality
establishments may be fined up to HUF 50,000. According to the Decree
on the
Operation of Shops, persons having attained the age of 18 may participate in
card games or use gambling machines, persons
having attained the age of 16 may
use gaming machines, and persons having attained 14 years may participate in
other entertainment
games.
C. General principles
1. Nondiscrimination (art.
2)
Paragraph 25
- The
Constitution states that the Republic of Hungary shall respect the human rights
and civil rights of all persons in the country without discrimination
on the
basis of race, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, financial situation,
birth or on any other grounds.
The Republic of Hungary shall endeavour to implement equal rights for everyone
through measures that
create fair opportunities for all.
- Protecting
the child’s interests, the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) prohibits any
negative discrimination on the basis of gender,
affiliation with a nation,
ethnic group, religious, political or other conviction, origin, property,
incompetence or diminished legal
capacity, or the placement in childcare
institutions.
- Act
LXXIX of 1993 on Public Education prohibits any negative discrimination for any
reason, in particular on the basis of the child’s
or his/her
relative’s colour, gender, religion, affiliation with a nation or ethnic
group, political or other opinion, national,
ethnic or social origin, property
and financial situation, age, incompetence or diminished legal capacity, birth
or other status,
or on the basis of the maintainer of the educational
institution. Those who infringe these provisions commit an offence and in a
less serious case can be fined HUF 100,000 in a misdemeanour procedure.
Pursuant to the Act, nonHungarian citizens applying for
refugee status/asylum,
refugees, persons authorized to stay, immigrants, resident persons, persons with
humanitarian permission to
stay, unaccompanied minors, or children and their
parents who are permitted to stay shall be subject to compulsory schooling, and
are, just as Hungarian citizens, entitled to all services provided in the Public
Education Act. The amendments to the Public Education Act submitted by the
Government to the Parliament contain further specifications and stricter rules
against negative discrimination in
education.
- In
accordance with Act LXXVII of 1993 on Minority Rights, the Public Education Act
ensures equal rights in the field of education for all minorities living in
Hungary. The Act stipulates that students belonging
to any minority shall have
the right to learn, foster, contribute to or pass on their native language,
history, culture and traditions,
participate in education and foster their
culture in their native language.
- It
is a cause for concern that in the last decades, according to statistics, the
proportion of Roma children in special schools rose
to an extent that is far
beyond their proportion in the whole education system. Based on the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Minority
Rights report on a survey conducted in
this field, there is cause for concern because some schools being asked about
the reasons
of vulnerability indicated simply “Gypsy
origin”:
“The system of education in auxiliary schools
for special needs is nothing else but a kind of impasse. Sadly enough, a rather
high number of Roma youth are confined to it. In other words, the system of
auxiliary schools for special needs is a particular
form of discrimination
against Gypsy youth by which, in this case, we mean beyond doubt, segregation,
artificial exclusion, separation.
... The evaluation of the applications also
shows that among the data related to the vulnerability of children, ‘Gypsy
origin’
appears in the middle of the list set up on the basis of the
frequency of occurrences. It is obvious that the group of vulnerable
children
includes children of Gypsy origin as well, but to our mind, the view of some
teachers, namely that Gypsy origin alone is
an endangering factor, cannot be
accepted” (Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for National and
Ethnic Minority Rights
2000).
- The
number of Roma children receiving services provided to individuals with special
needs is in fact increasing: according to data,
while in the school year
1974/75 roughly every fourth pupil in special needs schools was a Roma child,
this rate has continuously
increased in the last decades and the latest school
statistics from 1992/93 (the last year before the Data Protection Act entered
into force prohibiting the gathering of similar statistics) show that their rate
reached 42 per cent.
- There
is reason for concern indeed because the proportion of pupils attending
special schools is very high in general compared with
other countries and
is continuously increasing. While the proportion of disabled children attending
primary schools is normally
about 2.53 per cent in Europe, this rate,
according to statistical data, was 5.3 per cent in Hungary in 2002.
While in 2000 the
total number of pupils attending primary schools for children
with slight mental disabilities had been 31,891, this number went up
to 49,931
in 2002. The increase of the per capita normative sum to be spent on the
education of the disabled and the increase in
the number of disabled children
show a similar trend in Hungary. Expert opinions differ regarding the reasons
(e.g. the modernization
of diagnostic instruments). The authority responsible
for education will initiate an evaluation of this interrelationship as well
as
the expedient utilization of such normative sums and stricter measurements.
- Pursuant
to the Health Care Act every patient, without distinction, is entitled to health
care. Rendering healthcare services without
discrimination means no negative
distinction is made among patients on the grounds of their social status,
political views, origin,
nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age,
marital status, physical or mental disabilities, qualifications, or any other
reason not relevant to their state of health.
- The
Labour Code also provides for nondiscrimination. In respect of employment, no
distinction shall be made among employees on the
grounds of their gender, age,
marital or disabled status, nationality, race, origin, religion, political
conviction, membership in
employees’ organizations, their activities in
such organizations, or for any other circumstances which are not relevant to
their employment. The Act also defines indirect negative discrimination.
- The
Act on Social Administration and Social Benefits provides for rendering social
services and prohibits negative discrimination
for any reason, in particular,
gender, religion, membership of any national or ethnic group, political or other
opinion, age, incompetence
or diminished capacity, disability, birth or other
status.
Paragraph 26
- The
nondiscrimination clause of the Constitution stipulates that any negative
discrimination against human beings shall be strictly punished.
- Both
the Constitution Court and judicial practice prohibit negative discrimination.
This is demonstrated in case No. BH2002.90, which formulates the principle
that
negative distinction based on the origin of the student is an offence to civil
rights. According to the facts of the case,
the plaintiffs were prohibited from
going to the school gym for eight years due to their occasional infection with
lice, and in spite
of the former traditions of the school the graduation
ceremony of the socalled Gypsy class was held separate from that of the
Hungarian
class. The binding ruling stated correctly that separating the
plaintiffs from the other pupils of the school was an act of negative
discrimination based on the origin and nationality of the plaintiffs and the
occasional infection of certain Roma children was no
justification. The
preparation of a bill on equal treatment aimed at more effective actions against
discrimination started at the
end of the current reporting period.
Paragraph 27
- Under
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) the local governments of every settlement are
obliged to render child welfare services. Thus,
all children and their families
in need may receive assistance and support or protection, if needed, throughout
the whole country.
Providing child welfare services means the use of the
instruments and methods of social work to promote the physical and mental
health
of children, their upbringing in a family, the prevention of vulnerability, the
termination of vulnerability if it is already
present, and returning children to
their families in case they had been removed. The Act amending the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.)
obliges bigger communities (over 40,000 inhabitants)
to implement the (socalled) “street children” programme, which
involves
social work in the streets and housing estates, in children’s
wards of hospitals (neglected, illtreated children) and at maternity
wards
(mothers in social crisis, young mothers). In the socalled child welfare
centres a standby emergency service must be organized
and also an onduty standby
for weekends should be established to facilitate contacts between children of
divorced parents and their
separated parent, and between children living with
foster parents and their biological parents.
- The
deadline set by law for establishing the child welfare centres is 1 January
2004, but calls for tenders for leisure programmes
and preventive actions or to
assist special target groups are continuously being issued jointly by the
Ministry for Health, Social
Welfare and Family Affairs and the Ministry for the
Child, Youth and Sports.
- In
respect to implementation, we regret to state that child welfare services do not
by any means cover the entire country, and the
quality of the services does not
always reflect the provisions of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.).
Implementation is hindered by
the fact that the establishment of child welfare
services is not in line with the needs, the qualification of the staff is often
inadequate, their professional skills are insufficient, and the lack of
infrastructure, especially in small communities, is of great
concern. There is
no study material available for further training, there are no professional
standards, and no code of conduct
to support the work. Quality control,
monitoring, setting up and developing an evaluation system, better functioning
of the early
warning system and particular emphasis on prevention are important
tasks to be carried out so as to avoid just
“firefighting”.
Paragraph 28
- In
1982 Hungary ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women adopted on 18 December 1979
in New York. Till now
Hungary has prepared four government reports: in 1982, 1986, 1991 and 2000.
The Hungarian National Mechanism
for Ensuring Equal Status to Women was set up
in 1995. The Government Resolution of 1997 includes the action plan and
provides for
the implementation of the tasks set forth in the Beijing
Declaration adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women. In 1999 a
government resolution was adopted on the establishment of a Council for Women to
accelerate action plans and the legislative process
ensuring equal opportunities
for women. In Hungarian legislation the general prohibition of negative
discrimination on the basis
of gender is provided by the Constitution, which
stipulates that the Republic of Hungary shall ensure the equality of men and
women in respect of all civil, political, economic,
social and cultural rights.
Further provisions related to women are set forth in the section
“Fundamental Rights and Duties”
of the Constitution. Based on the
examination of the constitutional rules, it can be stated that they are in
accordance with the spirit and the requirements
of the Convention.
- The
Hungarian public education system consists of coeducated schools,
i.e. there are no separate classes for girls or boys.
- To
protect minors, in particular girls, the amendment to the Penal Code (Btk.) of
1997 contains a new legal concept: the “wrongful
act of taking
pornographic pictures”.
- Measures
were taken to reduce smoking among women, including in the framework of the
Public Health Programme for a Healthy Nation,
the priority of which is to help
women under 18, as well as expectant and breastfeeding mothers, to stop
smoking.
Paragraph 29
- A
statistical survey is prepared annually on the professional activities,
personnel and material conditions of organizations concerned
with the welfare of
children and the number of children they care for. Negative discrimination as a
separate factor of vulnerability
is not currently being assessed. The causes of
vulnerability are recorded within the number of problems tackled. The number of
children receiving child welfare services in 2000 was 155,904, the number of
problems addressed while providing care to children
and their families was
355,541. The breakdown of the types of problems is as
follows:
Child welfare services, by type of problems tackled (year 2000)
|
No. of problems tackled
|
Financial (related to subsistence, housing, etc.)
|
102 370
|
Child upbringing
|
60 775
|
Integration difficulties
|
16 603
|
Disturbances in behaviour and performance
|
32 764
|
Family conflicts (between parents, between parents and children)
|
40 895
|
Way of life of the parents or of the family
|
51 093
|
Parental neglect
|
21 954
|
Family violence/abuse (physical, sexual)
|
4 857
|
Disability, retardation
|
8 972
|
Addictions
|
15 258
|
Total number of problems
|
355 541
|
Paragraph 30
- The
Hungarian State, just as any other State, endeavours to enable young people to
acquire qualifications that are valuable in the
labour market so that they may
become regular taxpayers instead of needing social care and welfare support.
Consequently, the most
important task is to reduce disparities and promote the
progress of Gypsy children at school. According to most surveys, due to
coordinated measures taken to that end, the rate of Gypsy students finishing
primary school exceeds 90 per cent, 85.1 per cent of
whom
attend the second level of education too. The majority of them
(56.5 per cent) go to vocational schools, and the proportion
of
students studying in secondary vocational schools providing matriculation and
professional certificates and secondary schools
(19 per cent) is also
increasing. In addition, continuous care is taken to ban any kind of negative
discrimination from the public
education system by the due enforcement of the
law. This practice is reflected in a letter written to 900 maintainers of
institutions
by the Ministry for Education in 2001 concerning the education of
the Roma minority, special needs programmes and programmes for
talented pupils,
referring to Act LXV of 1990 on Local Governments, section 97 (b),
requesting the local governments to monitor the
implementation and observance of
the provisions prescribed by law. The county administration authorities
responsible for legal supervision
were informed about this measure. The
maintainers of institutions submitted their summaries to the competent
administration authority
and the National Centre for Public Education,
Evaluation and Examination. Following the evaluation of the material we shall
have
a review of the fields showing inadequate organization of education, and
find solutions to eliminate the existing problems.
- One
of our most important duties is to create awareness of the opportunities
available to children with various disabilities. Unfortunately,
hidden
discriminatory practices still exist, e.g. often Roma children or children
with socalled different disabilities (hyperactivity,
learning disorders or
irregular behaviour) are rated “private students”, or their status
is maintained without any justification.
Paragraphs 31, 32
- The
provisions related to nondiscrimination prohibit all kinds of discrimination
based on status, activity of the parents, guardians,
family members, religion,
or ideological engagement. Under the Public Education Act the State and the
local governments shall, in meeting their tasks in education, respect the right
of parents or guardians to provide
education to the child in accordance with
their religious and ideological convictions. Parents shall exercise this right
in accordance
with the interest of the child and in a manner respecting the
right of the child to the freedoms of thought, conscience and religion.
Pursuant to the law, the child shall have the right, inter alia, to receive
religious education. The judicial practice shall consequently
bar
discrimination against parents based on their ideological views. This is
reflected in the case No. 132 BH1998, which states
that in a child custody
hearing the difference of ideological views of the parents shall be assessed
neither in favour nor against
either of the parents. This is confirmed by case
No. 479 BH2001 according to which the ideological views of the parents, the
doctrines
of their religion and their beliefs shall not be addressed in a child
custody hearing, and shall not be taken into consideration
by the court upon the
ruling in any legal dispute. Related to this matter, we refer to report No.
2471/2002 of the General Deputy
of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil
Rights. The report states that any measure taken by the school aimed at
- urging
parents to accept any political view is a definite infringement of the freedoms
of expression, opinion, conviction and thought.
The Minister of Education
committed malpractice by infringing the principle of security in law, indirectly
connected with the youth’s
right to protection, freedom of expression,
freedom of conscience and nondiscrimination by not applying the relevant legal
instruments
when, during the parliamentary election campaign, certain schools
participating in the campaign infringed the constitutional rights
and the
provisions set forth in the Public Education Act by influencing parents and
children.
- Article
1 (41) of the Public Education Act provides that nursery and boarding schools
shall be organized in accordance with the principle of freedom of conscience,
and tolerance
of individuals with different ideological opinions.
Children’s, students’, parents’ and employees’ freedom
of conscience and religion shall be respected in educational institutions.
Children, students, parents or employees shall not be
compelled to confess or
deny their ideological conviction. Children, students, parents or teachers
shall not suffer negative consequences
on the grounds of their conviction.
2. Best interests of the child (art. 3)
Paragraph 33
- The
provisions of the Constitution, Hungarian penal law, civil procedure and the
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) emphasize particularly the best interest of the
child.
The Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) states that local governments,
guardianship authorities, courts, police, the Prosecutor’s
Office, other
organizations and persons concerned with the protection of children shall, when
applying the law, take into consideration
in their procedure the best interest
of the child and ensure their rights. In carrying out their activities these
organizations
and persons shall cooperate with the family and strive for
children to be brought up in their families.
- The
Family Act includes the best interest of the child in several
provisions:
(a) In case of divorce the interest of the minor born
to the couple shall be taken into consideration;
(b) No permission for adoption shall be granted if it is against the
interests of the minor;
(c) Any adoptee may lodge a claim for information on his/her biological
parents;
(d) Parents shall exercise supervision over the child in accordance with the
interests of the child;
(e) Sisters and brothers shall have the same guardian appointed to them;
however, this rule may be disregarded if it is in the interests
of the minor.
- According
to the Government Decree on Guardianship Authorities and Child Welfare
Procedure, maintaining relations shall be regulated
by the guardianship
authorities and/or the court in the first instance by reaching a settlement in a
hearing. If no settlement can
be reached,
- the
guardianship authorities and/or the court shall rule, in accordance with the
purpose of maintaining the relationship, in the interest
of the child. Any
adoptee having reached the age of 14 may, without the consent of his/her
legal guardian, lodge a claim in person
to obtain information on his/her
biological parents.
Paragraph 34
- Directive
No. 17 of the Supreme Court, laying down the guidelines for the courts, provides
for the aspects of child custody. The
Directive emphasizes that the
child’s interest shall be a fundamental aspect. Therefore, the court
shall make decisions on
disclosing and comprehensively considering all
circumstances affecting the child’s life. Overemphasis on certain
circumstances,
irrespective of their context, paying no attention to other
relevant aspects interferes with the child’s interest in determining
custody. Safeguarding the best interest of the child involved in a procedure,
e.g. in custody proceedings, in procedures related
to the child’s status
within the family or in divorce proceedings, has been a consistent and
fundamental principle of the Hungarian
Family Welfare Act, and consequently the
courts’ practice upon judging the cases.
Paragraph 35
- Under
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) children shall be supported to be brought up in
their own families, to be protected against
any abuse or exploitation, to be
separated from their parents only if it is in the best interest of the children,
and to be prevented
from being deprived of their family merely for financial
reasons. The Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) provides for several kinds of
allowances for families with children facing financial difficulties. The
regular childcare allowance (hereinafter: regular allowance),
supplementary family allowance from 1 January 2002, shall be allocated
to families with children where the per capita income does
not reach the current
minimum amount of oldage pension. This regular allowance shall be allocated as
long as the persons entitled
to it meet the requirements provided by law. The
purpose of the regular allowance is to promote the care and education of
children
within the family and prevent the child from being removed from his/her
family. The General Assembly of the local government shall
allocate regular
allowance to the child if the family’s per capita income does not exceed
the current minimum amount of the
oldage pension and the child’s
upbringing in the family is not against his/her interest, provided that the
examination of the
assets of the family, ordered according to the regulations of
the local government, finds that the per capita value of the assets
does not
exceed, separately or jointly, the value prescribed by law.
- The
monthly average number of individuals receiving regular allowance in 1999
was 834,154. The amount paid to them was a total of
HUF 28,032,049,832. A
total of 37.9 per cent of minors received regular allowance. The
monthly average number of individuals receiving
regular allowance in 2000 was
808,135. The amount paid to them amounted to HUF 33,699,310,944. A total
of 37.4 per cent of minors
received regular childcare allowance.
The monthly average number of individuals receiving regular allowance in
2001 was 794,955.
The amount paid to them amounted to HUF 39,645,673,827. A
total of 37.1 per cent of minors received regular
allowance.
- Special
childcare allowance shall be granted to families with children having temporary
livelihood difficulties. The child shall
be granted special childcare
allowance, the amount of which is specified in the order issued by the General
Assembly of the local
government, if the family taking care of the child has
temporary livelihood problems or gets into an extraordinary situation
endangering
its survival.
- The
following persons received special childcare allowance in
1999:
Number of individuals receiving financial aid in 1999 267,783
persons
Number of individuals receiving aid in kind in 1999 129,132 persons
The average onetime financial aid paid to one person HUF 3,370
The average onetime aid in kind paid to one person HUF 2,006
- The
special childcare allowance is paid from the budget of the local governments.
Aid in kind involved generally the funding of meals
provided by schools, buying
schoolbooks and school supplies. Another allowance allocated under the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.)
is the reduction or cancellation of meal expenses for
children in nursery school or school. In the case of families with three or
more children, 50 per cent of the institution fees and, in the case of
a disabled child or disabled student, 30 per cent of the institution
fees per child shall be allocated as a meal allowance. The competent local
government in the domicile of the child may, based on
the individual needs of
the child, provide further benefits per child, in particular if the per capita
income of the child’s
family does not exceed the minimum amount of the
oldage pension. Eligible persons shall be provided free care if the person
obliged
to pay for the costs has no income at all. The law amending the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.) extended the normative amount of the
child meal allowance
to children receiving supplementary family allowance, stipulating that
50 per cent of the institution fees shall
be provided as normative
benefit to all three target groups.
- The
guardianship authorities may decide to advance child support from public funds
if the parent obliged to pay the support (in most
cases the father) is
temporarily unable to pay it and as a result, the parent having custody of the
child cannot provide appropriate
care. Child support shall be advanced by the
guardianship authorities if the collection of such child support is temporarily
impossible
and the person having custody of the child is unable to care for the
child appropriately, providing that the per capita income of
the family having
custody of the child does not reach three times the minimum amount of the oldage
pension. The number of persons
having received child support on 31 December
1999 was 4,241, on 31 December 2000, 4,187, on 31 December 2001,
4,751. The amount
paid as an advance was in 1999 HUF 149,625,000, in 2000
HUF 229,591,000, and in 2001 HUF 304,016,000.
Paragraph 36
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) provides for financial allowances, allowances in
kind and certain forms of personal care. Numerous
statutory provisions support
the social security of children. In case the family does not have custody of
the child, the State shall
extend care to
- minors,
e.g. by the advance payment of child support, or the system of social and
childcare allowances and aid. If in spite of granting
such allowances the
family cannot support the child, the minors in State custody shall be fully
cared for by the State.
- Public
education contributes to taking over institutional costs. The payment of child
meals and/or the costs of buying schoolbooks
is supported by separate normative
contributions.
Paragraph 37
- The
personnel, material and other conditions for the operation of the specific
institutions, facilities and services providing individual
care,
i.e. childcare service activities under the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.),
are regulated by a separate ministerial decree.
The qualification requirements
of the professionals working in and controlling the specific services, as well
as the minimum number
of professional staff, are regulated under the decree.
Carrying out childcare service activities is linked to obtaining an operating
licence since 1998 under the government decree on licensing the operation of
childcare institutions providing individual care.
- The
existence of the conditions set forth in the related ministerial decree and the
legality of operation shall be annually controlled
by the authorities (the chief
administrator and/or the county guardianship authorities) issuing the
operational licence. In case
of serious failure infringing the interests of the
individuals cared for, the authority licensing the operation may initiate the
closing down of the institution.
- The
rules for setting up nursery school classes and school classes are specified in
annex No. 3 to the Public Education Act. The number of children in nursery
school groups or school classes was determined with regard to educational
principles. The Act
on the Operation of Education institutions defines the
institutional tasks related to the prevention of accidents involving students
and children. The individual institutions shall set up the detailed rules.
Paragraph 38
- It
is a general provision of the Family Act (Csjt.) that, upon decisionmaking, the
parent and/or the officers implementing the law
shall always proceed in the best
interest of and ensure the rights of the child. However, the definition of the
best interest of
the child is interpreted in a different way by Hungarian
legislators and by those enforcing the law. According to certain approaches
such enforcement is merely the task of enacting legislation and the legal
procedures regarding the child, while others with a different
approach want to
enforce the best interest of the child in all relevant sectors of the State and
the society.
Paragraph 39
- Under
the government decree on teachers’ qualification standards, the curriculum
objectives of education providing teaching
diplomas shall involve
children’s rights studies, preparing teachers for tasks to be carried out
with families, vocational
guidance, social and educational counselling, and
child and youth protection at school.
- The
faculties for nursery school and primary schoolteachers are regulated under a
separate government decree. According to the curriculum
objective, the teacher
shall respect the universal and national human values and ethical norms, and
assume individual and community
responsibility and tasks.
- Training
of special education teachers is a separate field of education; the
qualification standards are also set forth in a government
decree. This
training prepares for the education of children with special needs.
- In
the framework of inservice teacher training the following preparatory courses
for specialist exams have been launched: preparation
for family and child
welfare work; theoretical and practical questions of preserving and promoting
mental and physical health at
school; preventive and corrective
pedagogicalpsychological studies; child and youth welfare studies; studies in
counselling provided
for students in public education; education of socially
vulnerable youth; studies in Gypsy society and pedagogy for teachers; knowledge
required for work with the Roma minority for nursery school teachers and primary
school teachers; pedagogy for children in need of
individual treatment;
preparation for special educational work with Gypsy children.
3. The right to life, survival and development (art.
6)
Paragraph 40
- The
spirit of the principles of the Convention is reflected in the provisions of the
Constitution recognizing the inalienable and inviolable human rights and the
inherent right to life. The child’s right to life is expressed
in article
66 (2), according to which mothers in the Republic of Hungary shall be provided
support and protection before and after
the birth of the child under separate
regulations. Under article 70/D (1) of the Constitution citizens living in the
territory of the Republic of Hungary shall have the right to the highest
possible level of physical and mental
health, and pursuant to article 70/E (1)
to social security.
- As
a result of regular health screening ensured to children until the age of 18,
treatment of irregularities and, if required, rehabilitation
may begin in time.
Special health care is provided in specialists’ consulting rooms,
surgeries and inpatient medical facilities.
The institutions of the Ministry of
Education and the Ministry for Social Welfare and Family Affairs,
i.e. nursery schools, schools,
daynurseries and healthcare facilities for
children ensure care and development for every child according to his/her
capability.
Children vulnerable for any reason shall receive increased care.
- The
main objectives of Act CLIV of 1997 on Health Care include the control of the
healthy development of the foetus and the protection
of the expectant
mother’s health. The control of the healthy development of the foetus,
prevention of endangerment and complications
and/or detecting them in time, the
preparation for childbirth, breastfeeding and caring for infants shall be
carried out within the
frameworks of family and women’s health care.
Maternity care
- includes
monitoring the family and health status, social circumstances and conditions at
the workplace of the expectant women, and
examinations are carried out as
provided by separate regulations.
- Under
Act IX of 2002 amending the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) battered mothers or
expectant women in a crisis situation or mothers
in a similar situation after
leaving the obstetric ward shall be received in temporary family homes.
- Under
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) the child shall have the right to be brought up
in a family that ensures his/her physical,
intellectual, emotional and moral
development, healthy growth and welfare. Children’s rights also involve
the right to help
in evolving their personalities, being kept away from
situations that endanger their development, assistance with integration into
society and the creation of an independent life. Disabled children shall have
the right to special care in order to promote their
development and evolve their
personalities.
- Act
LXXIX of 1992 on the Protection of the Foetus, guaranteed by the implementation
orders, provides in particular, through Ministerial
Decree No. 33/1992
(XII.23.)NM, for maternity care and the earliest possible specialist care
required to survive, without distinction
based on age, gender, or ethnic or
social background. The majority of children are born in healthcare facilities
in Hungary. On
average, there are annually 250300 planned childbirths outside
hospitals. After childbirth women are provided childbed care for
six weeks.
- It
is fundamental that care and control necessary for the healthy development of
the child, being component parts of ensuring the
right to healthy development,
are guaranteed by childcare workers and paediatricians (5,000 childcare workers
and 3,200 doctors,
50 per cent of whom are paediatricians).
- The
basic responsibility of the Family Welfare Service (CSVSZ) is the dissemination
of information on family planning and providing
counselling outside schools.
Women in a crisis situation and expectant women considering abortion are
compelled by law to attend
CSVSZ counselling. It is the responsibility of CSVSZ
to represent the interest of the foetus. The aim of the counselling is to
examine the crisis situation and the facts under undisturbed circumstances and
find possible solutions. Another aim is to provide
the necessary information on
governmental and nongovernmental organizations that provide support, on
allowances and benefits in kind,
and on the care to which families raising
children are entitled depending on their need. An important aspect is to show
the positive
perspectives for keeping the baby. CSVSZ provides assistance to
prevent unwanted pregnancy (contraception) by individual counselling.
In
Hungary everybody is entitled to medical care regardless of age, gender, or
ethnic or social background.
- The
right to survival is reflected in the fact that over 90 per cent of
the children in Hungary are immunized.
- In
order to reduce the mortality due to the high number of premature births, a
network of perinatal and neonatal intensive care centres
was created. The
nationwide network of emergency transport of newborn and premature infants was
recently completed with government
support.
Paragraph 41
- The
State of Hungary has made significant achievements to protect the health of
children. Among others, the support provided to pregnant
women in a social
crisis situation or the services of district nurses are ensured in law. When a
child is born, a district nurse
will continuously monitor the healthy
development of the child and the process of mandatory immunization. If
necessary, she can
advise the mother or can indicate to the authorities if the
maternal obligations have not been met. The education of children under
healthy
conditions and their health care can be ensured via the State healthcare
services.
- The
health of youth in puberty is threatened by the consumption of drugs and the
resulting damage to health, which has been growing
recently. Under a national
drug prevention programme, coordinated activity has been going on with
participation from government
and nongovernmental organizations and the
Churches. In addition to preventive information and the treatment of minors
affected by
drugs, penal law regulations have been made significantly more
stringent in order to improve the drug situation. In addition to
tightening
criminal regulations, the option of diversion was introduced and took effect as
of March 2003. The latter differentiates
the treatment of groups of youth
using drugs and their problems.
- The
socalled “blue line” is well known; it is a freeofcharge telephone
help service for children facing different problems.
- The
following table shows the number of children and youth who died because of
criminal
acts:
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
Children
|
34
|
44
|
33
|
20
|
30
|
Youth
|
7
|
8
|
7
|
9
|
4
|
Total
|
41
|
52
|
40
|
29
|
34
|
- During
the reporting period, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights considered
investigating the right of children to life
a priority duty, and ex officio
investigated all cases ending in the death of a child or children. Among
others, he dealt with the
enforcement of that right in the following
cases:
(a) OBH 400/1999. The number of infanticides would probably
drop if pregnant women who were unwilling or unable to bring up their
babies and
who wished to remain anonymous could deliver in hospital rather than at home
while preserving their anonymity. A central
or appointed authority could keep a
record of such births and the legislation relating to adoption could permit such
a procedure.
In this way, the mother’s right to human dignity and proper
support is maintained, and the child’s right to protection,
and ultimately
its right to life, is preserved;
(b) OBH 750/1999. A twoyearold boy died because of negligence. The
agencies and people acting on behalf of the State did not fully
meet their
responsibilities to step in for the parents who had been negligent in looking
after their children. That negligence led
to the situation that the rights of
the surviving children were infringed, while the deceased child’s right
to life was infringed. The tragedy could probably have been avoided if the
local government had taken notice that the family visitor
social worker was
overworked and if the agencies and people in the system had cooperated more
effectively, and also if the social
worker had received proper professional
assistance.
4. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12)
Paragraph 42
- The
principle that children must be heard in any court case or administrative
procedure affecting them prevails in Hungarian law.
The Constitution guarantees
equality before the court and also the right of everybody to receive a fair and
public trial by an impartial, legally
setup court in any criminal procedure or
legal action against him/her to judge his/her rights and obligations.
- The
Public Education Act lists freedom of speech and people’s right to
expression among individual and group rights. Freedom of speech can be
manifested
as an individual right or in the way students’ representative
groups use it. Freedom of speech can be divided into two parts:
students and
their communities have a general right to express an opinion on all issues; on
the other hand, no decision can be made
in certain cases stipulated by law
without obtaining the opinion of the students’ representative groups
involved. Under the
Public Education Act, students have the right to express an
opinion, observing human dignity, on all issues, including the work of their
teachers and
the operation of their schools or dormitories. They also have the
right to be informed about issues affecting their persons or studies.
They can
make proposals related to all the above issues and raise questions with the
heads and teachers of their school, the school
board or board of the
dormitory, and should receive an answer to their question
within 30 days. In line with the Public Education Act, a general
assembly of students must be organized in schools and dormitories at least once
a year, where issues related to the functioning
of students’
selfgovernment and the enforcement of students’ rights are
discussed.
Paragraph 43
- According
to the Family Act (Csjt.), parents must ensure that children capable of making a
sound judgement can express their opinion
when decisions affecting them are
prepared. Children’s opinion must be taken into consideration taking into
account the child’s
age and maturity. The amended Family Act has
stipulated, as a new provision, that the court or the guardianship authorities
must
hear the child in any procedure related to custody or parental control in
all justified cases, including the case if a child him/herself
requests to be
heard, either directly or via an expert. If the child is older than 14 years of
age, any decision related to his/her
custody can only be made with his/her
agreement, except if the custody selected by the child would endanger his/her
development.
Under the Civil Code, the court shall appoint a case guardian if
it is necessary to hear a child in court, but the court can also
decide to hear
a child in the absence of the child’s parents. The obligation of the
authorities to warn the accused about
his/her right to refuse testimony, as well
as his/her right to a detailed hearing and making coherent testimony before the
hearing,
also covers juveniles.
- The
Public Education Act also ensures a wide range of rights for students to express
their opinion and to have them taken into account regarding issues related
to
the life of their school.
- Under
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) children have the right to express their
opinion freely, to be given information about their
rights and the opportunity
to enforce their rights, as well as to be heard directly regarding any issue
affecting their person or
property. Their opinion is to be taken into account
as corresponds to their age, health status and level of maturity. Children
have
the right to lodge a complaint with the different forums identified in the Act
regarding issues affecting them, and, in case
their basic rights are infringed,
to start legal action in court or at other bodies identified in the Act
children’s selfgovernment,
interest representation forum, representative
of children’s rights or the Commissioner for family and children’s
rights.
- In
child welfare proceedings an important part of factfinding is that a child with
a capacity to discern is heard. A direct hearing
of a child, provided that a
child with a capacity to discern is able to understand the facts and decisions
related to him/her in
accordance with his/her age, cannot be avoided if the
child requests it or if it is provided for by law. The guardianship authorities
can carry out a hearing in the interest of the child without the presence of the
child’s legal representative; this is, in
effect, an option to be
considered by the guardianship authorities in any given case.
- In
accordance with the decree on the operation of educational institutions, the
order and form of students’ rights to expression
and to be regularly
informed shall be regulated in the organizational and operational manuals of
schools and dormitories. Under
the ministerial decree, the students’
general meeting is a form of information for the students of a school or a
dormitory,
and it shall be convened at least once a year. At the
students’ general meeting the head of the school or dormitory will report
about the work carried out in the period since the last general meeting with
particular attention to the situation and enforcement
of children’s and
students’ rights, and about the experience in the execution of the
provisions of the house rules.
At the students’ general meeting, students
can put questions regarding the issues of the school or dormitory to the
students’
selfgovernment or to the head of the institution. Disciplinary
procedures can be launched against a student in a school or dormitory
if the
student does not comply with his/her obligations with reference to his/her legal
status as a student or as a member of the
dormitory.
Paragraph 44
- Legislation
guarantees, with reference to measures of child protection, that a declaration
of a minor who is able to express an opinion
shall be obtained in every case.
Similarly, the opinion of a minor involved in a case shall be obtained in a
child custody hearing.
Minutes shall be prepared of the proceedings preparing a
decision (for instance, taking a child into custody), which shall include
the
declaration of the minor as well.
- In
order to ensure a longterm, familylike environment for children, the regional
child welfare service shall prepare a custody plan
at the time the temporary or
longterm custody takes place, but not later than 30 days after a child is taken
into temporary or longterm
custody, and the guardianship authorities shall
approve the plan, in which the opinion of the child involved must be taken into
account.
The guardian, together with the child, shall draw up a career for the
child, taking into account the opinion of the parent of the
child in temporary
custody, the child’s abilities and other circumstances. The guardianship
authorities will decide in any
dispute regarding the selection of the career.
In child welfare proceedings persons with a diminished capacity or an
incompetent
child with an ability to discern shall be heard. The hearing can be
omitted if the delay caused by the hearing leads to inevitable
danger or
damage.
- In
line with the Decree of the Ministry of Justice on marriage, the family and
guardianship, the court must take into consideration
the child’s age and
the child’s maturity, provided they can be determined from the data of the
proceedings, when making
a decision whether to hear a child.
- The
Government Decree on the guardianship authorities, child welfare and
guardianship stipulates that individual plans of care and
education of children
shall be prepared together with the parents, if possible. The notary public
shall, in every case, inform the
parents and the children about such plans of
care and education. The fact of presenting the plan shall be recorded in the
minutes.
The individual care and education plans identify the different
responsibilities of social workers, parents and children to eliminate
the
child’s vulnerability. Before taking a child into temporary custody, the
guardianship authorities shall obtain a professional
opinion from the child
welfare service to identify the place of custody and possibly with reference to
the individual plan of custody.
On identifying the place of custody, the child
and the parent can also request that the child be placed with foster parents,
professional
foster parents, in a children’s ward or another boarding
institution. A decision that is different from the requested custody
is
possible only if the original request is contrary to the interest of the child
or if the conditions cannot be met.
- The
Civil Code stipulates that the opinion of persons with diminished capacity or of
an incompetent minor with an ability to discern
shall be taken into
consideration by the legal representative when making a legal statement related
to the person and property of
a minor.
- The
Decree on the institutions of child welfare and other institutions of child
protection as well as on people providing personal
care and on their
professional duties and operating conditions stipulates that the service
provider shall create an opportunity for
children under its care to express an
opinion about the care and education provided for them as well as on other
issues related to
their person; furthermore, it shall ensure that the opinion of
the child is taken into consideration during care and education, as
appropriate
to the child’s age and maturity.
Paragraph 45
- A
school board must be established if a representative of the students’
selfgovernment or, in its absence, at least 20 per cent
of the
students of the school initiate its establishment. An equal number of parents,
teachers and representatives of the school
selfgovernment participate in the
work of the board of the school or boarding school, in line with the Public
Education Act. This school board has the right to comment on or to agree to a
number of schoolrelated issues. For instance, the school board
exercises its
right of agreement regarding the approval of the school’s organizational
and operational manual or the house
rules. Pursuant to the Act, the students of
the school or the boarding school can establish student groups to organize joint
activities
in line with the provisions of the house rules. Students are
authorized to set up a
- student
selfgovernment of their own. The student selfgovernment will decide on its own
operation, on using the funds provided for
its operation and on setting up and
operating an information system for the school or boarding school student
selfgovernment. The
student selfgovernment will approve its own organizational
and operational rules and will operate accordingly. The student selfgovernment
can express its opinion and can make proposals regarding all issues related to
the operation of the school or boarding school and
to the students themselves.
The student selfgovernment can use, free of charge, the premises and facilities
of the school or boarding
school to meet its obligations. The student
selfgovernment of the school or boarding school exercises the right to agree to
several
issues affecting students, for instance, the approval of the
organizational and operational rules, the approval of the school’s
or
boarding school’s house rules, identifying the principles of allocating
social benefits to the students and using the funds
provided for youth policy
issues.
- The
documents defining the internal operation of institutions play an outstanding
role in the operation of nursery schools, schools
and boarding schools, thus in
the freedom of expression. Such documents include the educational programmes of
nursery schools, the
pedagogical programmes of schools and boarding schools,
different house rules and the organizational and operational manuals. The
Decree on the operation of educational institutions stipulates that such
documents shall be made available for the parents and students.
The Decree also
provides that the head of school or boarding school or a teacher appointed by
him/her shall inform the students
and the parents about the contents of those
programmes.
Paragraphs 46 and 47
- The
Public Education Act identifies job profiles linked to special teaching
qualifications. Knowledge of the Constitution is part of the mandatory content
of training. The staff of children’s institutions shall be continuously
trained regarding
issues of the development of children and their specific
implications.
- With
regard to the vocational training of healthcare workers, no measures have been
taken which could have promoted the importance
and necessity of children’s
right to freedom of expression. Healthcare workers, however, study
children’s development
under different training programmes with a
different number of training sessions:
Vocational training for nurses
(3year training based on
secondary school education)
|
4 622
|
of these:
|
|
Development and care of healthy babies, infants and young
children
|
112
|
General psychology
|
32
|
Developmental psychology
|
96
|
Pedagogy
|
96
|
Psychology of personality development
|
16
|
Mental hygiene
|
16
|
Vocational school for infants’ and children’s
nurses
(3year training based on secondary school qualification)
|
4 612
|
of these:
|
|
Development of care of healthy babies, infants and young
children
|
160
|
General psychology
|
32
|
Developmental psychology
|
96
|
Special nursing psychology
|
32
|
Pedagogy
|
192
|
Psychology of personality development
|
16
|
Mental hygiene
|
16
|
Training for crèche nurses
|
374
|
of these:
|
|
Pedagogy
|
61
|
Developmental psychology
|
65
|
Vocational training for social workers/district nurses (4year
college training)
|
3 820 + 960 practical training
|
Development of the healthy child
|
45
|
Developmental psychology
|
60
|
Nursing (methodology for district nurses for 8 terms)
|
45
|
Paragraph 48
- In
line with article 95 (3) of the Public Education Act, the Minister of Education
shall convene, with participation by the National Council of Students’
Rights, the Students’
Parliament elected by the student selfgovernments of
schools and boarding schools, or, if no student selfgovernment operates in an
educational institution, a delegation elected by the students’ general
meeting held with the participation of a minimum of
20 per cent of the
students. The Students’ Parliament is a national information forum of
students related to public education,
which, on a proposal by the National
Council of Students’ Rights, reviews the enforcement of students’
rights and can
adopt recommendations incorporating their comments and
suggestions.
- The
Constitution, the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights all guarantee the civil rights of
children. The
Public Education Act guarantees the enforcement of the civil rights and
liberties of children in education and training institutions. Pursuant to
article
10 (3) (e) of the Act, nursery schools, schools and
boarding schools shall respect children’s and students’ rights,
including
their personality rights, with particular reference to their right to
evolve their personality without restriction, their right to
selfdetermination,
their freedom of action and their right to family life and private
life.
D. Civil rights and freedoms
1. Name and nationality (art.
7) and preservation of identity (art. 8)
Paragraphs 5055
- Under
the Family Act, children take their father’s or mother’s surname as
their parents had agreed. If there is no person
to be considered as the father
of the child, the child will take his/her mother’s surname. After his or
her third birthday,
however, an imaginary father will be registered for him/her
in the register of births and from then on the surname of that imaginary
father
will be the child’s surname as a general rule. If the child is adopted,
pursuant to the Family Act an adopted child
can request information from the
guardianship authorities about his/her biological parents.
- In
line with the LawDecree on the register of births, marriages and deaths, the
marriage procedure and the selection of names (At.),
the birth of all persons
born on the territory of the Republic of Hungary shall be registered
irrespective of the nationality of
the parents or the capacity in which they
stay on the territory of the country. Births are registered by the Registrar of
the place
where the birth took place. Births shall be reported to the relevant
Registrar. In order to have births registered, there is an
obligation for the
registration of births on the part of the head of medical institutions where the
delivery took place in a hospital
or, in case of delivery not in a hospital, on
the part of the parents and the physician assisting at the delivery. The
obligation
of registration must be complied with on the first working day after
the event, at the latest. The persons obliged to register shall
report within
eight days a delivery not in a medical institution, provided no physician was
present at the delivery. Births shall
be registered ex officio if there is
no person obliged to register or if the person obliged to register has failed to
do so. A birth
will be registered immediately after it is reported; it can be
delayed for not longer than 30 days in specific cases under the above
LawDecree.
- In
line with the Government Decree on minor offences, a person can be fined for
failing to comply with the obligation to register.
The Resolution of the
Constitution Court No. 58/2001 provides that the right to a name is a
fundamental right that can be derived from the right to human dignity as
stipulated in the Constitution, article 54 (1). Every person has an inalienable
right to have a name of his/her own expressing his/her identity and to bear that
name. That right cannot be restricted by the State. The other components of
the right to a name, particularly the selection of
names, changing of a name or
modifying a name, can be constitutionally limited by legislators.
- The
issues of names and citizenship were dealt with on several occasions by the
courts during the reporting period. Some major court
resolutions related to the
above are the following:
(a) BH2002.288. Hungarian citizenship can
be obtained by birth. Adoption will not result in obtaining Hungarian
citizenship, but
it lays the foundations for preferential naturalization;
(b) BH1999.411. If a putative father denies paternity, the court shall
decide whether the child should be entitled to continue to
bear his surname.
The first instance court took the right position when it decided that a
14yearold child losing his/her surname
because of incompliance with the paternal
legal status, when he/she had become known by that name would result in a break
in the
community life of the child and that this would be a major disadvantage
for the child that would outweigh the interest of the plaintiff.
Therefore, the
interest of the minor had to be given preference when contradictory interests
were compared;
(c) BH2001.529. Court ruling on a lawsuit brought by a parent who had filed
a fully effective declaration of acknowledgement of
paternity to change the
child’s surname. The court was right to point out that changing the
surname of the 8yearold child
was not in the interest of the child. The
acknowledgement of paternity by the father made the child’s family
situation unambiguous;
therefore, the decision was not in breach of article 8
(1) of the Convention on the Right of the Child.
- Furthermore,
the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights also investigated the above
issues. According to the report OBH 483/2000,
the plaintiff complained
that his child born in the United States of America was not registered by the
Hungarian authorities. It
is obviously unfair to oblige the complainant’s
child to bear more than one name because of his dual citizenship, foreign place
of birth, or because his parents’ citizenships are different. There are
no constitutional rights to be enforced here so that
the complainant’s
child would be obliged to live under two names, in possession of two public
documents with different content,
both of which are certified. The legal
situation revealed by his investigations caused a constitutional anomaly in
connection with
the right to the protection of fundamental rights guaranteed in
the Constitution. The Commissioner proposed to submit a proposal to the
Minister of Justice to initiate an insertion in Act 13/1973, article 71 on
international private law, to allow resolutions of foreign authorities on the
subject of names to be adopted.
- Report
No. OBH 207/2000. Two infants found on 16 March 1999 were still not
registered in January 2000, and they had no social security
identification
numbers either. The acting guardianship authorities violated the provisions of
the Family Act, article 41 (1), when
they failed to take immediate
action to register the children, of unknown parents, under the names of
imaginary parents. The children
had no names or social security numbers for
almost a year. By failing to act, the guardianship authorities violated the
minors’
right to human dignity guaranteed in the Constitution,
article 54 (1), and their right to the highest level of physical and
mental health guaranteed in article 70/D (1).
- Report
No. OBH 2701/1999. The plaintiff complained that the registration of her
child born in Panama was delayed in Hungary and the
municipality of her district
refused to issue an identification number for the child. Thus, the child could
not obtain a social
security identification number, and the mother had to pay
for the mandatory immunization as well. An official of district 18 reported
that the personal identification number could not be issued because the parents,
with different citizenships but exercising parental
authority jointly, should
have agreed on the domicile of the child. The mother could not present such
written agreement, and therefore
the personal identification could not be
issued. The official of district 18, however, failed to notice that the data of
the father
were not included in the birth certificate of the child. In line
with the birth certificate, the mother alone could exercise parental
authority
over the child and was therefore alone entitled to decide on where to settle
with the child. The approval of the
- father
living abroad was not needed because, legally, he could not be considered the
father of the child because of the lack of an
acknowledgement of paternity. The
official, by refusing to issue a personal identification number for the child,
caused an infringement
of the right of the child to protection and care because
no social security number could be issued without a personal identification
number. Thus the health and social care of the child was endangered.
- Report
No. OBH 2795/1997. Complainant reported the tragic loss of her baby and the
inexplicable action taken afterwards. The foetus
died in the twentyninth week
of gestation and had to be removed from the mother’s body during an
operation. The parents were
not allowed to give a name to their dead child.
The Commissioner ruled that security in law derived from the constitutionally
declared
rule of law had been infringed, and a constitutional anomaly was caused
with reference to the parents’ right to human dignity
if a child born
alive is not registered. During the investigation the question arose whether,
in line with the parents’ request,
action could be taken to give a name
even if the child is stillborn, but the parents insisted on its being buried.
In such a case
the risk of anomaly is present with reference to the right to
human dignity. Stillborn children cannot be registered, but this should
not
deprive the parents of their right to give their child a name.
- In
Hungary, keeping the register of births, marriages and death is not a problem.
Registrars must obtain a proper qualification at
the College of State
Administration or pass a special exam to operate.
- Pursuant
to AT article 32 (1) (a)(g), the register of births records
the following data: the place and date of the birth (day, month,
year), the
place of origin, the first name and surname of the child, the child’s sex,
the personal identification number, the
first name and surnames of the parents,
their place of birth, their personal identification numbers, residence, whether
there were
multiple births, the foreign citizenship of the child or of the
parent(s) and the date of registration (day, month, year).
- The
registration form shall be completed on the basis of the parents’ (or only
the mother’s) identification cards, or,
lacking that, on the basis of
another public document. The Registrar will not complete the lines related to
the child’s surname
and the father’s data if the father of the child
cannot be identified at the time the birth is registered. If the Registrar
cannot obtain the missing data within three years of the birth of the child from
the mother or from the guardianship authorities,
the Registrar will contact the
guardianship authorities to establish an imaginary father ex officio.
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) provides that children have the right to
grow up in their own family environment ensuring their physical,
mental,
emotional and moral education and development. A child can only be separated
from its parents or other relatives in his/her
own interest in cases and a
manner defined by law. The child has the right to learn about his/her origins
and biological family
and to keep contact with that family. The Family Act
provides that an adopted child can request information from the guardianship
authorities about his/her biological parents. The parties must be informed
about this fact during the adoption proceedings. In
order to provide such
information, the biological parent and if the adopted child is still a
minor the adopting parent or other
legal representative must be heard as
well.
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), the child welfare service is responsible
for ensuring family care in order to resettle
the child into his family, in
cooperation with the institution providing care for the child or, with the
regional child protection
service, to assist in creating and improving proper
conditions in the family for the child’s care and to restore the
relationship
between the parents and the child. It is also responsible for
aftercare in cooperation with the institution providing childcare
and the
regional child welfare service to facilitate the child’s readaptation to
his/her family.
- According
to the governing court practice (BH2000. 206), termination of parental care is
not only aimed at preventing parents from
exercising parental control over their
children, but also expresses the negative moral judgement related to a
person’s inability
to exercise parental responsibility. It is a guarantee
in the interest of both parents and children that such severe legal stipulations
can only be employed in case of such conduct (article 88 of the Family
Act).
- We
think it is important that mediation and facilitation proceedings are becoming
more widespread in judicial rulings, which promote
successful involvement of the
children and thereby the enforcement of their right to expression. Therefore,
it is not only possible
that the guardianship authorities decide in a disputed
issue but also that the child welfare service or the trained staff of familycare
centres can assist those involved in a democratic procedure (Act
No. LV/2002 on mediation).
- In
his report No. OBH 550/1998, the General Deputy to the Parliamentary
Commissioner of Civil Rights investigated how the constitutional
rights of
children living in childcare institutions were enforced and made the following
statements:
“In some cases we did not find a major effort to
ensure that children were able to contact their biological families, including
their siblings who might be in State care as well, and to maintain such
relationship. The relationship between a child and his/her
biological family
cannot be maintained artificially beyond certain limits, and it cannot be
restored if completely broken. A child,
however, under articles 15 and 67 of
the Constitution, has the right to maintain personal relationships and direct
contact with both parents, except if it is contrary to the best interest
of the
child which stands above everything else. Should the authorities neglect to
ensure the above, the risk of constitutional
anomaly develops. The same is true
if a child is not given proper information about his/her family or
relationships.”
- Under
Act LV/1993 on Hungarian citizenship, the child of a Hungarian citizen obtains
Hungarian citizenship by birth. The Hungarian
citizenship of a child of a
parent who is not a Hungarian citizen can be established with retroactive effect
to the date of the birth
if the child’s other parent is a Hungarian
citizen and there is a fully effective paternal acknowledgement, subsequent
marriage,
or paternity or maternity established by the court. Unless proved to
the contrary, the child of a stateless person resident in Hungary
shall be a
Hungarian citizen if born in Hungary, as well as a child of unknown parents
found in Hungary.
- An
amendment to the Act, which took effect on 1 July 2001, in consideration of the
European Convention on Citizenship, ensures a preferential
option to obtain
citizenship via a declaration. A person can make a declaration to this effect
before completing 19 years of age
while the legal representative is authorized
to make such a declaration for a minor, but a child older than 14 must also give
his/her
consent to do so. The Minister of the Interior can refuse such a
declaration only if the conditions provided by law are not met.
Such refusal
can be appealed in court. Stateless people can apply for preferential
naturalization under article 4 (4) (c).
2. Freedom of expression (art. 13)
Paragraph 56
- Under
article 61 of the Constitution, everybody in the Republic of Hungary has the
right to freedom of speech and to obtain information about and distribute data
of public
interest. Under article 8 of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.),
children have the right to freedom of speech and to receive information
about
their rights and about their opportunities to enforce their rights.
- The
provisions of the Public Education Act related to students’ rights ensure
freedom of speech. Under the Act, students have the right to obtain the
information needed
to exercise their rights, and to be informed about the
proceedings needed to exercise their rights. Under the Act, teachers and
educators are obliged also to regularly inform students about issues involving
them. The law defines the restrictions on freedom
of speech, while respecting
human dignity. The Act provides that students’ rights are restricted in
that exercising those
rights cannot endanger their own rights to health and
physical integrity and the enforcement of their right to education, or the
right
of their schoolmates’ and the employees of the school or other educational
institutions.
3. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (art.
14)
Paragraphs 5758
- Under
the Constitution everybody has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion. This right includes the freedom to select or adopt a religion
or
another moral conviction and also the freedom to express a religion or religious
conviction in public by performing the acts and
ceremonies of the religion or by
any other way, either individually or together with others, in public or in
private; to refuse to
exercise such expression; and to practise or to teach such
religion or moral conviction. The Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) also provides
about this right, and children’s freedom of conscience and religion must
be observed when children are in auxiliary care.
Children taken into temporary
or permanent custody have the right in particular to receive education and
schooling that takes into
consideration the child’s nationality, ethnic
identity and religion in accordance with the child’s age, state of health,
maturity and needs.
- The
Public Education Act provides that both the Government and local governments
shall respect the rights of parents and guardians in fulfilling their duties
regarding training and education, and that their children can receive education
consistent with their religious or ideological beliefs.
Parents will exercise
those rights in the interest of their children in such a way that they respect
the child’s right of
thought, conscience and religion, and that the
child’s opinion is taken into consideration, depending on the
child’s
age and maturity. Under the Act, parents are authorized to freely
select an educational institution for their children. Under this
right, parents
can select a nursery school, school or boarding school in accordance with their
own
- religion
or ideological beliefs and national or ethnic minority identity, in line with
their children’s’ talents, abilities
and interests. Parents’
rights, however, cannot restrict the rights of the child to the freedom of
thought, conscience and
religion, which is exercised under parental control in
line with the child’s maturity. When the child
is 14 years old, however,
the child and parents can exercise
their right to select a school jointly, unless the children are deemed
incompetent.
- The
relevant judicial law also deals with the child’s freedom of conscience
and religion. The legal case BH1998, No. 398 stipulates
that the main goal of
institutions offering social assistance to families is to provide such
assistance. The behaviour of a social
worker was contrary to this objective
because the person involved intended to persuade a minor under his control to
adopt his own
religious views contrary to the intentions of the child’s
family. Such behaviour was considered a breach of discipline. In
his report
No. OBH 2461/1999, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights stated, in
relation to the case of a child living in
a children’s home, that the
child’s rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion were
infringed when, following
his adoption of the Muslim faith, the head of the
institution and the teachers of the child did not facilitate the provision of
meals
in accordance with his religion and did not assist him to contact his
religious community.
- Institutions
of public education shall respect a child’s right to the freedoms of
thought, conscience and religion. The Public
Education Act provides that State
or local governmentowned educational institutions cannot be committed to any
single religion or ideology. They
must, however, ensure an objective and
manysided presentation of knowledge, including religious and ideological
information. The
teaching programmes, educational programmes, operations,
activity or direction of such institutions shall not take sides regarding
the
truth of religious or ideological teachings; they shall remain neutral. The
Public Education Act guarantees the freedom to establish educational
institutions. Thus, Churches have the possibility to establish nursery schools,
schools and boarding schools so that they can carry out educational activities
in accordance with their ideological commitment.
Parents are entitled to freely
select an educational institution for their children; thus, they are free to
enrol their children
in Church institutions.
- Pursuant
to the Act on the rights of national and ethnic minorities, persons belonging to
any of the minorities have the right to
observe their familyrelated minority
traditions, to maintain family relations, to keep family ceremonies in their
mother tongues
and to request the related religious ceremonies to be performed
in their mother tongues as well.
- In
resolution No. 22/1997 the Constitution Court found that the State was
responsible only for the establishment and maintenance of ideologically neutral
schools. This does
not imply that the State should ensure free education for
everybody in a school of their choice. With reference to an earlier resolution,
it also stated that, although parents do not have the right to demand that the
State establish a school corresponding to their ideological
preferences, they
still have a protective right, under which they cannot be obliged to enrol their
children in a school that is contrary
to their religious beliefs or ideological
views.
4. Freedom of association and peaceful assembly (art.
15)
Paragraph 59
- Both
the Constitution and the relevant Acts acknowledge the fundamental right of all,
including children, to freedom of association and assembly. Accordingly,
the
Republic of Hungary acknowledges the right of peaceful assembly and guarantees
the free exercise of such right. Everybody has
the right to set up an
organization for any goal not explicitly banned by law or to join such
organizations. Freedom of association
and assembly, however, cannot be
exercised if it is manifested in a criminal act or in calling upon others to
commit a criminal act,
and it cannot imply nor involve infringement of other
people’s rights and freedom.
- The
Public Education Act does not directly regulate the right of children to freedom
of association and assembly. Under the Act, students are entitled to
take part
in the work of students groups, to launch such student groups, to be members of
schoolorganized cultural, art, science,
sport and other groups and of
extracurricular social organizations. Under the Act, there is also an
opportunity to establish students’
communities at schools or boarding
schools and to set up student selfgovernments. In fact, there is no restriction
in that area
among the provisions related to public education.
- The
relevant court practice also acknowledges the child’s freedom of
association and assembly. The legal case BH1997 No. 95
is an example of this
because it says that a minor who is member of a social organization cannot be
restricted in exercising his
right to vote because of his age. Furthermore, the
legal case BH2000 No. 471 stipulates that the diminished capacity of a minor
does not exclude the possibility of the minor being nominated as a member of a
board of trustees. It must be decided, after careful
consideration of the
nature of the foundation in question, whether membership in the board of
trustees is an appropriate function
for a minor.
- National
minority organizations also have an active life. Among others, the Association
of Young Germans in Hungary stipulates in
its statutes that its basic objective
is to educate youth and children to have a healthy life, and to organize leisure
activities
for them. The organization carries out nonprofit activities in the
fields of child and youth welfare and undertakes to represent
the interests of
German youth and children living in Hungary. It tries to represent the
interests of its constituents in decisions
related to youth and children. The
Association for German Children in Hungary is also a registered nonprofit
organization, which,
in line with the objectives expressed in its name, organize
programmes and camps for children.
5. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
Paragraph 60
- Pursuant
to the Constitution, everybody, irrespective of his/her age, has the right to
the inviolability of the home and to the protection of personal data.
The right
of the child to private life requires specific regulations with reference to
children living in child welfare and child
protection institutions. The Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.) regulates those instances for it details the rights of
children removed
from their families. Children living in State care and taken
into custody have the right to initiate a change in the place of their
care or
the place of their custody, or to initiate their placement in custody together
with their children or siblings, to freely
select their religion or ideological
conviction, to initiate the establishment of children’s selfgovernment to
represent their
interests, to maintain personal relationships, to exercise their
rights related to the usual objects of personal property, to express
an opinion
on the care, meals, education and training provided to them, and to be heard and
informed on issues having an impact on
their persons.
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), a child can only be separated from his/her
parents or other relatives in his/her own
interest and in cases and a manner
stipulated by law. The Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) defines the forms of
maintaining contact
between a child and his/her parents and relatives. For
boardingtype institutions, the heads of the institutions shall ensure civilized
and undisturbed conditions for contact. A decree on the institutions and people
providing childcare and child protection and the
rules of their operation
stipulates an obligation for such institutions to ensure the inviolability of
privacy of correspondence
and privacy in general. Contact between a child and
his/her parents and relatives can only be regulated by the guardianship
authorities
for children living outside their biological families. The right of
children to privacy is also regulated in a decree for children
removed from
their families and given custody in an institution. The decree provides the
obligatory minimum standards of custody;
it specifies that no more than four
children can share a bedroom. It also stipulates the way the children’s
personal articles
and clothes should be placed. If those regulations are not
met, no operating licence can be issued to the institution in question.
- The
Public Education Act guarantees, as part of students’ rights, the right to
correspondence and to live in a dormitory. It also stipulates that schools
and
boarding schools shall observe those rights.
- Civil
rights also apply to youth living in penal institutions. A convict also has the
right to protect his/her civil rights, including
his reputation, privacy, the
protection of personal data and his private apartment. Decree No. 6/1996 IM
regulates imprisonment
and police custody. It stipulates that during detention
the protection of the civil rights of the people detained shall be guaranteed
by
the penitentiary institutions as well as by the bodies and people taking part or
assisting in the execution of detention. No
data, facts or information can be
provided to unauthorized people or bodies if they can be used to infringe
personal rights.
- The
legal case BH2001 No. 61 contained statements related to the above.
Accordingly, “arbitrary intervention into private life
infringes the right
to privacy. Arbitrary intervention is the case when the action is explicitly
contrary to the will or intention
of the person involved and the intervention
cannot be justified by careful consideration of the circumstances”. A
13yearold
plaintiff became pregnant in an extramarital relationship. The
primary defendant made a false report of the facts to the hospital
and to the
guardianship authorities, which was unjustified and unnecessary and which
prevented the plaintiff from exercising her
right to free expression of her
opinion. The action of the defendant also questioned the plaintiff’s
right to selfdetermination.
Furthermore, the General Deputy of the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights found in his report No. OBH 550/1998
on the implementation
of constitutional rights of children living in
children’s homes that the lack of a child’s own tools, own desk, or
at
least a drawer can result in uncertainty and a disturbance of identity in the
life of the child, which can lead to the infringement
of an unalienable
fundamental constitutional right to human dignity.
- The
standard of facilities in temporary childcare institutions is extremely low.
The lack of personal articles or, even if there
are some, the problem of
safekeeping can cause an anomaly in terms of the right to property and
privacy.
6. Access to appropriate information (art. 17)
Paragraph 61
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) stipulates the general right of children to be
informed about their rights and the possibilities
of exercising them. The law
defines the right of children to access programmes in public service media which
correspond to their
level of development, promote the expansion of their
knowledge, and are free of violence while preserving cultural values. The Act
amending the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) extended this to cover protection
against negative effects such as generating hatred, violence
and pornography.
The Press Act stipulates that in the Republic of Hungary everybody has the right
to be informed about issues concerning
their close environment, homeland and the
world. The duty of the press together with other means of communication is to
provide
credible, accurate and quick information. Exercise of freedom of the
press may be restricted in acts of crime or a call for acts
of crime, may not
violate public morals and may not entail infringement of the civil rights of
others.
- In
accordance with the Act on radio and television, the public broadcaster shall
give special attention to broadcasting programmes
that serve the purpose of
physical, spiritual and moral development and to the interest of minors and to
enriching their knowledge;
and to making accessible information that is
important to groups in a seriously disadvantaged position due to their age,
intellectual
and spiritual condition or social circumstances, with particular
regard to broadcasting programmes presenting children’s rights,
serving
the protection of children and providing information on the services available
in prime time. The Media Act devotes a separate
section to the rules aimed at
protecting minors, according to which programmes that are liable to adversely
influence the physical,
intellectual or moral development of minors
(particularly programmes containing violence or sex) shall be classified in a
specified
category, and shall be given a warning sign, and may be broadcast only
at certain times.
- The
Act also contains provisions to protect minors among the prohibitions and
restrictions of advertising, according to which advertisements
promoting or
presenting tobacco products and arms as well as advertisements of alcoholic
beverages may not target minors and may
not depict minors consuming alcohol.
Advertising may not call directly on minors to encourage their parents or other
adults to purchase
or use toys or other goods or services. Act No. LVIII
of 1997 on commercial advertising activities declares that it is prohibited
to
publish advertising that may damage the physical, intellectual or moral
development of children and minors, in particular if it
depicts children and
minors in a dangerous, violent situation or a situation that highlights
sexuality. It is prohibited to advertise
alcoholic beverages immediately before
a programme produced for children or minors, as well as during the entire
duration and just
after such a programme; on toys and packaging of toys; in
public education and healthcare institutions, and within a distance of
200
metres from the entrance of these
institutions.
- Press
products in the native languages of national and ethnic minorities financed out
of central funds regularly contain separate
columns prepared for the children of
the given community. There are no separate children’s magazines produced
in Hungary in
any of the minority languages. There are local children’s
magazines and yearbooks for minorities, published by the children
in the schools
of nationalities.
- The
Ministry of Culture assists children in accessing sources of information by
publishing books.
- The
national programme for the Year of Reading started in June 2001 and lasted for
one year. Within this programme the Ministry of
Education and the Ministry of
National Cultural Heritage organized and implemented a number of programmes for
children. The National
Week of Children’s Books was organized in 2001;
this meant the organization of largescale events addressed to children, the
installation of book stands and the presentation of writers of
children’s and young people’s books. The Ministry of
National
Cultural Heritage organized a collection campaign during the Christmas Book Sale
under the title “Bring a book so
another can read”, and supported a
worthy celebration of the International Day for Children’s Books held
worldwide on
2 April at the refurbished “Szabó Ervin”
Library. The competent organizations of the Ministry of National Cultural
Heritage treat the issue of supporting the publication of books for children as
a priority.
- An
expert team dealing with the different aspects of the media, and particularly
its impact on children, was set up in coordination
with the Ministry of
Education; a conference was organized to make a comprehensive evaluation and an
action plan was elaborated,
based on both the social context and professional
criteria in respect of education. The main task is to identify the most
important
problems and to identify the practical actions to be taken to solve
them in order to ensure that interaction between education and
training on the
one hand, and the media, on the other, is more planned and more purposeful.
Relying on the analysis and impact studies
of media texts, the expert team
identified four major problem areas along which the work
started:
(a) The social context of the media;
(b) The impact of media content;
(c) Media education;
(d) The relationship between the media and children in terms of law.
The plan for implementing measures in practice was also elaborated in order
to realize and resolve these issues.
- Constitution
Court ruling No. 37/2000 found, in connection with the Act on business
advertising, that the State has fulfilled its constitutional
obligations to
provide appropriate protection for the physical and the intellectual development
of children. Court case No. BH2002.247
serves the purpose of protecting
minors; it stipulates that no advertisement can be made public which may have a
detrimental impact
on the physical, intellectual or moral
- development
of children and minors. According to this case, the firstinstance consumer
protection authority detected an advertisement
for a striptease bar on an
advertising facility in a public area showing two women wearing underwear in a
suggestive pose. It was
determined that the advertisement could have a
detrimental impact on the physical, intellectual or moral development of
children
and minors, as it carried a message with recognizable sexual content
and the depiction of persons of the same sex could play role
in causing
uncertainty as to sexual identity. Depictions of sexuality taking sexuality
away from its human context may have a detrimental
effect on the development of
the emotional lives of the young.
- During
the reporting period the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights and his
Deputy have addressed two cases dealing with the
impact of advertisements
violating public morals, violent advertisements and advertisements with erotic
content placed in public
areas on the appropriate development of children. The
Parliamentary Commissioner made a reference in both reports on the cases to
the
obligation to take the freedom of economic competition into account when
drafting regulations, not only the desire to provide
appropriate protection to
children.
7. The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 37 (a))
Paragraph 62
- According
to the Constitution, nobody is to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or
humiliating treatment or punishment, and it is particularly prohibited
to
perform medical or scientific experiments on humans without their consent.
- Hungary
is a State party to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
adopted on 26 November 1987 in
Strasbourg, and has promulgated the said Convention in Act III of 1995. The
Convention established
the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture
(CPT), which investigates, during its visits, the treatment of persons deprived
of their freedom in the States parties for the purpose of strengthening, if
necessary, protection against torture and inhuman or
humiliating treatment or
punishment. The Committee paid visits to Hungary in 1994 and 1999.
- The
Republic of Hungary is also a State party to the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, promulgated
in LawDecree No. 3 of 1988. Hungary is obliged to report to
international forums about the implementation
of the Convention in periodic
reports.
- The
Public Education Act declares that children and students may not be subjected to
physical discipline, torture, or cruel, inhuman, or humiliating punishment
or
treatment. Criminal law sanctions abuse committed in official proceedings by
official persons and extorting testimonies. Perpetrators
who torture children
and treat children in a cruel, inhuman or humiliating manner are liable to
prosecution.
- LawDecree
No. 11 of 1979 on punishments and measures stipulates that the human dignity of
convicts shall be respected and that they
may not be subjected to torture or
cruel, inhuman or humiliating treatment. The Decree stipulates that only the
legal prejudice
defined in a court ruling may be applied against convicts, and
convicts are entitled to remedies in the course of executing the punishment
and
actions against them; convicts are entitled to make reports of public interest,
submit complaints and make requests to independent
bodies in penal institutions
and correctional institutions.
- Act
XXXIV of 1994 on the police also stipulates the prohibition of torture,
extorting testimonies, and cruel, inhuman or humiliating
treatment in line with
international requirements, and regulates the most important guarantee
provisions applicable to the use of
means of extortion at the level of laws.
According to the law, police officers shall not use torture, extortion of
testimonies,
or cruel, inhuman or humiliating treatment and shall refuse
instructions to this effect given by their superiors. In addition, police
officers shall take measures against persons exhibiting such behaviour for the
sake of prevention, and initiate legal proceedings
and investigations. Pursuant
to the Decree of the Minister of the Interior No. 19/1995 on the procedures in
police jails, the detainee
shall be treated with respect for his human dignity
in the course of any action. It is prohibited to subject detainees to torture
or to treat them in a cruel, inhuman or humiliating way. No medical experiments
or scientific tests may be performed on detainees,
even with their consent.
- The
Ombudsmen have conducted several investigations during the reporting period and
made recommendations:
(a) Report of the General Deputy to the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights OBH 550/1998: application of the
constitutional
rights of children living in homes/institutions. The
investigation detected several cases of punishments which violated fundamental
human rights, such as taking away pocket money, refusal to grant leave, and
banning from meals and even from extra-curricular and
leisure activities.
Banning from meals is always a punishment that infringes the constitutional
provision of prohibition of torture
and humiliating or inhuman treatment, so its
application was evaluated as a serious abuse;
(b) Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights report No. OBH 2461/1999:
the plaintiff and his younger brother were living under
care in a
children’s home. It was found that the educational methods and means of
discipline the plaintiff was subjected to
in the home infringed several
constitutional rights. The means of corporal or spiritual punishment, as well
as punishment used arbitrarily,
infringed the constitutional rights of the
children to proper physical, intellectual and moral development, and their
rights to human
dignity, freedom and personal security. Furthermore, they also
endangered the enforcement of the constitutional rights to physical
and
spiritual health of the highest order and to the right to education. Any form
of corporal punishment is unacceptable as a method
of discipline. Other means
of discipline that endanger the development of children’s personalities
and infringe human dignity
are, for instance, forbidding younger children to
kiss their teachers or to call them by their first name.
E. Family environment and alternative care (arts. 5; 18, paras.
12; 911;
25; 27, para. 4; and 39)
1. Parental guidance (art. 5) and
parental responsibilities
(art. 18, paras. 12)
Paragraphs 6368
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) stipulates that a parent is entitled and obliged to
take care of his/her child in a family, to educate
the child and to provide the
conditions required for the physical, intellectual, emotional and moral
development of the child particularly
the supply of housing, meals and clothes
as well as access to education and health care. Pursuant to the Act the
child’s
parent is entitled to receive information on care and aid in
raising a child.
- Pursuant
to the Family Act, parents are obliged to take care of and raise their children,
and to promote the physical and intellectual
as well as moral development of
children. Parents must exercise parental control in accordance with the
interests of underage children.
Parents are entitled and obliged to represent
their children in personal and financial matters if they are entitled to
exercise
the right of parental control. Therefore, parents are to cooperate
with children, provide information on issues that concern children,
provide
guidance, advice and assistance to children in exercising the rights of the
child, take the necessary measures in order to
enforce rights and to cooperate
with persons, agencies and authorities participating in providing care for or
administering the affairs
of children.
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), children are entitled to be raised in a
family environment that ensures their physical,
intellectual, emotional and
moral development, that is, welfare for the child in his/her own family. The
guarantee for this right
of the child is provided by the obligation to assist
families in raising children, to which the State and/or municipalities provide
assistance in the form of basic welfare care for children. Aid and inkind care
as well as personal services shall be provided by
the municipality of the
settlement, and the Government contributes to this to a certain extent.
- The
Social Act provides that the purpose of family help services and the institution
of family help service are to contribute to the
welfare and development of
individuals, families, as well as different groups of communities, and to their
adaptation to their environment.
- In
the framework of general and special assistance services within the family help
service, municipalities provide assistance to persons
and families who need and
request help due to social or mental health problems or crisis situations and
who live in the municipality
for the purpose of preventing the reasons for the
development of such situations, eliminating crisis situations and regaining
their
ability to lead their lives. The family help service provides assistance
to individuals in administering social and children’s
welfare and
children’s protection matters, among others. Children can also make use
of children’s welfare services on
their own in
Hungary.
- Legislation
provides that assistance should be given to parents in taking care of their
children, but, on the other hand, very few
services are accessible and available
for providing real help. It is necessary to include several types of consulting
and family
therapy methods in as broad a scope as possible within the child
welfare system, as well as to strengthen existing NGOs and services
and to
ensure cooperation with State institutions of family help.
- Pursuant
to the Family Act, parents exercise parental control together even if they do
not live together anymore. Parents are obliged
to exercise their right in
accordance with the child’s best interest. In the course of exercising
their rights parents shall
ensure that their child expresses an opinion.
Parents who are separated shall decide together on substantial issues concerning
the
child’s life. If the parents are separated and their child is placed
with one of them, according to the provisions of the
Family Act, the parents or
a court may decide on joint parental control. Components of parental control
are: providing care to
the child, managing the child’s assets, the right
and obligation to provide legal representation, the right to appoint a legal
representative and the right to exclude persons from becoming legal
representatives. Parents are entitled to the above rights and
their obligations
apply only in connection with minors. Usually parental control is created by
force of law when a child is born.
Parental control ceases to exist with the
death of the child, or a parent or if one of them is declared to be dead.
- The
court may discontinue parental control for the following reasons:
- A parent’s
accountable, unsuitable conduct that seriously infringes or threatens the
child’s welfare or mental and moral
development;
- The conduct of a
parent of a child who is placed with another person or taken into temporary
custody if the parent fails to cooperate
with the foster parent or
children’s home, fails to keep contact with the child, and fails to change
his/her conduct and lifestyle
in order to terminate care;
- A crime
committed by the parent against the child if it was an intentional act and the
parent was sentenced to deprivation of liberty;
- Living together
with the other parent deprived of parental control if there is good reason to
believe that the parent would not exercise
parental control in accordance with
the child’s best interests.
- The
legal consequence of discontinuing parental control is that persons subject to
such a court decision may not adopt or may not
be guardians of a child; no
children may be placed with such a person; and such persons may not keep contact
with their children.
The court may restore the right to parental control for
the future if the reason for which the parental control had been discontinued
ceases to exist. A significant right that is important for the guardianship
authorities for performing the tasks that constitute
protection of a
child’s right is the right to start litigation for custody of the child,
changing custody, and terminating
and restoring the right to parental
control.
- In
resolution No. 32/1997 the Constitution Court ruled that men and women enjoy
equal rights and bear equal responsibilities when raising children.
- Directive
No. 17 of the Supreme Court provides, in connection with the custody of
children, that married partners have the responsibility
to protect the family
and the marriage and to provide the conditions required for the healthy
development of a child living in the
family pursuant to the Constitution and the
Family Act. Both parents are entitled as well as obliged to promote the
achievement of these objectives. Parents unless
otherwise agreed between them
or otherwise decided by a court exercise parental control together, regardless
of whether they still
live together as husband and wife. Therefore, neither
spouse has any privileges in terms of either rights or responsibilities.
Under
equal rights they are equally responsible for caring for the child, performing
the tasks related to childraising, as well as
for doing their share of the
family chores. The maintenance of the family, the development of the most
appropriate atmosphere for
raising the child and preserving this atmosphere is a
task for both spouses.
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) defines basic child health care as including
children’s welfare services, day care for children
and temporary care for
children. The tasks for children’s welfare services are to provide
information on children’s
rights and support for the development of the
child, promoting access to support and aid in order to help develop the physical
and
spiritual health of the child as well as to raise the child within a family;
and organizing family planning, psychological childraising,
health care, mental
health and addiction prevention counselling or organizing access to such
services. Municipalities provide the
organization, management and coordination
of children’s welfare services by operating a children’s welfare
service, either
in the framework of a family help service or by employing an
appropriate person. The children’s welfare service in coordination
with
the nurse service performs organizational, service and care tasks. Assistance
to parents and guardians as well as institutions
dealing with children is
ensured primarily through family care. It is mandatory to employ a family care
officer/family visitor in
institutions providing personal care, as defined in
the Child Welfare Act, for instance at the children’s welfare service,
in
temporary care for children and in specialist care for children’s
protection (children’s homes, network of foster
parents). The task of the
family care officer/family visitor is to help parents resolve their problems and
get assistance in raising
their children, to help the separated child
reintegrate into his/her natural (biological) family. The professional
conditions for
employing family care officers are regulated by separate
legislation for each type of care. Additional assistance to children living
with single parents or in families in a disadvantaged position relies on the
parent’s sense of responsibility and is provided
primarily as financial
aid. Single parents are entitled to a higher amount of family allowance and
schooling aid.
- In
2001 and 2002, separate centrally funded programmes were running within the
family policy grant application programme of the Ministry
for Social Welfare and
Family Affairs to assist families in disadvantaged positions. Generally,
children’s welfare and family
help services of municipalities or NGOs run
the programmes made available by these grants.
- As
a result of the amendment to the Public Education Act in 1999, children may
continue in nursery school at the parent’s request on the proposal of the
education consultant or the
expert and rehabilitation committee, and with the
agreement of the nursery school’s teaching staff, even if they have
reached
the age of 7 in the given year. Another component of the amendment also
promoted the schooling opportunities and the access of students
in a
disadvantaged position to vocational training by providing that if a student has
not completed the eight years of elementary
school by the given deadline and
reaches the age after which schooling is no longer compulsory,
- he/she
may participate in remedial courses in specialized schools and may enter the
first year of vocational training in the specialized
school after successfully
completing the remedial course. Starting from 2001, the Budget Act has been
providing double the amount
for supporting remedial courses in specialized
schools. One purpose of this regulation is to prevent students who have not
completed
elementary school from dropping out of the public education system
without the possibility of getting a qualification. The amended
Act provides
the possibility for students who are in a disadvantaged position due to their
health condition or level of development
to complete the first year of
elementary school as a preparatory course, in the framework of which they
prepare for studies in a
playful setting. Another opportunity for
these students is to comply with schooling requirements according to their
individual progress
(progress aligned to individual capacities and level of
development) during the first to fourth grades of school. Students need
not be obliged to repeat a school year if they know less than their classmates
in certain fields, because the Act provides the possibility
for these students
to meet the requirements defined in the school curriculum only by the end of the
fourth year.
- The
education programme plays a special role in the teaching programme, in which the
pedagogical principles, objectives and tasks
of the educational work conducted
in the school must be defined together with the tasks related to developing the
personality, pedagogical
activities related to the protection of children and
youth, and the programme to assist students with learning problems.
- The
development of a more flexible system is promoted by the possibility of
establishing integrated subjects and the possibility of
reallocating the number
of hours for a subject for not more than 10 per cent of the required
number of hours.
- Fullday
“schoolhome” school may provide the possibility for creating equal
opportunities primarily to children in a disadvantaged
position who have the
worst chances in the school education and training system. The Budget Act for
2001/2002 supports the organization
of schoolhome care and education through the
allocation of a separate additional budget. Schoolbooks and meals at school
have to
be provided free of charge to those schoolhome students for whom parents
receive special additional childraising aid. Both the care
programmes of
nursery schools and the education programmes of schools must include the tasks
related to child protection. The Ministry
of Education firmly represented the
interests of the groups living on the peripheries of society by amending the
legislation and
making the decisions to provide financing.
2. Separation from parents (art. 9)
Paragraphs 6973
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), children may be separated from their
parents or other relatives only in their own interest,
in cases and a manner
specified by law. Children may not be separated from their families for being
endangered purely due to financial
reasons. In this case children have the
right to protection substituting the care of parents or other relatives,
primarily in adoptive
families, foster families or in children’s homes
accommodating a small number of children. The freedom of conscience and
religion
as well as the national, ethical and cultural ties of children have
also to be respected in the course of such substitute care.
- Pursuant
to the Family Act, if placement with a parent endangers a child’s
interests, the court may place the child with another
person, assuming that this
person him/herself requests the child to be placed with him/her. In the course
of court proceedings all
interested parties must be heard.
- The
child is entitled to keep personal and direct contact with the parent who lives
separated from the child. Children also have
the right to keep contact with
both parents also if the parents live in different States. In especially
justified cases, a parent
whose right to parental control has been discontinued
by the court may also be authorized to keep contact with the child in the
interest
of a minor. Decisions related to the substitute protection of children
will be taken by the municipal guardianship authorities,
and the decisions
related to this must serve the best interest of the child, respecting also the
right of the child to express his/her
opinion. These decisions may be appealed
or may be contested before the court. If a parent is not able to care for the
child for
health reasons, justified absence or some other factor that prevents
the parent from caring for the child, it will be given full
care in the
frameworks of temporary care. Temporary care for children meals, clothing,
health care, schooling, education and accommodation
corresponding to the
child’s health condition and age, promoting the physical, intellectual,
emotional and moral development
of the child shall be provided on the request
of the parent who exercises parental control or with his/her consent. Temporary
care
shall be provided by substitute parents or in temporary children’s
homes. It is an important provision of the Child Protection
Act (Gyvt.) that
the parent and the child must be placed together if they become homeless,
i.e. it does not allow, or makes it possible
only in especially justified
cases, removing children from their parents and addressing their problems
separately. For this purpose,
municipalities have to operate a temporary home
for families or conclude a supply agreement with the operator of such an
institution.
- The
primary obligation of the guardianship authorities is to provide for the
children whose parents are not alive or whose parents
cannot exercise their
rights of parental control. Guardians must be appointed for such children, and
efforts should be aimed primarily
to ensure that further care for these children
is provided in a family environment. Care within a family is assisted by the
institution
of “acceptance into a family”, as defined in the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.); in this case the guardianship authorities
consent to
children being accepted into, cared for and raised by a family designated by the
parent, on a temporary basis, because
the parent’s health condition,
justified absence or other family reason make this necessary. The guardianship
authorities
assign the parent who accepts a child into a family as the guardian
of the child. The parent is entitled to keep contact with the
child as well as
to make decisions on basic issues concerning the child’s life together
with the family, such as determining
the child’s name, designating his/her
place of residence or selecting his/her school.
- If
a child cannot be placed with a guardian or adoptive parent, the State must
ensure substitute protection, primarily with foster
parents or in a
children’s home, as possible. Children placed with foster parents or in
children’s homes must be provided
care which gives the child a home,
including full care for the child and family care to be provided to the
child’s family,
the purpose of which is to allow the child to return to
his own family as soon as possible. After a child leaves the institutional
child welfare system, followup care continues in the framework of which the
child’s integration into his/her own family or
the starting of his/her own
family as an adult is assisted.
- If
a child remains without supervision or his physical, intellectual, emotional and
moral development is seriously threatened by his
family environment and this
requires immediate placement elsewhere, the notary of the municipality, the
guardianship authorities,
the court, the police, the prosecution organization or
the headquarters of the penalty institution will place the child with his/her
parent living separately from the child who is capable of and agrees to raise
the child or another relative or person, or, if this
is not possible, with the
closest foster parent performing temporary care tasks; if this too is not
possible, the child will be placed
in a children’s home or other boarding
institution on a temporary basis in the framework of specialized care.
- The
guardianship authorities will take over the child for temporary care if the
child’s development is endangered by his family
environment and this
threat could not be eliminated with the services provided in the framework of
basic care and by providing protection
for the child, or cannot be expected to
yield results, and if appropriate care for the child cannot be provided within
his family.
At the time the child is taken for temporary care, the guardianship
authorities will place the child with a foster parent or if
this is not
possible in a children’s home or another boarding institution and will
assign a (professional) guardian. The
guardianship authorities will take over
the child for permanent care if the child has no parent to provide supervision
and care for
the child cannot be guaranteed by way of an assigned guardian, or
if the parent has made a statement of consent to the adoption of
his/her child
and it was not possible to place a child temporarily with a prospective eligible
adoptive parent. At the time of accepting
a child for permanent care, the
guardianship authorities will place the child with a foster parent or, if this
is not possible, in
a children’s home or other boarding institution, and
will assign a (professional) guardian.
- In
the course of temporary custody or accepting a child for temporary or permanent
care, the guardianship authorities will determine
the place where the child will
be cared for based on the professional opinion of the child welfare authorities
in the area or the
proposal of the custody hearing. In the course of custody,
the child’s nationality and religious and cultural ties shall be
taken
into account as well as the possibility of placing siblings together, the
child’s health condition and the distance from
the child’s earlier
place of residence and school. The forms of contact between children removed
from their families and their
parents or other close relatives entitled to keep
contact regulated by a resolution of the guardianship authorities are:
continuous
and periodic contact, with the right to take the child away and the
obligation to return the child; visit to the child’s place
of residence;
correspondence; contact by phone; giving gifts; sending packages. The task of
the children’s home is to promote
contact between children and their
families and the children’s return to their families, for the sake of
which it shall cooperate
with the family, the children’s welfare service
dealing with the family, the regional children’s protection specialist
service and the guardianship authorities.
- Foster
parents shall ensure contact of the children raised by them with the parents and
close relatives authorized to keep contact,
as provided in a resolution of the
guardianship authorities; this, naturally, does not mean only contact in the
parent’s own
home.
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), the purpose of keeping contact is to
maintain the contact between children and parents
as well as close relatives
entitled to keep contact. Both parents and grandparents are entitled to keep
contact with the child and,
if a parent or grandparent is not alive or is
prevented from keeping contact, siblings of the children who are of age,
siblings of
the child’s parents and spouses of parents are also entitled
to keep contact. Children who have reached the age of 14 may
submit an
application to keep contact with their parents on their own. In justified
cases, the guardianship authorities will promote
contacts between a detained or
imprisoned parent and their children if this does not endanger the child. The
guardianship authorities
and the court take care of the matter of keeping
contact primarily by reaching a settlement, in the course of which they also
seek
agreement between the parents and children who have reached the age of 14.
The guardianship authorities and court will restrict
rights to keep contact
already established if the person to whom the right to keep contact had been
granted abuses this right to
the detriment of the child or the person raising
the child, in the child’s best interest. If the person to whom the right
was granted commits a serious abuse, a suspension of the right to keep contact
may be ordered. The right to keep contact may be
withdrawn if the person to
whom the right was granted seriously abuses this right and by doing so,
seriously endangers the child’s
upbringing and development.
- Directive
No. 17 of the Supreme Court provides that the common responsibility of the
parents for the life of the child will not cease
with divorce. The dissolution
of marriage does not necessarily mean that either of the parents loses the
child. Both parents and
the child must strive to maintaining parentchild
relationships because it is in the child’s best interest to know that both
parents are behind him/her and that he/she may expect help from both parents
particularly at the turning points of life, e.g. deciding
on studies and
preparing for life.
- The
governing judicial practice including during the reporting period dealt with
the issue of placing children and keeping contact
in several cases. The
following section provides summaries of significant court rulings:
(a) BH1998.283. Placement of a child with one of the parents will
not affect the right and obligation of the other parent to regularly
visit the
child, express his/her affection, and maintain an intimate relationship with the
child. A parent who restricts the child
from getting in touch with the other
parent without reason and turns the child against the other parent is proceeding
in a manner
which seriously infringes the child’s best interest;
(b) BH1998.26. When selecting the most appropriate way of placing the
child, the court may depart from the requests of the parties,
and may make an ex
officio decision on custody that serves the child’s best interests;
(c) BH1999.72. The irresponsible dissolution of family life, unjustified
humiliation of the spouse and the regular repetition of
such humiliation
constitute conduct which, if established, gives rise to doubt whether the given
parent has the personal and moral
characteristics necessary for raising a
child;
(d) BH2000.205. The fact that positive changes have taken place in the
situation of a parent who lives separately from the child
in itself does not
justify a change in the custody of the child;
(e) BH2001.432. It is reasonable to change the custody of children who have
reached the age of 14 and who had been placed with their
grandparents if it is
in their best interest and their wish to be raised by their mother in the
future, if she is capable of raising
them;
(f) BH1997.81. The primary criterion in determining the method and duration
of keeping contact is the child’s best interest;
on the other hand,
individual characteristics of the case play an important role in the decision.
Therefore, the court may provide
for keeping contact in a manner other than the
usual practice and to the usual extent;
(g) BH1997.537. When placing a child, the question of permanence shall be a
predominant consideration because it is very rare that
a change in his/her
environment would not cause a child emotional distress. Permanent placement can
be changed only if the child’s
physical, intellectual and moral
development is no longer ensured in his/her current environment. Any change in
custody should be
in the child’s best interest;
(h) BH1998.180. The question of permanence is irrelevant in the case of a
parent who displays arbitrary or violent conduct and with
the intention to
exclude the other parent from the child’s life;
(i) BH1997.231. “Permanence” created by preventing contact may
not be evaluated as an advantage in favour of the parent
who displays
objectionable conduct;
(j) BH2001.280. The fact that the parent who raises the child moves from the
home which had been their joint homes and enters into
a relationship and lives
together with a partner after the settlement concerning the custody of the child
in itself does not provide
a basis for changing custody if that is not in the
child’s best interest;
(k) BH1998.132. If conditions are equally favourable with both parents,
siblings may be placed separately in justified cases;
(l) BH2000.451. The placing of siblings with different parents is not an
infringement of the law if this takes place in accordance
with a situation that
evolved over several years and is in line with the wishes of the children and
with their best interest;
(m) BH2001.479. The court may decide only after having explored all
circumstances concerning the child’s life and considered
all of the
circumstances together; giving excessive weight to certain circumstances and
ignoring other aspects prevent the judge
from appropriately applying the
principle of the child’s best interest in placing the child;
(n) BH1999.413. The child’s emotional attachment may not justify a
decision that represents an impediment to the child’s
healthy development
in the course of further care;
(o) BH2001.125. In the absence of culpable conduct that threatens the
child’s best interest, the right to contact, including
the right to take
the child away, may not be refused to the parent who lives separately from the
child.
- During
the reported period, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights found in a
number of cases of children in care keeping
contact that the guardianship
authorities had not exhausted all the possibilities provided by legislation, had
not taken consistent
measures for promoting contacts, and by the prolonged
procedures and exceeding the deadline for settling matters had infringed the
relevant procedural rules, as a result of which the right of children to
- appropriate
protection and family relations had been infringed (for instance: OBH
4163/2000, OBH 3472/2000, OBH 4387/1998, OBH 4657/1999,
OBH 1059/2000, OBH
2723/2000, OBH 2950/2000).
- Pursuant
to the Report of the General Deputy to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil
Rights No. OBH 4497/2001, the husband of
a convict temporarily placed in the
prison hospital in Tököl complained in a petition that he was informed
about the birth
of his son only days later. He was not able to talk to his wife
on the phone, and was not able to see his newborn son at the prison
hospital.
Only one visit per month was allowed, and only for five minutes, through glass.
The institution did not give any information
about the child’s condition
and care, and the boy was not placed together with his mother. In the course of
the investigation
the Deputy found that the constitutional rights of the father
and his son born in the prison hospital had been infringed. The child
and the
parent living separately are entitled to keep contact, as provided in the Family
Act, and it is also a responsibility of
the parent to do so. The person who
raises the child is obliged to ensure undisturbed, personal and direct
contact.
- Pursuant
to report No. OBH 3018/1999, according to the Government Decree on guardianship
authorities, child welfare and guardianship
procedures, the purpose of keeping
contact is to maintain family ties between child and parent and other close
relatives entitled
to keep contact, and to allow the authorized parent to
continuously monitor and possibly help, as much as he/she can, with the raising
and development of the child. All this cannot mean that a parent entitled to
keep contact should rigidly insist on contactkeeping
dates set many years
before, even when the children are already grown and have other plans and
programmes corresponding to their
age. Rigid insistence on dates would weaken
rather than strengthen the ties between the child and the parent who lives
separately.
3. Family reunification (art. 10)
Paragraphs 7475
- Act
XXXIX of 2001 on the entry and stay of aliens in Hungary (Alien Act) defines the
rules for the stay of family members of persons
entitled to stay in Hungary in
order to ensure that families live together. Pursuant to the Act, in order to
ensure that the family
lives together, the spouse, the minor child of a
Hungarian citizen and an alien having a residence, a permit to stay, or
recognized
as a refugee in Hungary who are staying in Hungary, and minor
children of the spouse (including adopted children), are entitled to
a residence
permit on request if the conditions are met. The immigration authority issues
the residence permit to children of aliens
with a residence permit who were born
in Hungary without investigating the legislative conditions. The Office and the
regional immigration
authority will also issue residence permits to those who
were born in the territory of the Republic of Hungary and remained without
the
supervision of the person who was responsible for him/her under Hungarian law in
the absence of the conditions required for residence
by law for humanitarian
considerations provided that this person has not obtained Hungarian citizenship
or a right to stay in Hungary
due to any other legal title. The residence
permit of such a minor child may be withdrawn or the extension of the permit may
be
refused only if the family is reunited, or State or other institutional care
is provided in the minor’s State of origin or
a third country.
- Aliens
who have been in Hungary for five years with an unlimited residence permit may
be expelled from the country under the Alien
Act only if their further stay
poses a serious threat to national security or public security. In this case
increased legal protection
for the alien is justified by his/her integration.
The Alien Act provides the same for minors who were born in the territory of
the
Republic of Hungary or who entered unaccompanied, as well as to aliens living in
marriage or in a family with Hungarian citizens.
Permits for the purpose of
settling in Hungary may be granted to aliens who have been in Hungary for at
least three years from the
date of their entry, without interruption and
lawfully. Aliens who have a residence visa or residence permit and request to
settle
in Hungary as a family member for the purpose of reuniting the family may
be exempted from these criteria, provided that they have
been
staying legally in Hungary with a Hungarian citizen, an alien having a
permit to stay or an immigration permit or an alien recognized
as a refugee in
Hungary, in a family community for at least one year from the date of
entry.
- No
permit for settlement may be granted to aliens who suffer from diseases that
threaten public health, unless they request the permit
for settlement as family
members for the purpose of living together with a spouse or minor children who
are Hungarian citizens, provided
that they receive compulsory and regular health
care. Unaccompanied minors who do not meet the conditions for legal stay may be
expelled only if the family is reunited, or care in a State or other institution
is provided in the child’s State of origin
or a third country.
- The
implementation orders for the Alien Act provides that in order to protect the
interests of unaccompanied minors, immigration authorities
must immediately take
measures to assign a case guardian when the procedure is instituted. Pursuant
to the Government Decree on
the enforcement of the Alien Act, child welfare
institutions, reception centres that place unaccompanied minors separately,
other
contracted accommodations or private accommodation may accommodate
unaccompanied minors. Unaccompanied minors may be placed with
a relative who is
not considered to be a close family member if the relative agrees in writing to
take care of the child and the
placement obviously serves the child’s best
interest.
- The
legislative package on migration defines the legal concept of persons authorized
to stay under the scope of alien police regulations,
together with the group of
aliens who are not sent back to their countries of origin who are entitled to
stay in Hungary for humanitarian
reasons.
- Children
who have reached the age of 14 and are authorized to stay are entitled to pocket
money every month starting from the third
month of the stay, free of charge, at
the community shelter. The amount is determined by the Minister of the
Interior.
- Compulsory
schooling applies also to children authorized to stay as
of 1 September 1999. At the request of the legal representative,
the
cost of meals related to nursery school care and placement in elementary
schools, boarding schools and child welfare institutions
of children authorized
to stay will be given directly to the institution. Starting on 1 January 2002,
the legal representative of
persons authorized to stay who study in elementary
school will be entitled to a onetime grant to start school at the beginning of
the school year or, occasionally, on a welfare basis.
Paragraph 76
- LawDecree
14 of 1986 on the promulgation of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, signed on
25 October 1980, and Decree of the
Minister of Justice No. 7/1988 (VIII. 1) on its implementation provide for
regulating the contact
between children and their parent living in different
States. Pursuant to the Family Act, children have the right to keep contact
with both parents even if the parents live in different States. This is
confirmed by the governing judicial practice (BH2001.230),
which rules that it
is the constitutional right of the child, as stipulated also in international
conventions, to keep contact with
their parent living apart even if the parents
live in different countries.
Paragraphs 7778
- The
Constitution stipulates that all persons staying in the territory of Hungary
lawfully except for the cases specified by law are entitled to
the right of
free movement and to the right to freely select the place of residence,
including the right to leave the place of residence
or the country. Aliens
staying lawfully in the territory of Hungary may be expelled only based on a
court ruling in accordance with
the Act.
- Act
XII of 1998 on travelling abroad provides that leaving the territory of the
Republic of Hungary including departure with the
intention of settling abroad
is a right to which all Hungarian citizens and aliens lawfully staying in the
country are entitled.
The right to travel abroad may be exercised and
restricted as stipulated by law. Hungarian citizens may return home from abroad
at any time. The right to return home may not be refused even in the absence of
conditions defined in the Act, and may not be restricted
and may not be linked
to other conditions. The Act contains certain provisions restricting travel
abroad as well. These include
persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty,
those in police custody or serving a prison sentence, those subject to a
prohibition
of leaving their place of residence, those sentenced to forced
medical treatment; and those who have tax, customs or social security
contribution debts of an amount of at least HUF 10 million, established by a
final and binding ruling.
- The
Alien Act provides that entry and stay may be permitted if aliens have valid
travel documents or a permit to stay and/or a valid
visa; have the legally set
amount of financial resources; if they are not subject to expulsion, prohibition
of entry and stay. In
the absence of these conditions, entry may be permitted
only for humanitarian considerations, national interest, or for complying
with
an obligation assumed in an international convention. The Minister of the
Interior may grant an exemption from meeting the
conditions for entry due to
important public interest, in particular for public health reasons, in order to
prevent epidemics or
in case of a natural disaster.
4. Illicit transfer and nonreturn (art. 11)
Paragraph 79
- The
Republic of Hungary is a State party to the Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction, signed in
The Hague on 25 October
1980. The responsible Hungarian authority for the Convention is the Ministry of
Justice. Based on this
Convention, cooperation is provided with several States
to return children who have been taken abroad from Hungary illegally, and
brought to Hungary illegally from abroad. We have bilateral international
agreements on legal assistance which provide the possibility
for mutual
recognition and enforcement of rulings on the placement of children (e.g. legal
assistance agreement between Hungary and
Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland,
Hungary and France and Hungary and Greece).
- Our
accession to the European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions
concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration
of Custody of Children, signed
in Luxembourg on 20 May 1980, is under preparation, and signature and
ratification will take place
in the near future.
- The
requirements set by the Hague Convention are reflected also in the governing
judicial practice. Case No. BH2002.401 finds that
in the course of applying the
Convention the child’s best interest is to immediately restore the right
of custody that had
been infringed. In addition, case No. BH2001.325 provides
for the rejection of an application for taking a child illegally brought
to
Hungary back if the return of the child would expose the child to unbearable
physical or mental damage.
- The
number of cases increases radically year after year: in 2000 the number of
requests to take children and visit children abroad
was 41, but in 2001 it was
already 52; the number of requests to bring children back and visit children
arriving in Hungary was 21
in 2000 and 27 in 2001.
5. Recovery of maintenance abroad (art. 27, para. 4)
Paragraph 80
- Pursuant
to the Family Act, parents are obliged to share whatever is available for their
common lives with their minor children, even
to the detriment of the livelihood
required for the parent him/herself. The parent who takes care of the child
shall provide the
care in kind, and the parent living separately from them shall
provide it primarily in money. Parents are responsible for the care
for the
child even if the child is raised by a grandparent. The amount of the child
support of a minor shall be paid to the parent
(guardian) or other person taking
care of the child who exercises parental control. The obligation to pay child
support may be settled
also with an appropriate asset or amount of money. In
the absence of agreement between parents, the court decides on the child
support.
In general, the amount of child support has to be determined at around
1525 per cent of the obligor’s average income, and
when
determining the child support, the child’s actual needs shall be taken
into account, together with the income and asset
conditions of both parents, and
also other dependant children supported in the household of the parents whether
their own or foster
children and the child’s own income. If a person
obliged to pay child support fails to meet his/her payment obligations,
the
entitled parent can request the court to garnish the obligor’s wages, the
rules for which are provided by law. The total
amount of the child support that
may be enforced against the obligor may not exceed 50 per cent of his
income. The guardianship
authorities may decide that the State would pay an
advance on the child support if the parent obliged to pay is not able to do so
temporarily and, as a result, the parent who takes care of the child is not able
to provide appropriate care for the child. Child
support cannot be advanced if
there is no hope that the advance will be recovered, for instance, if
- the
obligor’s place of residence is in a State where child support cannot be
enforced based on international agreement or reciprocity,
or if the
obligor’s place of residence abroad is unknown, or if garnishing his
regular income or other assets has failed to
bring results over three
years.
- Hungary
is a State party to the Convention on the Recovery of Maintenance Abroad signed
in New York on 20 June 1956, and the Convention
on the Recognition and
Enforcement of Maintenance Obligations towards Children signed in The Hague on
15 April 1958. Furthermore,
several bilateral legal assistance agreements
have been concluded between the Republic of Hungary and other States that also
cover
the provision of legal assistance in family law, and therefore claims are
enforced and collected through these channels.
- The
most important factor influencing collection of child support is whether the
person obliged to pay has a regular income. Under
Hungarian criminal law
failure to pay child support due to the payer’s own fault is a crime, but
the punishment may be waived
if voluntary compliance takes place before ruling
of the first instance.
- Resolution
no. 1091/B/1999 of the Constitution Court on investigating whether
article 196 (4) of the Criminal Code is in conflict with the Constitution.
According to the petitioner, this provision of the Criminal Code creates the
unjustified opportunity to escape punishment for those
who pay child support
only when criminal proceedings are already under way. The disputed regulation
merely indicates the intention
of the legislator to put the interest of the
party entitled to the child support before the State’s intention to
punish; in
other words, it is more important to meet the payment obligation than
to punish the perpetrator. The contested provision is not
in conflict with the
provisions of article 67 (1) of the Constitution; on the contrary, the
particular instrument made available to the judiciary may efficiently serve to
enforce the children’s
rights provided in the Constitution because it
encourages the obligor to pay child support.
- The
governing judicial practice including during the reporting period has dealt
with the issue of child support in several cases.
A summary of significant
court resolutions on this topic can be seen below:
(a) BH2001.580.
The child support shall be determined in a way so that none of the children is
put into a better situation than another,
particularly if they are not raised in
the same household;
(b) BH2001.123. The child support may be increased if the child’s
needs justify this and the income situation of the obligor
allows for it;
(c) BH2002.314. When increasing the amount of child support, due
consideration shall be given to the fact that providing care in
kind for a
seriously ill child with physical handicaps puts a much greater burden on the
parent taking care of this child. The claim
of the beneficiary aimed at
allowing an appropriate lifestyle depending on the situation of the minor, on
his/her age and orientation
covers not only basic needs such as housing, food,
clothes and schooling but depending on the capabilities of the parents the
costs of cultural, sports and other needs, except luxury needs. Providing care
in kind to adolescent children who are
seriously ill and are restricted in their movements due to physical handicaps
puts an enormous physical burden on the parent taking
care of such a child, as
is well known, and requires significantly more time and effort than for a normal
child;
(d) BH2000.159. Child support may not be advanced by the court in respect of
a child who has reached legal age. The court may pay
support only for minors,
in order to guarantee material security for raising them;
(e) BH1999.412. In the order of child support obligations, care for minors
precedes the care for children who have reached legal
age and are capable of
working, and of grandchildren;
(f) BH 1993/9/554, BH 1994/2/82. The defendant has three university degrees:
in transport engineering, mathematics and as a programmer.
Thus, he may clearly
be expected to pursue incomeearning activities that provide a regular income
that allows for payment of child
support suitable for covering the reasonable
needs of his child;
(g) BH1997.30: The obligor may be expected to pursue incomeearning
activities out of which he is able to pay the minimum amount of
child
support;
(h) BH1997.78. When determining the amount of child support, the assets of
the obligor shall also be taken into account in addition
to the taxable income
declared within the rules of selftaxation;
(i) BH2002.271. Child support may be increased if the parent’s
lifestyle and spending allows for concluding that his income
is substantially
higher than declared;
(j) BH1997.29. Judicial practice is consistent in that it does not consider
child support disbursed during extraordinary contact
to be a separate
remuneration, because child support serves to ensure continuous care for
children including the costs of housing,
travel, clothes, health care and
cultural, etc. in addition to daily meals. Thus, care provided during contact
in itself is not
enough to justify nonpayment of other expenditures arising
continuously;
(k) BH1999.258. Determining the amount of child support if both parents live
in very needy conditions. According to judicial practice,
the liability to pay
child support must take the fact into account the parents’ own needs and
that their ability to pay is
not unlimited, and the obligation to pay child
support may not lead to a situation where the parents’ lives are
jeopardized
by paying child support (BA1996/591). However, limited financial
conditions do not exempt parents from the obligation to pay child
support for
minors, particularly in a case where the other parent is not able to supplement
the child support. According to the
data in the case, it could be established
beyond doubt that both parties lived under very stringent conditions and had
limited income,
but had joint liability for supporting their child. The
plaintiff was not able to provide care in kind, even when she exercised
the
strictest of measures for her own support, that was necessary for the survival
of an adolescent child, so the defendant was obliged
to limit even his minimum
needs in order to make a contribution to the minimum maintenance of the child.
In this connection, the
ruling of the appeal court does not infringe the
law;
(l) BH1998.235. The child’s needs include an appropriate lifestyle,
including the material conditions for providing care for
raising the child, as
well as expenditure that meets needs that are reasonable based on the
child’s age. Judicial practice
today has distanced itself from the rigid
application of the principle according to which in determining the amount of
child support
the child has to be put into the same financial position as though
his/her parents were living together;
(m) BH1997.79. The parent taking care of the child shall ensure housing,
clothing, schooling, health care, travel costs, etc. for
the child in addition
to meals, i.e. all the child’s needs as they arise in the
child’s life, continuously or periodically,
and the parent living apart
from the child shall provide his/her share by paying child support to cover
these expenditures. It follows
from this that child support due monthly is not
meant to be used to cover the costs of that month, but is to be used by the
parent
taking care of the child for other expenditures as they arise.
6. Children deprived of their family environment (art.
20)
Paragraph 81
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), children who have been removed from their
families for whatever reason have the right
to receive care that is aligned to
their age, health condition, level of development and other needs, primarily in
an adopting family
or, if this is not possible, with foster parents or in
children’s homes with a small number of children. In the course of
providing substitute protection for children, their freedom of conscience and
religion shall be respected, and their national, ethnic
and cultural ties shall
be taken into account. Removing a child from the family is justified and lawful
if the risk cannot be removed
by providing aid, children welfare services, day
or temporary care for children that constitutes basic care, or by taking the
child
under protection as a statutory measure.
- In
the course of providing substitute protection for a child, it is important for
the ethnic and cultural links of the child to be
respected. Currently there is
no training for Roma foster parents, only a small number of prospective parents
are willing to adopt,
and no initiatives have been taken in this direction to
date. There is no special preparation for families that would help them
accept
and respect the identity of foster children.
Paragraphs 82 and 83
- The
network of children’s homes has changed and the network of foster parents
has strengthened since the Child Protection Act
(Gyvt.) came into force. Thus,
approximately 45 per cent of the 18,000 children removed from their
families live with foster parents.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights has repeatedly studied
the rights of children living in State care provided by child
welfare
services. Report OBH 550/1998 of the General Deputy to the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights studied the enforcement
of the
constitutional rights of children placed in children’s homes during the
reporting period. The report found constitutional
anomalies regarding the
accommodation, the material and personal conditions and the quality of life of
the children. A followup
study (OBH 2376/2002) was
- conducted
to inspect the implementation of the recommendations of the first study in the
five institutions where the highest number
of anomalies had been found. The
followup study stated that the rights of children to adequate physical,
intellectual and moral
development, as well as their rights to private property,
education and a healthy environment, were infringed in certain
institutions.
- In
report No. OBH 400/1999 the Parliamentary Commissioner established that children
of foreign citizenship had been raised in children’s
homes under an
unregulated legal status for several years. Moreover, Hungarian authorities had
demonstrated significant uncertainty
as to the procedures to be followed in
cases involving foreign children, and no one really knew why these children were
not placed
with foster parents. Information received from the county
guardianship authorities and the Budapest guardianship authorities strengthened
his assumption that the procedure for children of foreign citizenship was not
properly regulated, and thus the various guardianship
authorities and child
protection services followed different practices. There was no unified
supervision and monitoring in this
field and the measures were not harmonized.
There had been no central measures to ensure a unified interpretation of the
regulations,
and the individual cases were handled differently in various
counties, and sometimes even in various settlements of a given county.
- Following
the initiation of the study, the county guardianship authorities, the Budapest
guardianship authorities and the Department
of Family and Child Protection at
the Ministry of Social Welfare and Family Affairs turned their attention to this
issue. Meetings
were held at various levels and the first steps were made to
coordinate the activities of the guardianship authorities in this field.
The
most evident activity of the past six months was that the status of children of
foreign citizenship placed in State care institutions,
or temporarily or
permanently placed with foster parents was changed to “temporarily placed
in State care”. Many of
the second instance guardianship authorities were
faced for the first time with the fact that these cases are completely
unregulated.
Unfortunately, the campaign aimed at settling these issues was and
is focused primarily on administrative matters, and hardly any
measures had been
taken to redress the infringements of constitutional rights.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner has stated in several reports that the constitutional
rights of children living under State care are
infringed when they are placed
with foster parents who had not received adequate training. Constitutional
rights are also infringed
by the insufficient supervision of the activities of
the foster parents and the procrastination of measures aimed at solving the
problems arising in foster families. At the same time, the Parliamentary
Commissioner indicated that the new Child Protection Act
(Gyvt.) will resolve
this anomaly (see also: OBH 3308/1998, OBH 8201/1997, OBH 9202/1997).
- Report
No. OBH 6191/1996 established that the guardianship authorities had caused
constitutional anomalies by repeatedly infringing
procedural and substantive
laws. This resulted in further constitutional anomalies as the constitutional
right of children to the
highest level of physical, intellectual and moral
development had been severely infringed when the guardianship authorities
settled
the fate of the child with formal measures, without striving to ensure
the possibility of living in a family. The Commissioner asked
the notary of the
Municipality of ... and the head of the guardianship authority of ... to strive
for a more thorough understanding
of
- the
situation of children who are subjects of welfare procedures, to take measures
that can truly solve the situation of the children,
and to ensure, whenever
possible, that the children are raised in families.
- Report
No. OBH 3331/1998 of the General Deputy to the Parliamentary Commissioner. The
child has been raised at the Institute for
the Protection of Children and
Juveniles of Budapest since 1994. The child has a congenital heart disease
which was diagnosed at
the Institute of Cardiology several years ago. In 1993
the treating physician established that the child required an operation which
could help her recovery. The child’s mother explicitly opposed the
intervention, thus the child was not operated upon. It
is hereby established
that GyIVI (Institute for the Protection of Children and Juveniles) failed to
initiate the discontinuation
of the custody rights of the parents, as provided
by the guardianship authorities, to protect the interest of the child. Thus,
the
omission of the measures aimed at preventing the investigated events and at
alleviating the known consequences was detrimental to
the medical treatment of
the child. Thus, due to the negligence of the institution founded to enforce
the constitutional obligations
of the State with respect to the care and raising
of the child, the constitutional rights of the child to the highest levels of
physical
and spiritual health have been infringed, and thus a constitutional
anomaly has occurred.
- It
is established that the refusal of the health service institution to permit the
cardiac operation of the child raised at the institution
was legally unfounded,
as there was no legal possibility for the health institution to refuse the
operation/intervention due to the
request of the parent when the parental rights
of the parent were suspended. Thus, the health service institution has
infringed
the right to the highest level of physical and spiritual health of the
minor raised in an institution, and thus caused a constitutional
anomaly.
- Reports
No. OBH 3923/1999 and OBH 5667/1999. In order to enforce the Decree of the
General Assembly of SzabolcsSzatmárBereg
County aimed at decreasing the
number of municipal employees by 43, the Child Protection Service of the Local
Government of SzabolcsSzatmárBereg
County discharged 33 professional
foster parents, thereby essentially abolishing the staff of professional foster
parents in the
county. If the professional foster parent with view
to his/her oldage pension years does not undertake to continue to care
for
the children under his/her care as traditional foster parents,
children, who sometimes spend 1015 years in a foster family, are
placed
in new environments, or possibly institutions.
- Considering
the vulnerable and unprotected conditions of children, special emphasis should
be placed on enforcing their rights. It
is detrimental to the physical,
intellectual and moral development of the child if he/she is separated from
his/her foster parent
and is placed in an institution for any length of time.
The child would lose his/her roots and the sense of security provided by
the
foster family.
- OBH
3684/2000. Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner. In accordance with the
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), a child can only be
separated from his/her parents
in his/her own interests. It is a major dilemma for guardianship authorities to
decide to what extent
a family should be helped in order to prevent the
separation of the child or children from his/her parents, and which events
justify
the separation (removal) of the child from his/her family.
7. Adoption (art. 21)
Paragraph 84
- According
to the Family Law Act the aim of adoption is to create a familial relationship
between the adopter and his/her relatives
and the adoptee, and to primarily
ensure the raising of orphans or children whose parents are unable to raise them
adequately. The
adoptee gains the legal status of the child of the adopter.
The parental rights and obligations of the natural parents are annulled.
The
adopted child uses the surname of the adopter. The first name of the adoptee
can also be changed with the authorization of
the guardianship authorities. In
exceptional cases, the adoptee can keep his/her original surname. The Family
Law Act prohibits
the authorization of adoption if the involved entities or
individuals receive remuneration for the process of the adoption. Moreover,
adoption cannot be authorized if it is contrary to the interests of the child.
The process of adoption consists of two distinct
phases: the preparatory phase
and the official phase. In both phases, the decision is made by the city
guardianship authorities.
The decision can be appealed or contested in
court.
- There
are two types of adoption. In open adoption, the natural parent consents
to the adoption of his child knowing the particulars
of the adopter,
i.e. the natural parent and the adopter know each other and,
essentially, file a joint request for the authorization
of the adoption. In
case of open adoptions, the parent cannot revoke his/her consent to the
adoption. In closed adoption, there
is no personal contact between the
parent and the adopter. The parent is not notified of the adoption and cannot
contest the decision,
either in an administrative or in a judicial
procedure. A child can be the subject of a closed adoption if the natural
parent has
consented to place his/her child for adoption by a person unknown to
him/her, if the court annuls his/her parental rights or if the
guardianship
authorities rule in an absolute decree that a child raised in an institution or
by foster parents can be adopted. The
statement of consent to placing
a child for adoption which can be made prior to the birth of the baby can
be revoked until the
child is 2 months of age. Foreign citizens can only adopt
children through closed adoption.
- A
person is qualified to become an adopter if he/she is a legally competent adult,
whose personality and situation render him/her
qualified to adopt the child.
The psychological aptitude tests are aimed at assessing whether the motivation
for the adoption, the
situation of the adopting family (adopter), the age and
personality, and the childraising concepts of the adopter can ensure the
harmonious development of the child. The health aptitude test aims to establish
whether the adopter has any diseases or deficiencies
of health, sensory organs,
mental capacities, or severe psychotic disorders, alcohol or drug dependency, or
any disease that may
hinder his/her capacity to look after the child, or which
may endanger the development of the child.
- The
adoption is authorized by the guardianship authorities. Thus, prior to deciding
upon the concrete request for adoption, the guardianship
authorities perform an
indepth home study of the adopting family and decides upon the placement of the
child with the adopting family;
ascertains within the period set by the Family
Law Act (at least one month) that the child is integrated into the adopting
family;
obtains expert opinion concerning the child’s personality; and
calls upon the regional child protection service to obtain further
expert
opinions, if necessary.
- The
following documents are required for the authorization of the adoption: a
statement of consent containing the request of the
parties (adopter and
adoptee), as well as the consent of the child’s parents and the spouse of
the married adopter. The parent
can consent to the adoption without having
information on the identity and the particulars of the adopter. A parent can
revoke his/her
consent until the child is 6 weeks old. The right of parental
supervision is discontinued upon issuance of the statement if the
child in
question is older than 6 weeks, or in case the statement involves a child
under 6 weeks when the child reaches 6 weeks of
age.
- If
the child is older than 6 years or if the child’s health is impaired, the
consent statement of the parent is only valid if
approved by the guardianship
authorities. Parental consent to adoption is not necessary if the guardianship
authorities have ruled
that the child can be adopted; if the whereabouts of the
parent is unknown or the parent is legally incompetent. The consent of
the
spouse is not required if the couple have been separated.
- During
the reported period, the governing judicial practice has repeatedly examined
cases involving the adoption of children. Following
is a list of the major
court rulings concerning this area:
(a) BH2001.323. An adoption
can only be annulled if it is evidently no longer capable of fulfilling its aim
and social objective.
An adoption cannot fulfil its aim if the parties do not
expect any emotional or other type of care from each other, if the parties
have
become estranged and their relationship has become purely formal. The fact that
the relationship between the parties has loosened
on account of legal disputes
between the parents or the physical distance between the domiciles of the
parties cannot lead to the
conclusion that the family relationship between the
parties has irrevocably ceased;
(b) BH2000.158. In order to assess whether the adoption has become
unsuitable to fulfil its social aim and role, the relationship
between the
parties during the entire period of the adoption should be studied;
(c) BH2000.19. The existence of conflicts especially if the party
requesting the annulment of the adoption was also involved in
the creation of
the conflicts does not in itself constitute a basis for the annulment of the
adoption;
(d) BH2000.60. The aim of the adoption is not exclusively to ensure
adequate education and care for the child, but also to ensure
that the adopter,
as a result of the parentchild relationship, will receive support and care in
his/her old age.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights and the General Deputy to the
Parliamentary Commissioner have conducted inquiries
concerning the adoption of
children:
(a) Report No. OBH 3194/1997. The plaintiff had a
grievance concerning the adoption procedure of his child. From the start, the
procedure of the guardianship authorities was characterized by hastiness,
misinterpretation of the laws and consequently a series
of infringements of the
law, and the provision of false information to the plaintiff. The measures
of the guardianship authorities
created a situation which was
incomprehensible even to people
capable of understanding the administrative procedures of various
authorities. The plaintiff was not informed of decisions involving
his child,
he was misinformed on several occasions and, for a long time, he was not
even aware of the whereabouts of his child, which
resulted in legal
insecurity;
(b) According to report No. OBH 3879/1999, it is important for both the
adopted child and the future adopter that they only meet
after the child can
legally be adopted and the parental aptitude of the adopter has been
ascertained. In pending cases there is
a possibility that the adoption will be
cancelled. (The child is not available for adoption, or the future adopter
is deemed unsuitable.)
However, an emotional link may be formed between
the child and the adult. It is undesirable for a child living in State care,
and
thus more vulnerable, to completely lose his or her trust in adults
following an unsuccessful adoption procedure. In order to prevent
future
infringements of the law, the head of the county guardianship authorities held
meetings with the participation of the relevant
experts to establish how
adoption procedures should be conducted in accordance with regulations;
(c) Report No. OBH 2260/1999. During the onsite inspection of a
children’s home on 7 May 1999, the teachers of the institution
said that they had recently learned about the annulment of the adoption of
D.Zs., an 11yearold
girl raised in the institution. The adopters requested the
placement of the child in the institution, as she was more problematic
than
average. The guardianship authorities authorized the annulment of the adoption
and ruled that the child no longer had the right
to the name she had
previously used for nine years, and was reregistered under the name she had
received at birth. Thus, the first
name of the child was also changed. The
procedure of the annulment of the adoption took 18 months. The guardianship
authorities
did not even formally assess the interest of the child; the decision
was based on the statements of the adopters and a school opinion
issued several
years before. According to the Family Law Act, following the annulment of an
adoption, the adoptee has the right
to use the surname gained by the adoption if
it is justified by the circumstances resulting from the adoption, or the length
of the
period for which the adopted surname was used. Changing the first
name of the child without the expert opinion of a professional
or a teacher who
knew the child, or even the child herself, as she was in possession of
discretionary abilities, resulted in severe
infringements of
the constitutional right to human dignity. A child who was in dire need of
help and professional treatment was
deprived of her first name at the age of
11.
Paragraph 85
- According
to the Family Law Act, Hungarian citizenship is not a prerequisite for either
the adopter or the adoptee; the adoption of
children of Hungarian citizenship by
foreign citizens is therefore not precluded. The amendment of 1995 of the
Family Law Act states,
however, that foreign citizens can only adopt children
who are in State care. With regard to international adoption, the Family
Law
Act stipulates that it is only possible on condition that the child was not
adopted within Hungary because no one requested the
adoption of the child, or
the measures aimed at the adoption of the child were unsuccessful. Adoption is
also precluded if the adoption
entails remuneration for either party or any
other person or authority participating in the process of the
adoption.
- Foreign
citizens can submit their requests at the National Institute of Family and
Social Policies, with the exception of requests
by the relatives or spouse of
the parent. The expert opinion attesting the aptitude of the applicant should
also be attached, along
with the report of the inspection of the domicile, an
income report, a preliminary authorization of the foreign State, a statement
concerning the reasons for the adoption and the adopter’s plans concerning
the child, and a document attesting the legitimacy
of the agent organization.
As a result of amendment of the Family Law Act, carried out in accordance
with the Convention, the number
of foreign adoptions has decreased: while in
1990, 132 of the 958 adopted children were taken abroad, in 1998 only 80 of
the 850
adopted children were adopted by foreigners, i.e. the percentage of
foreign adoptions in 1990 and 1998 was 13.7 per cent and
10.6
per cent, respectively. The parental aptitude test is not
performed within the framework of a preliminary procedure, but during
the actual
adoption procedure.
- Although
the conditions of adoption are regulated by law, there are considerable
shortcomings in the following areas:
- The aptitude
test is not unified in the various counties. A decisive principle, which
focuses primarily on the interests of the child,
is often infringed: it is
always the child for whom we should find suitable parents, and not the other way
around;
- A study
conducted in infant’s homes in 2000 has revealed that children who could
be adopted are unduly kept in State care for
years;
- The preparation
of the adopting parents is inadequate;
- For women in
crisis pregnancies, the primary objective is not to arrange the adoption of the
unborn child. The primary task is to
help the women in a crisis pregnancy to
decide whether she wants to raise the child and, if she decides to consent to
the adoption
of her child, she should be able to do this with
dignity.
Paragraph 86
- The
Republic of Hungary (previously the People’s Republic of Hungary) has
entered into bilateral agreements concerning the regulation
of issues of common
law, family law and criminal law. We have agreements in force with the
Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic, the
Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, the
Republic of Cuba, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, the
People’s Republic
of Mongolia, the Federal Socialist Republic of
Yugoslavia, the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, the People’s Republic
of
Albania, the People’s Republic of Poland, the People’s Republic
of Romania and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
- The
amendment of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) affects the regulations of the
Family Law Act concerning adoption, by introducing
a minimum and maximum age
difference between the adopter and the adoptee (16 years and 45 years,
respectively), and decrees the obligatory
participation at preparatory courses
(except for adoption by spouses or relatives) and states that children should
preferably be
adopted by couples. Our future plans include the regulation of
the activities of private organizations acting as agents in adoptions
and the
procedure for the authorization of such agencies, in addition to ensuring the
conditions required for joining the Hague Convention
signed in 1993.
Adoption and annulment (City guardianship authorities)
(Abbreviation: CSJT: Family Act)
No.
|
Description
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
1.
|
Total number of authorized adoptions
|
850
|
928
|
949
|
2.
|
Of these (line 1)
|
Children under permanent State care
|
283
|
326
|
323
|
3.
|
Children under temporary State care, deemed adoptable
|
110
|
144
|
177
|
4.
|
Authorized in accordance with the consent statement of the
parent
|
Spouse
|
286
|
236
|
268
|
5.
|
(with the exception of CSJT article 48
[3])
|
Other
|
166
|
107
|
104
|
6.
|
(with the exception of CSJT Article 48 [3])
|
|
106
|
66
|
7.
|
The number of approved adoptions by foreign citizens (from line
1)
|
Closed
|
55
|
116
|
108
|
8.
|
Open (spouse, relative)
|
25
|
31
|
20
|
9.
|
The number of decrees authorizing the adoption of foreign
minors
|
9
|
24
|
11
|
10.
|
Number of annulled adoptions
|
20
|
21
|
12
|
11.
|
Of these (line 10)
|
Children under permanent State care
|
6
|
6
|
3
|
12.
|
Children under temporary State care, deemed adoptable
|
|
2
|
2
|
13.
|
Authorized in accordance with the consent statement of the
parent
|
11
|
10
|
5
|
14.
|
Of the annulled adoptions:
|
Minors
|
10
|
14
|
9
|
15.
|
Adults
|
10
|
7
|
3
|
16.
|
The number of minors decreed adoptable
|
221
|
322
|
372
|
17.
|
The number of parents decreed suitable to adopt a child
|
1 856
|
1 672
|
1 631
|
18.
|
The number of rejected applications for suitability to adopt a
child
|
27
|
29
|
18
|
8. Periodic review of placement (art. 25)
Paragraph 87
- The
guardianship authorities review the conditions of the temporary or permanent
placement of the child in State care based on recommendations
and information
gained from the guardian, official guardian, foster parent, children’s
home, the child welfare authorities
or the regional child welfare services, and
the expert opinion of the child protection expert committee. The review is
conducted
annually for children over 3 years of age, and semiannually for
children under 3 years of age. Based on the results of the review,
the
guardianship authorities shall decide on the following issues: maintenance or
modification of the individual placement plan
and place of care; initiation of
the annulment of the right of parental custody, or if this is not required,
declaring that the child
can be adopted; the discontinuation of the temporary
State care of the child. The aim of the annual review is to ensure that the
care provided and the individual placement plan suit the individual needs of the
child.
- The
individual placement plan approved by the guardianship authorities includes:
- Designation of
the person to whom the child shall be returned after the termination of the
temporary State care;
- The expected
length of the period in State care;
- Recommendations
concerning the personal contacts between the child and his/her parents
(visits);
- The conditions
to be met by the parent and the child in order to terminate the
State care;
- The necessity of
judicial or administrative measures;
- Date of the
regular review.
Paragraph 88
- In
order to ensure that the periodic assessment of the child’s situation is
substantiated by expert opinions, the amendment
of the Child Protection Act
(Gyvt.) designates the county, capital and national child protection expert
committees. The opinion
issued by these committees contains recommendations as
to the adequate form of State care and the individual placement plan for the
child. The child protection expert committee consists of at least three
members, or at least five members in cases involving children
with special
needs. The permanent members of the expert committee shall include one
paediatrician, one paediatric psychologist,
one social worker, one psychiatrist
and one special education teacher. Special experts can also be included in the
child protection
expert committee depending on the child’s health and
mental condition and general personality. The amendment to the Act introduces
the legal instrument of childcare supervision, which is ordered if a child with
special needs demonstrates behaviour that is or may
be hazardous to his/her or
other people’s life or health and such behaviour is due to a disease
or psychological disorder,
on condition that such hazards can be averted by
examination, care and therapy conducted in closed circumstances. Barring
exceptional
cases, the guardianship authorities must comply with the opinion of
the aforementioned child protection expert committees. Childcare
supervision
should be reviewed as necessary, but at least monthly by the guardianship
authorities and/or the court of justice.
- The
files of children living in State care prior to when the Child Protection Act
(Gyvt.) came into force were reviewed by the city
guardianship authorities in
close cooperation with the regional child protection services (TEGYESZ),
and since 1999 the files of
each child in temporary or permanent State care have
been reviewed annually. The situation of children placed in State care, with
special emphasis on children placed in children’s homes, is monitored
continuously, with obligatory periodic and continuous
reviews conducted in
accordance with the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.).
- The
cooperation between the guardianship authorities and the regional child
protection services is incidental: measures are often
taken by the former
without the knowledge of the latter. Another problem is that if a child is
brought under child protection care,
it is not always established that the
measure was justified and that all necessary steps had been taken in the field
of primary care.
Although according to an underlying principle of the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.) a child should not be removed from his/her family
due to
endangerment of a purely financial nature, this principle is often infringed in
practice. The use of the registration cards
(“teddybear cards”), as
provided by law, should become much more widespread.
9. Abuse and neglect (art. 19), including physical and
psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art. 39)
Paragraph 89
- The
substantive and procedural penal laws aimed at protecting children and juveniles
were compiled so as to ensure that the Hungarian
regulations comply with the
relevant international documents including the Convention. Although the Penal
Code currently does not
include “child abuse” as a legal
concept, it enables the sanction of the forms of child abuse established in the
Convention,
if the action comes under any of the provisions of the Penal
Code.
- The
Penal Code defines the crime of genocide and states that someone removing a
child belonging to any national, ethnic, religious
or racial group with the
intent of completely or partially annihilating the group commits the crime of
genocide and is liable to
1015 years of imprisonment or life
imprisonment.
- According
to the Penal Code the murder of a person under the age of 14 years shall
constitute a case of aggravated murder and shall
be liable to 1015 years of
imprisonment or life imprisonment.
- The
murder of a newborn baby is also punishable according to the Penal Code. Any
woman who murders her newborn during labour or immediately
after birth is liable
to two to eight years of imprisonment.
- An
aggravated case of assault is committed if the assault is directed against
people incapable of defence or expressing their will.
Assault is punishable by
imprisonment of up to three years, while aggravated assault is punishable
by imprisonment of one to five
years. According to the Penal Code, children
under 12 years of age are deemed incapable of defending themselves.
- Article
195 of the Penal Code sets forth the crime of the endangerment of minors,
whereby a person in charge of raising, supervising
or caring for a minor can be
punished with one to five years of imprisonment if, due to failure to comply
with their obligations,
the physical, intellectual or moral development of
the minor is jeopardized.
- An
adult, who induces or tries to induce a minor to commit crime or to engage in
debauched activities, is punishable by law.
- The
Penal Code sets forth the sanctions for sexual crimes committed against children
(see para. 558 below).
- A
novel practical approach to facilitating the social reintegration of minors is
the method known as the “facetoface”
method, and the
guardianmediator activity which has been in force since June 2003.
- The
prohibition of child abuse stating that a child or pupil cannot be subjected to
corporal punishment in school is enforced only
partially due to the
following:
- In many schools,
child abuse is still used as a means of disciplining that the children often
take for granted;
- The problem
cannot be handled by the child and juvenile protection officer working in the
schools, and often not even by the school
social worker;
- In such cases
children rarely exercise their right of complaint;
- There are no
agespecific child abuse prevention programmes available to schools;
- There are no
obligatory systems of supervision of teachers, which could help in reducing
child abuse in schools;
- In concrete
cases of child abuse, there is no efficient cooperation between the entities
involved in child protection (child protection
service, district nurse, family
doctor, police, school, etc.);
- A major problem
stems from the fact that following instances of child abuse it is the abused
child who is removed from the family,
causing further trauma for the child;
- There are
currently no concrete plans for what to do with the perpetrators of child abuse,
in addition to their legal punishment.
The practice of several EU member States
has shown that the perpetrator himself/herself often requires assistance, and in
most countries,
he/she receives therapeutic help. Experience shows that in such
cases repeated offences are rarer.
- It
is our task to ensure self and bodyawareness of children in primary educational
institutions. Agespecific child abuse prevention
programmes should be held in
schools. The training of professionals would require fundamental changes, and
the curriculum of teachers,
lawyers, etc. should cover the possibilities for the
prevention and management of child abuse. Child welfare services should employ
trained professionals as needed. The legal procedures lack the modern
solutions for victim protection, witness protection and the
separation of the
perpetrator from the victim. A national media campaign for the prevention of
child abuse is planned for 2004.
- Pursuant
to the Public Education Act, a student cannot be subjected to corporal
punishment, torture or cruel, inhumane or humiliating punishment or treatment.
The obligations
of the teacher include the obligation to ensure the physical
integrity, moral protection and the development of the personality of
the child
or student. According to the law, nursery schools, schools and boarding schools
must ensure the supervision of the children,
as well as healthy and safe
conditions for their education, the identification and termination of health and
safety hazards and the
regular medical examination of the children. The law
sets forth the process of legal remedies. Educational institutions have to
inform the students, or the parents of under age students, of the
institution’s decisions. The student or the parent can start
legal
proceedings against the decisions or measures of the nursery school, school or
boarding school, or against the failure of the
institutions to take the
appropriate measures. The procedure can be initiated for violations of
individual interests or infringements
of the law. Infringements of the law can
be contested in court.
- In
accordance with the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), the following health service
providers function to assist the raising of children
in their families and to
prevent and cease the endangerment of the child within the framework of their
main field of activities:
district nurses, general practitioners (GPs),
paediatric GPs, personal healthcare service providers, with special emphasis on
the
family assistance services, family assistance centres, public educational
institutions, educational counselling services, the police,
the General
Prosecutor, the court of justice, refugee reception centres, temporary refugee
shelters, NGOs, Churches and foundations.
These institutions are obliged to
notify the child welfare service of the endangerment of a child and, if
required, to initiate
official proceedings. Any citizen or NGO representing the
interest of children can also notify the child welfare service in such
cases. These individuals, services, institutions and authorities should
cooperate to assist the raising of the child within his/her
family, and to
prevent or cease the endangerment of the child. The tasks of the child welfare
service include the following: operating
the aforementioned system to monitor
and detect instances of endangerment in order to prevent such cases; assisting
the participation
of NGOs and private individuals in the prevention system;
identifying the reasons for and causes of the endangerment and proposing
solutions to resolve the problem; coordinating the cooperation between the
aforementioned individuals and organizations and harmonizing
the activities
thereof. Its tasks also include helping the families to resolve the
endangerment of the child, especially in cases
involving divorce, child custody
and parentchild visits; provision of health and social care; initiating official
intervention; making
recommendations to remove the child from the family and
recommendations for the future place of residence of the child.
- The
regulation governing the operation of educational institutions sets forth the
tasks of the child and youthprotection officer.
These include the obligation to
inform the director and request the assistance of child welfare services in case
of presumed child
abuse or endangering circumstances that cannot be solved by
other pedagogical means.
- The
governing judicial practice including during the reported period has
repeatedly examined cases concerning endangerment of minors.
Following is a
list of the significant court rulings in this
field:
(a) BH1997.263. The endangerment of minors is usually a
continuously performed act, thus the number of instances and the various
forms
of the breaches of duty constitute a single act of crime, which usually
cannot be deemed a continuous act of crime. The obligations
are individual
obligations for both parents and each care provider, who are thus charged as
individual perpetrators and not as accomplices.
A single breach of duty with
grave consequences can aggravate the crime, although usually, or at least often,
all the infringements
together add up to have serious consequences;
(b) BH1997.469. Special education teachers and assistant teachers commit
multiple instances of endangerment of minors if they continuously
use physical
abuse, or punitive disciplinary action and humiliating measures against the
children under their care;
(c) BH2000.236. A mother cannot be charged with manslaughter by negligence
for leaving her 2yearold child unattended for a few minutes,
during which
the child opened a closed window, fell from the tenth floor and died;
(d) BH2002.129. A paediatric GP can be charged with reckless endangerment
during the exercise of profession leading to manslaughter
if, having noted
the exceptionally poor social circumstances of the children and the resulting
critical condition of the children
due to malnutrition, the GP does not
immediately refer the child to a hospital and due to this omission one child
dies and the life
of the other child is endangered. A justified additional
punishment of the paediatric GP is the revocation of his/her medical licence
if
the malpractice i.e. omission of immediate referral to hospital leads to
the death of a child under his/her care;
(e) BH1999.397. In order to establish the crime of involuntary manslaughter
it is necessary to clarify whether any form of malpractice
committed by the
perpetrator led to the investigated event; the fact that the accused usually
neglected the child and did not seek
medical counselling for the child is not in
itself a crime. It should be ascertained that the resulting event was caused by
a deliberate
or neglectful conduct of the accused;
(f) BH1999.55. A person of legal incompetency/incapacity has no parental
rights and can thus not be accused of endangerment of a
minor.
Paragraph 90
- In
accordance with the aforementioned regulations, nursery schools, schools and
boarding schools cooperate to fulfil child and youthprotection
tasks. An
integral part of this activity is to recognize situations where a child is
abused at home. In such cases, it is the obligation
of every teacher to
inform the head of the institution. One of the tasks of the child and
youthprotection officer obligatorily employed
in all schools is to take the
necessary steps in case of presumed child abuse.
- The
Convention sets forth the necessity of protecting children from all forms of
aggression, physical or psychological abuse, negligence
or other maltreatment.
The Hungarian practice is regulated by the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.). This
is supervised by the Ministry
of Social Welfare and Family Affairs. This was
the basis for the foundation of the child welfare services, the new child
protection
registry and the monitoring system.
- The
legal framework is in place, but the system is dysfunctional in many areas.
Adequate links have not been established between
the institutions, the
methodological regulations are incomplete (e.g. the lack of childfriendly
hearing rooms at courts and police
stations; the role of the health service
within the monitoring system has yet to be defined, etc.). The training and
postgraduate
training of specialists in this area should also be developed.
These are issues which need urgent attention as, according to the
child
protection reports, the number of minors
- endangered
for various reasons has almost doubled since 1990. The figures for the year
2000 show some improvement. (In 1998, the
number of endangered minors was
380,340; in 2000 it was 262,980.)
- According
to criminal statistics, the number of criminal cases initiated for endangerment
of minors in the years 1998, 1990 and 2000
were 1,160, 1,024 and 1,014,
respectively. The number of assaults leading to the death of children was 29 in
1998 (infanticide:
13), 24 in 1999 (infanticide: 5) and 34 in 2000
(infanticide: 12). A book on the possibilities of preventing infanticide was
published in 2001 (Mária Herczog: Don’t Abandon Them).
- During
the reporting period, several interdisciplinary meetings were held to discuss
child abuse. In 1999, the National Institute
for the Protection of Families and
Children organized a meeting on secret pregnancies and the murder of newborn
babies. In 20012002
the Research and Education Centre for the Rights of Women
and Children organized three professional conferences on child abuse, with
the
support of the British Council. The National Institute of Criminology and
several NGOs organized a conference on the sexual
exploitation of children, with
the support of UNICEF. The meetings ended with the compilation of professional
guidelines and closing
documents, which were sent to the relevant ministries and
authorities. The exceptional significance of education and the media was
underlined at each meeting.
- It
is an important task to keep the issue of child abuse and infanticide on the
agenda, both for professionals and the general public.
Closer cooperation
between the relevant services is required; the legal framework has been defined,
and we now have to fill it with
contents. There have been promising
initiatives. The National Society of Paediatric General Practitioners has
organized a seminar
on child abuse.
- One
of the basic tasks of the network of district nurses is family support, which
consists of helping the family in developing a harmonious
life, in ensuring the
healthy development of the child and in using educational means to ensure
the positive selfesteem of the child.
Unfavourable processes should be
recognized and resolved, in close cooperation with the competent child
protection services. The
district nurse service also acts as a monitoring and
detection system. In case of presumed or identified child abuse, the district
nurse service has to notify the child welfare service, which in turn is in
charge of ensuring the safety of the child and solving
of the problem of
endangerment of the child. With the help of professional material compiled by
the National Institute of Public
Health, district nurses are regularly informed
on the child support systems, the prevention of infanticide, the
possibilities for
the adoption of unwanted children and on placing such infants
in children’s homes. Healthservice professionals are obliged
to report
cases of neglected children and child abuse. In 1997, the number of families
registered and supported by district nurses
was 1,304,268. Neglected children
were reported in 16,193 families (1.2 per cent), and child abuse in
2,101 families (0.2 per cent).
In 2000, the number of families
registered and supported was 1,253,929. Neglected children were reported in
13,542 families (1.1
per cent), and child abuse in 1,725 families
(0.1 per cent).
Paragraph 91
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) sets forth the right of the child to receive help
in averting situations that may hinder his/her
development, and to receive
protection against environmental and social effects harmful to his/her
development, and against substances
that are hazardous to health, and against
abuse physical, sexual or psychological violence, neglect and information
abuse. Furthermore,
the child has a right to human dignity and cannot be
subjected to cruel, inhumane or humiliating corporal or other forms of
punishment
or treatment. In accordance with the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.),
the prevention and elimination of the endangerment of the child
is the duty of
the child welfare service. The psychological treatment of children at risk of
violence or sexual abuse is provided
by educational counselling centres and
child welfare services operated by the local governments.
- There
is a national network of crisis lines operated by volunteers to supply
information on psychological services available for children.
Child crisis
lines occasionally offer special services, including psychological services to
child victims of sexual exploitation.
The ESZTER Foundation provides
psychosocial services to child victims of sexual abuse within the family.
- The
perpetrators are generally men, usually the natural or stepparents or relatives
under 40 years of age. The perpetrators usually
have eight years or less
of primary education. Most of them are skilled or unskilled workers, followed
by trained employees and
inactive individuals. Forty per cent of the
perpetrators have a criminal record; the percentage of recidivist criminals is
5 per
cent. Approximately half of underage victims are in the 1417
age group, the boygirl ratio is about 65:35. The crimes are usually
committed
at home, thus often only the closest relatives gain knowledge of the crimes.
The torture of the child victims often lasts
years as it is hidden from the
outside world. Witnesses in possession of direct information are often afraid
to testify, partly
because they fear an unfavourable reaction from their
environment. It is often emotionally stressful for child witnesses to testify
against their parents. Physical abuse committed by the father or the stepfather
is often coupled with sexual harassment. If the
victim rejects sexual advances
which do not constitute a sexual crime, the reprisals include aggression,
beatings or neglect.
- New
types of offences are also committed. For instance, in a case currently before
the court of justice, the parents “turned
their back on society” as
a result of their religious beliefs. They live in a tent by the side of the
village, amidst very
rudimentary hygienic conditions. Their children are
not allowed to attend school and there are no telecommunication appliances
at
their domicile. Thus, not only do their children receive no schooling,
they cannot even gain knowledge of the external world from
the media. All these
violate the rights of children set forth in article 6 of the Child Protection
Act (Gyvt.).
- Victims
below the age of puberty are usually questioned by psychologists or their care
provider. Thus, the psychologist can see whether
the incidents recounted by the
victim are based on personal experience and are undeniably true, and to
what extent the child incurred
psychological damage. If necessary, the
competent authorities (police, the Public Prosecutor, the court of justice,
guardianship
authorities) can remove child victims from the hazardous
environment and order their placement in an institution where the healing
of the
physical and psychological injuries of the victim can be assured. As a general
practice, the investigative authorities notify
the competent child welfare
service and the guardianship authorities of the refusal to conduct an inquiry or
the closure of the inquiry.
- If
child protection measures are deemed necessary, the General Prosecutor notifies
the child protection authority by sending a copy
of the bill of indictment or
the resolution stating the refusal to conduct an inquiry or the closure of the
inquiry.
- The
amendment of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) empowers the child welfare
service, the notary of the local government and the guardianship
authorities to
handle information pertaining to all acts of crime committed by the minor or
crimes committed against the minor by
his/her parents or other legal
representatives.
Paragraph 92
- As
a result of the addendum to the provisions of the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.)
governing the handling of data, investigative authorities
will henceforth be
able to inform the competent guardianship authorities and the child welfare
service of crimes committed against
or by minors, in case of a wellgrounded
suspicion of a crime. The Public Prosecutor will strive to ensure the
legitimacy of the
care provided to endangered minors by conducting regular
reviews and by providing feedback on the results of the investigation to
competent authorities.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights and the General Deputy of the
Parliamentary Commissioner have studied several cases
of child abuse or child
neglect. It has repeatedly been established that the child welfare services
designed to prevent or eliminate
the endangerment of children were not set
up by the local governments, or were set up with insufficient personnel and
professional
resources; the child welfare services did not operate
the monitoring system, or did not operate it adequately or it was only
operated
formally; the authorities were often late in signalling cases of child
abuse and did not comply with their lawful obligations, and
in certain
cases were not even aware of such obligations. In several cases, the service
did not choose the best form of child protection
care (see also:
OBH 4360/2000, OBH 11590/2001, OBH 1546/2001, OBH 3684/2000, OBH
3048/2000, OBH 3407/1999, OBH 750/1999, OBH 6702/1999).
- In
report No. OBH 1757/2002, the General Deputy of the Parliamentary Commissioner
established that there are no general guidelines
concerning the obligations of
healthcare professionals as set forth by the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), or
sanctions for failing
to comply with these obligations. The Code of Conduct of
the Hungarian Chamber of Medicine does not contain moral rules concerning
these
legal obligations of doctors.
- According
to report No. OBH 6430/1997, the police are reluctant to interfere in socalled
family affairs until a crime or an offence
is committed. If no offence or crime
is identified on site, the policeman is not even obliged to file a report; his
only obligation
is to find night shelter for people who are rendered
homeless.
- In
report No. OBH 2597/1999, the Parliamentary Commissioner established that the
cooperation of the regional child welfare services
and sometimes even that of
services operating in the same settlement is completely nonexistent. The
monitoring system if it functions
at all will most probably only be of effect
within the settlement. It is impossible to understand how a child enters the
child
protection system, and how an endangered child whose parents often change
their place of domicile can be removed from the system.
There are no laws
governing the possibility/obligation of the child welfare system or guardianship
authorities to gather information
and take measures concerning the antecedents
or the life of a child who has moved to or away from the area of the relevant
authority.
Children of parents who change their
- domiciles,
who do not live at a permanent domicile and do not register their temporary
domiciles, or who live in poor social conditions
may be totally removed from the
system of child protection services or may bypass it.
F. Basic health and welfare
1. Disabled children (art.
23)
Paragraph 93
- The
Constitution stipulates that everyone has the right to the highest degree of
physical and emotional health. Act XXVI of 1988 “On the rights
and the
equal treatment of people with disabilities”, besides setting forth the
rights of the relevant persons and the way
they can assert them, also aims to
provide active regulation of the rehabilitation provided to these persons and,
as a result, equal
treatment and active participation in social life. The Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.) ruled that a child with disabilities or longterm
illness
has the right to special treatment aiming to provide for the development of
his/her personality, regardless of whether the
child lives in a family or in
protective care. The day crèche, being the service to provide daytime
care for children under
the age of 3, is the primary institution for the
provision of professional care and attention, and is also responsible for the
rehabilitation
of children with disabilities. Based on the opinion of the
professional rehabilitation committee, disabled children can receive
development
training and care in such crèches up to the age of 6.
- The
Health Act sets forth that a special task of youth health care is to provide on
the basis of previous consultation with the relevant
general practitioner
intensive monitoring, psychological assistance and assistance in the social
integration of those living with
congenital diseases, chronic illness or
physical, sensory or mental disabilities.
- The
Act on Public Education, in the general section, discusses the support provided
to children and students with disabilities mentioning
requirements
concerning positive discrimination. The Act has a separate chapter dealing with
the right to special care and rehabilitation
activities. In accordance with the
substance of the Convention, special care can be provided to all children who
suffer from physical,
sensory, mental, speech or other disabilities. The joint
legal and substantive law regulation also articulates the equality of healthy
children and those with disabilities, as well as the pedagogic principle of all
humans being equal. The care of children with disabilities
based on equality
aims to use educational institutions as a medium to provide the same cultural
services to them as to healthy children,
even if this means modifying what is to
be communicated and taught in accordance with the restricted means of the
disabled children.
- Disability
can only be ascertained by specialist expert and rehabilitation committees,
through complex medical, pedagogical, therapeutic
and psychological
examination. A request and the presence of the parent are required for an
expert examination. In the interest
of the child if the parent does not
voluntarily see the necessity of such an examination the parent can be obliged
to attend the
examination and to participate in it. The expert committee, if it
ascertains the existence of a disability, will make a proposal
as to the nursery
school or school in which it can foresee the development of the child. The
expert committee will inform the parent
about possible institutions from among
which the parent can choose. Naturally, deciding whether a disability
exists is also possible
at an earlier age. In this case, children in need of
early development and care can receive attention earlier. The Act sets forth
that the child with disabilities has the right to receive adequate therapy,
education and special education from the time of the
diagnosis of the
disability. This constitutes early development and care.
- Early
development in the majority of cases is organized by expert and rehabilitation
committees, the independent early development
centres being multipurpose
specialist organizations providing therapeutic consultation and assistance in
the care of children brought
up in an integrated environment. About
2,0002,500 children receive early development care annually. Legislation sets
it as a duty
of local authorities to provide this service, with normative State
subsidy provided for such activities. Seriously disabled children
who by virtue
of their situation cannot benefit from a schooltype education participate from
the age of 5 in skilldevelopment activities.
In Hungary, from 1994 onwards
these children were granted general exemption from attending school and did not
receive any sort of
care from the public education service. However, currently
no child is excluded from education, however serious his/her disabilities.
Access to public education for those growing up in the family is to be provided
through the expert and rehabilitation committees,
whereas in the case of those
brought up in social care institutions (nursing home or daycare centre for the
disabled), it is the
obligation of the institution to provide for such care.
The definition of the objectives and the tasks of the development programme
are
always decided on the basis of the actual status of the child, the basis for the
yearend assessment of the child being the progress
the child has shown since the
beginning of the year. The Act on Public Education sets forth the
responsibility of the county authorities,
with the State providing normative
support in every case.
- Disabled
children can also attend nursery schools from 3 years of age. Primary school
education is provided in eight grades, which
is the basis for special vocational
training. The Act on Public Education does not declare whether a disabled child
should be educated
in special institutions for disabled children or in regular
schools. The Act permits both forms of education, establishing that
special
education requires the necessary personnel and material conditions. The Act and
the related ministerial decrees have brought
about significant changes by
setting forth the provisions related to nursery school education and compulsory
school attendance of
disabled children, and by creating the legal framework for
integrated education. Local governments have to inform the expert and
rehabilitation committees of the institutions with adequate facilities to ensure
the education of children with various disabilities.
Thereby, the expert and
rehabilitation committees recommending the nursery school and primary school
education of disabled children
have adequate information on the facilities of
the various institutions, and are able to inform the parents of the possible
choices.
- The
legal framework of special vocational training has also been created in recent
years. The development of the vocational training
schemes has also been
intensified. The programme entitled “The complex vocational training,
rehabilitation and employment
of disabled juveniles” ensures the
continuous development of the curricula and the teaching materials of the four
target groups
of disability. In the first phase, the development activity
included the vocations listed in the National Vocational Register.
The
vocations were selected following continuous negotiations and consultations with
the interest groups and professional organizations
of the disabled.
- Special
vocational schools can be established for juveniles who, due to their
disabilities, cannot keep up with the pace of the other
students. If the
condition of the student does not enable the passing of the vocational exams,
this type of institution enables
the student to acquire information and skills
necessary for everyday life and employment. In this case, the curriculum is
adapted
to the individual circumstances, requirements, and the future
possibilities of the disabled juvenile. The common and compulsory
objective of
this type of education is to supply as much practical knowledge as possible, in
order to help the individual to live
his/her life independently or with external
assistance. Approximately 5,000 students participate in special vocational
training
annually. Several laws on positive discrimination help to ensure the
adequate education of disabled students. For instance, educational
institutions
where disabled children are taught (either in integrated or in segregated
groups) have to organize socalled rehabilitation
training classes to overcome or
diminish the handicap due to the disability. The percentage of rehabilitation
classes is 1550 per
cent of the total compulsory classes, depending on
the type of the disability.
- Based
on the recommendation of the expert and rehabilitation committee, disabled
students can be exempted from attending certain classes,
or from receiving marks
or evaluation in certain subjects. At the primary general knowledge exam and
the matriculation exams, disabled
students have the possibility to choose other
subjects instead of the ones they were exempted from. The student is entitled
to a
longer preparation period at the exams and he/she should be allowed access
to accessories used during his/her studies (typewriter,
computer, etc.). If
necessary, written exams should be replaced by oral exams, and vice versa. A
disabled child/student counts
as two (slight mental deficiency/impaired speech)
or three (physical disability, impairment of the sensory organs, moderate mental
deficiency) students when calculating the average number of students in the
class. Schools for disabled students can allow a period
of more than one
year for the completion of an annual curriculum.
- The
following issues may cause concern: the extent to which certain institutions
for disabled children merge classes and the high
number of students per class is
contrary to the provisions of the Act on Public Education; the lack of
professionals or access to
special vocational training may infringe the right of
disabled children to rehabilitation and therapy. Therefore, the Ministry of
Education plans to conduct a survey of these institutions and take
the necessary measures.
- The
Act on Public Education sets forth the contents of nursery school education and
compulsory primary education (the National Programme
for Nursery School
Education, the National Basic Curriculum and the framework curricula based on
the latter). The regulatory function
of these centrally compiled documents is
to ensure that the basic contents of the curricula are standardized in all types
of institutions
of public education. However, the Act on Public Education
establishes that there are institutions where the educational activity
cannot be
organized exclusively according to the central regulating documents. These
institutions include nursery schools and schools
attended by disabled children
(occasionally in addition to healthy children). The individual curricula of
these institutions are
compiled in accordance with the Guidelines for the
Curricula of Nursery Schools for Disabled Children and the Guidelines for the
Curricula of Schools for Disabled Children. In accordance with the provisions
of the law, the guidelines were published as ministerial
decrees. The
guidelines set forth the main areas of
- development
aiming to decrease or compensate for the disadvantages due to the disabilities
of the children (physically disabled; impaired
motor capabilities; impaired
sight impaired vision, almost blind, completely blind, impaired hearing hard
of hearing; deaf; mentally
deficient; impaired speech and other groups of severe
developmental disorders). The guidelines set forth the basic principles,
objectives
and main tasks of the development activities, in addition to
activities aimed at educational and health rehabilitation. The guidelines
act
as central documents enabling disabled children to exercise their right to
special care by governing the contents of their curriculum.
- The
aim of the amendment to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) is to enable the
setting up of the complete network of institutions for
children removed from
their families and requiring specific care (approximately 4,000 children) and of
children removed from the
family and requiring special care (approximately 3,000
children). Thus, permanently ill or disabled children should be cared for
at
foster homes or children’s homes, permanent residency institutions for
disabled people or homes for disabled people or psychiatric
patients.
- In
institutions serving disabled people, in addition to the general rights (right
of complaint, protection of private information,
free movement, maintaining
family contacts), the following special rights should be provided to children:
the right to information
concerning the reviews, the obligation to inform, the
right to development of capabilities and skills, the possibility to maintain
or
improve the health condition of the child, autonomy, the right to social
integration.
- Professional
considerations enable the integrated care of disabled and healthy children
in infant’s homes where the integration
has been carried out. For
older children, integration is always decided upon individually.
- In
accordance with Government Regulation 141/2000, the State shall provide
financial support to cover the extra costs due to the disability.
- Although
the legal background is in place, in practice there is still no unified system
of care. An increasing number of crèches
integrate disabled and healthy
children. The situation is not as straightforward in nursery schools, and it is
mainly the private
and foundationoperated nursery schools that integrate healthy
and disabled children, usually at extra cost. Unfortunately, no national
data
regarding this issue have been collected as yet. Integration in schools is
similar to that in nursery schools. As a result
of the above, a smooth change
of institution is not possible for disabled children, and there are no
established channels of information
between public institutions and the civil
sphere.
- Crèche
(until 6 years of age): at the moment 529 children are admitted to
173 crèches countrywide; 168 children are
in separate groups,
101 are in integrated groups and 258 are in partially integrated groups. A
total of 4,183 children participate
in integrated education in primary
schools:
Grade
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
No. of children
|
778
|
618
|
543
|
513
|
490
|
440
|
463
|
303
|
34
|
1
|
- A
considerable number of children studying in segregated special education
institutions (institutions for children with impaired vision
or impaired
hearing) also participate in integrated education. The conditions in
institutions allowing integrated groups are not
always adequate and the
infrastructure is lacking in many places, both in terms of educational material
and personnel. The exchange
of information in the field of disabilities is
conducted through the databases of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of
Social
Welfare and Family Affairs (since 2002 one Ministry), the Ministry of
Education and various NGOs. These databases do not secure
equal opportunities,
as they do not cover the entire area of the country or all types of
disabilities. An important task for the
future is the development of a
unified monitoring system and standardized methodologies.
- There
are several institutions conducting rehabilitation activities in the country,
but only three of these can be deemed complex
in medical terms (Debrecen,
Pécs and Miskolc). The annual reports of the Commissioner for Education
Rights have established
that disabled students are probably the most vulnerable
subjects of public education. Local governments are often incapable of securing
the conditions necessary for providing the services set forth in the laws for
these students. Often, the teachers conducting the
integrated education of
these students have no training in special education. Parents often lack
adequate information on their rights
and on where help can be sought.
- During
the reported period, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights conducted
several inquiries concerning disabilities:
(a) Report No. OBH
28/1998 establishes that special emphasis should have been placed on ensuring
that the parents of the child with
multiple disabilities educate their child.
If this proved unsuccessful, a more effective method of child protection (State
care)
should have been employed. As the competent State authorities failed to
monitor the situation of the child, the minor was lost to
the child protection
system after the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) came into force;
(b) Report No. OBH 433/1998 concerning the home for sick children in
Göd. The handicapped children in wheelchairs could not
gain access to the
activity room on the upper floors of the building. This violates their rights
to physical, intellectual and moral
development as set forth in article 67 (1)
of the Constitution;
(c) Report No. OBH 2818/2000. The acting guardianship authority did not act
with the required deliberation when it took a disabled
autistic child into
temporary State care at the request of the child’s mother. The
child’s right to adequate physical,
intellectual and moral development was
infringed with the temporary referral to the children’s home operated by
the child protection
services. The officer of the guardianship authority
complied with the request of the mother by temporarily taking the child into
State care, but did not consider the basic right of the child to be raised in
the environment of his own family. In this case “the
environment of
his own family” does not always mean living together every day, as
the child needed treatment provided in weekly
care centres. However, this does
not mean that the child should be placed in State care and the parental
rights of the parents should
be discontinued and transferred to an official
custodian. Autistic and mentally disabled children require special health care,
and
not child protection care.
2. Health and health services (art. 24)
Paragraphs 9499
- The
Constitution provides that individuals living in the territory of the Republic
of Hungary have a right to the best available physical and mental
health; the
Republic of Hungary implements this right together with the organization of
labour safety, health institutions and medical
care, regular physical
exercise, as well as protection of the built and natural environments. On the
basis of the provisions of
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), a child has
a right to protection against environmental and social impacts harmful to
his/her development,
as well as substances that are harmful for
health.
- Act
CLIV of 1997 on Health Care stipulates that minor patients have a right to be
with their parents, legal representatives or individuals
nominated by them or
their legal representatives while they are ill. The Act contains a separate
part with provisions on health
care for youth and family and women’s care.
The objective of health care for youth is to promote the harmonious
physical and
mental development of individuals of minor age. This overall
objective involves the following: health education; screening tests
according
to age; mandatory vaccinations related to age; analysis of the completed
vaccinations and their efficiency; vaccination
campaigns; health tasks involved
in careerselection consultation; tests before schooling; assessment of aptitude
for a profession;
periodic suitability tests in educational institutions,
including those providing vocational training. In addition, health care
for
youth has other special tasks (disabled or addicted youths). Youth health care
also includes, among others, control of meals
provided in nurseries and
educational and training institutions, compliance with epidemiology regulations,
as well as first aid requirements.
Arrangements must also be made for firsttime
medical services to children and students in educational and training
institutions.
- There
has been an increase in the number of methods available for giving birth, and in
fact more and more babyfriendly hospitals have
been established, but in many
hospitals WHO recommendations are not taken into account. The health service
does not react to an
increasing trend in Hungary, as in numerous other countries
in Europe, towards giving birth outside health institutions, i.e. in
maternity homes or at home. With regard to vaccinations, information on
potential complications is insufficient and, in contrast
to European practices,
there are very limited opportunities for developing an individual vaccination
schedule. It would be very
important to comply with WHO recommendations in all
areas and for the practices of hospitals to be surveyed and assessed annually.
Our responsibility is to provide conditions for safe and undisturbed births
outside institutions and to supervise the health care
staff regularly, for which
mandatory financing needs to be provided by the State.
- Health
service providers offering primary care and special care pay outstanding
attention to prevention, recognition and elimination
of all factors representing
a risk for children’s health. Therefore, they cooperate with public
education, social and family
assistance and other child protection institutions
and individuals and initiate various measures as required.
- On
the basis of the provisions of the Decree of the Minister of Welfare No.
26/1997 NM on health services at schools, children 318
years of age are
regularly treated by school doctors,
- district
nurses and dentists and, in addition to regular screening, examinations and
vaccinations, health education and information
supply are also very important
(during and outside lessons, club meetings and individual consultations).
- Health
services before and after pregnancy are also made available for everyone with
regard to primary and special care. Pursuant to the provisions of the
Act on Health Care, family and women’s care includes control of the
healthy development of
foetuses, prevention or early recognition of risks and
complications, as well as preparation for childbirth, breastfeeding and baby
care. The objective of family and women’s care is to promote the ideal
biological and psychological conditions for having
children through
preconception care and genetic consultation, as well as care instruments used in
the fertility cycle; to share with
individuals family planning ideas, including
also the risks involved in abortion, as well as contraception methods with the
help
of which they can plan and help the conception of their children in the
required number and at the required time, ensuring that their
children are born
in good health conditions. District nurses care for pregnant mothers in the
framework of primary care. District
nurses register pregnant women, monitor
their health conditions, participate in their health development, the completion
of required
screening examinations, early recognition and signalling of
pathological changes. They prepare families for the birth, reception
of the new
baby, breastfeeding and caring for the baby.
- UNICEF
puts a lot of stress on increasing the proportion of breastfeeding in both
developing and developed countries. In this respect,
Hungary has done quite a
lot: it has organized a regular national series of events (Breastfeeding World
Week, women’s healthfamily
health), but it has not made a lot of progress.
A methodology guideline supports exclusive breastfeeding until the age of 6
months,
but only a few childcare professionals have adopted a feeding method
which would support this goal. According to the last district
nurses’
reports, 59.4 per cent of babies are breastfed only between 0 and 3
months of age; 31.5 per cent of babies are breastfed
only up to 45
months; 44.5 per cent of babies are breastfed even after the age
of 6 months.
- Although
there has been a decline in the absolute figure of abortions among 15
to 19yearold girls, it is still relatively very high
(7,163 abortions in
2000, 30/1000 women/ year). There has also been a decline in the number of
abortions among under14yearold girls
during the last few years, but those
figures are also still high: 160 cases in 2000. There was a similar
decrease in the number
of live births among girls of adolescent
age (26/1,000 women of that age), but a higher number of live births takes
place outside
marriage (26 per cent).
- These
days, teenagers in Hungary receive sexual education haphazardly and of different
quality. In addition to a possible pregnancy,
involving health and social
disadvantages for them, sexual education could also prevent sexually transmitted
diseases. Furthermore,
there are very few gynaecology consultations available
for teenagers, where they can receive advanced care and services (only very
few,
and even they are in larger cities).
- A
survey was conducted on health education practices in Hungarian schools. The
findings of the survey concluded that children obtain
information on healthy
lifestyle very haphazardly and of variable quality.
- Act
XLII of 1999 on the protection of nonsmokers contains legal guarantees for
protection of children against passive smoking, among
other purposes. In
addition to regulations, strict control and educational instruments also need to
be used.
- The
“Nursery School Programme for the Prevention of Smoking” launched by
the National Health Information Centre (OEFK),
and a future school programme
based on it, represent one instrument aimed at developing deliberate and active
steps taken against
passive smoking.
- A
national vaccination/immunization programme aims to prevent contagious diseases
that may be prevented with vaccines. The vaccination
schedule, which has been
formed and regularly updated on the basis of Hungarian and international
experiences, is implemented on
the basis of the Act on Health Care. The
Hungarian vaccination schedule contains vaccinations to prevent 10 contagious
diseases
(tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, rubella,
mumps, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenza (Hib) and hepatitis
B). The
vaccines in the vaccination schedule are provided by the State, free of charge.
The National Public Health and Surgeon
General’s Service (ÁNTSz) is
responsible for managing and controlling vaccinations, and the effectiveness of
the activity
is indicated by the fact that the proportion of vaccinated
individuals is close to 100 per cent in the case of almost all
vaccines.
- Immunization
is based on the diligent work of family practitioners, paediatricians and
district nurses. This activity is also assisted
with uptodate information
practices within the framework of which the “Johan Béla”
National Epidemiology Centre
publishes a detailed methodology letter concerning
the vaccinations for the year in the first month of each year in the Health
Gazette. This methodology letter contains all necessary information for
vaccinations. Furthermore, this methodology letter is also sent
in printed form
to the physicians administering the vaccines. As a result of the efficient
vaccination practices, Hungary’s
epidemiological record with regard to
contagious diseases that can be prevented by vaccination is one of the best in
Europe.
- It
is an individual and fortunate feature of Hungarian childcare that two thirds of
the child population between 014 years are treated
by specialists within the
framework of primary health care; nearly 5,000 district nurses, trained
primarily in prevention, work in
primary care. Each nursery school and school
has an appointed physician and district nurse. Higherlevel specialist care or
inpatient
care for children who cannot be treated within primary care may be
provided almost immediately, with the exception of mental problems
or cases
requiring rehabilitation. The legal regulations governing the structure and
services allow access to the required services
for all children without any
discrimination. Naturally, the place of residence and social and cultural
environment of children may
limit these opportunities, partly because of weaker
health services in small and poor villages (lack of specialized primary care
for
children, lack of district nurses, or vacant physician positions). The health
service network is the weakest where it would
be needed most.
- It
is very important to “revive” the Mobile Special Physicians’
Service, which had been active for many years, in
one form or another, and to
provide special consultation in areas
- without
a paediatrician; to extend the capacities of the health system to treat mental
problems and of child rehabilitation facilities
(institutions and specialists);
to improve the quality of health services at schools. The “For a
Healthier Nation Popular
Health Programme” has set a goal of developing
such areas.
- The
“Charter of Children Treated in Hospitals” contains special features
of children’s rights adapted to inpatient
institutions. Only those
children should be referred to hospitals who really need hospital treatment.
The financing system, which
has been in place for 10 years, could not change the
practice according to which institutions receive a lot more money for the same
service (diagnostics, therapy) if it is provided to an inpatient compared to the
service provided to an outpatient. Similarly, provisions
of the Charter could
not be implemented according to which inpatient children must be kept in a
children’s environment. According
to paediatrician specialist reports,
2040 per cent of child patients are still treated in adult wards,
often among severely ill old
people. The Ministry guideline, issued in the
middle of the 1980s, has not been implemented. However, significant progress
can
be reported in the following areas: extension in the number of available
birth options; more frequent births in the presence of fathers;
establishment
and maintenance of the babyfriendly hospital movement (primarily thanks to the
UNICEF National Committee). The Act
on Health Care guarantees a parent’s
right to participate in the nursing and care of his/her child in hospital. The
quality
assurance system of an increasing number of inpatient health
institutions contains a survey of patient satisfaction and an analysis
of cases
of inadequate compliance (cooperation with the care staff). However, the above
practices are at increasing risk of severe
financial and personnel problems
affecting hospitals, the declining empathy of the nursing staff due to a huge
workload and the problems
of daily life, and a large loss of prestige of careers
in the health professions.
- Negative
trends have been present in Hungarian population growth since 1980 (decline),
but the rate has been decreasing for the last
few years. The decline of infant
deaths, which lasted for several decades, stopped in 2000 (in 1999, it was 8.4
per 1,000 live births
and in 2000, 9.2, but, according to preliminary data, in
2001 the figure was below 9 again). There is an increase in the average
weight
of Hungarian babies, yet the ratio of births below 2,500 grams is still high
(8.4 per cent), corresponding to 150200 per cent
of the
figures in Western Europe. The biggest barrier in the decline of infant deaths
is the high frequency of premature births,
and within that the ratio of
premature babies weighing very little.
- In
2000, the perinatal mortality rate was 10 per 1,000 births, and
55 per cent of the figure involved stillbirths. This calls for
an
urgent need to improve the lifestyle of pregnant women and birth control. There
is a high proportion of pregnant women (36.4
per cent) requiring
increasing care, and 14.5 per cent of pregnant women smoke. The 4.5
per 1,000 figure of deaths between 0 and
6 days after birth is the
result of improving infant intensive care.
- The
38.8 per 1,000 figure of infant deaths (158 deaths/year) is also an acceptable
figure in a European comparison. From the age
of 5, accidents represent a
higher proportion of total deaths, while between 10 and 19 years of age, suicide
also occurs, along with
accidents. During the last few years, the number of
deaths from accidents has declined significantly, and the number of suicides
committed by children is between 40 and 60 per year. For the time being,
- Hungary
does not have a reliable reporting or monitoring system, which would help to
understand better the nature and conditions of
accidents (not only deaths from
accident) and suicides (selfinflicted damage), which could also be used as a
basis for prevention.
- In
Hungary, each educational institution (nursery school, primary and secondary
school) has a paediatrician and a district nurse;
3,200 physicians and 4,300
district nurses conduct screening examinations on approximately 1.5 million
students each year. The results
of the tests show that there is an increase in
the number of changes and illnesses characteristic of the health conditions of
the
young population in the same age groups. This increase may indicate a
deterioration of health conditions, but it can also involve
improvement of
medical discipline and attention (for example, among 17yearold teenagers, asthma
occurred in 1.7 per thousand 20 years
ago, and these days 13 teenagers
suffer from asthma among 17yearold secondary school students).
- It
can also be noted that the health conditions of children entering school
continuously deteriorate during the school years. For
example, for a particular
age category, the proportion of scoliosis is 1.5-1.6 per cent at the
age of 57 years, and the figure increases
to 11.5 per cent at the age
of 17.
- In
Hungary, the biological conditions of the 18yearold male population were
surveyed in detail in 1998 for the last time. The survey
was conducted on a
representative sample (by Kálmán Joubert et al.). It was
concluded that for the last 25 years the
average height of boys increased by 18
mm every 10 years (in total 4.6 cm), because their living conditions have
improved. (In countries
where living conditions, nutrition and hygienic
conditions are ideal, height increases more slowly). In Hungary, the average
height
of boys subject to mandatory military service increases from the eastern
part of the country to the west (175.8 cm). The weight
of 18yearold teenagers
increased more than their height (in total, they are 5.3 kg heavier than 25
years ago), with an average weight
of 68.3 kg. (The same trend can also be
observed in younger age groups as well.) 26.4 per cent of this age
category is not suitable
for military service, but it is also important to note
that nearly two thirds of them (16 per cent) are not suitable due to
mental
problems, neurotic diseases, or a disease of a sensory organ.
- Concerning
the Hungarian child population, the ratio of obese children is estimated
variably in different reports depending on age
and sex (from
12 per cent to 1015 per cent), and there are also
contradictory data for malnutrition. It is difficult to estimate
the
malnutrition proportions (between 4 and 4.6 per thousand).
- Between
1997 and 2000, a national representative survey on nutrition and health was
conducted among secondary school students. The
survey covered about 6,400
students. The subjects of the survey did not have regular meals (nearly
40 per cent did not have breakfast,
51 per cent did not have
a second meal in the morning, 18 per cent did not have lunch,
only 28 per cent had something to eat in the
afternoon, and
25 per cent did not have dinner regularly). Only
60 per cent of the children had milk and dairy products,
28 per
cent ate raw vegetables and 55 per cent ate fruit
every day. Only 30 per cent of the children used public catering
services. 8
to10 per cent of them were slim and 15 per cent were
overweight and fat. Approximately 60 per cent of the subjects of the
survey
drank alcohol occasionally, 10 per cent of boys and
5 per cent of girls drank weekly; 4 per cent of boys and
1 per cent of girls
drank alcohol several times a
week.
- There
is also an increasing number of mental problems which, in addition to
development disorders and hyperactive disorders, also
include a high number of
anxietyrelated disorders (2030 per cent) and childhood depression
(estimated 420 per cent, depending on
the severity of symptoms).
According to the data of the “Health Behaviour of children of school
age” report, in international
comparison, there was a high proportion of
Hungarian adolescents (especially 15yearold teenagers) complaining about
frequent bad
moods, headaches and other, mainly psychosomatic symptoms. Between
1990 and 1997, according to the results of the four nationally
representative
surveys (1986, 1990, 1993 and 1997), there was an increase in the proportion of
children who are not satisfied with
their life (“not happy”,
“unhappy”) and children considering their health “not
good”. There
would be a definite need for complex surveys of standard
health conditions conducted on representative samples, based on a good plan,
with the involvement of relatively few surveyors. Since there are no such
surveys, we have compiled a picture from reliable data
using the puzzle
method.
- A
government decree was issued in 2001 on the quality requirements of potable
water and control procedures, and a National Potable
Water Quality Improvement
Programme was launched to supply perfectquality potable water in settlements
where the quality of potable
water did not comply with the provisions of the
decree with regard to one or several parameters. In settlements listed in Part
A,
annex 6, of the Decree (191), local governments must comply with the limit
values by no later than 25 December 2006 with regard to
arsenic, boron, fluoride
and nitrite, and in settlements listed in Part B, local governments must comply
with the limit values for
arsenic and ammonium by no later than 25 December 2009
(686 settlements). With respect to transposing the guideline, the biggest
task
is to decrease the limit value of arsenic, which involves 402 settlements and
1,272,000 inhabitants. Compliance with the limit
values of nitrite, boron and
fluoride involves 121 settlements with 179,000 inhabitants.
- The
incidence of arsenic of natural origin (19811982) affected almost 500,000
consumers when it was recognized. According to the
investigation, the number of
stillbirths and spontaneous abortions was significantly higher in the
affected areas, primarily in Békés
County, than in the control
areas (supplied with arsenicfree water). Among children, slight symptoms of
arsenic poisoning (hyperceratosis,
hyperpigmentation) could also be observed.
- The
air quality limit values for residential areas are determined in a decree. Air
pollution in cities is classified on the basis
of by how much the limit values
are exceeded with regard to the three main pollutants, sulphurdioxide, nitrogen dioxide and sedimenting dust. The ratio of diseases of the
respiratory and digestive organs and dermatological problems relating to air
pollution, nutrition
and environmental allergens is estimated at
1015 per cent.
- The
Hungarian HIV/AIDS situation is relatively good even by European standards. In
order to promote actions against AIDS in Hungary
and develop professional
controls, in 1994 the Minister of Welfare created the National AIDS Committee in
the form of a consultation
board. The Committee is responsible for organizing
actions against AIDS in Hungary, and developing general proposals for such
actions,
preparing, assessing and making the relevant decisions. Between 1985
and 31 December 2001, altogether 961 known HIVpositive individuals
were
registered. Seventytwo per cent of them were infected in
homo/bisexual contacts. The ratio of
- this
risk group has significantly declined among HIVpositives recently. However, the
contrary tendency may be observed in the number
of those who have been infected
in heterosexual contacts: between 1985 and 1990, that proportion was only
5 per cent, but since
1996, it has reached 27 per cent.
Since 1986 (when mandatory controls were introduced for blood and blood
preparations), no new
HIV infections occurred among Hungarian haemophiliacs, but
4.5 per cent of them proved to be HIVpositive in the early period of
the
epidemic. For epidemiological purposes, it is an advantage that to date
only two HIVpositive individuals were registered who had
been infected in
relation to the use of intravenous drugs. As the number of drug users is
increasing in Hungary, it is expected
that the risk of infection among users
will increase significantly in future. A considerable proportion of registered
HIVpositive
individuals are not Hungarian citizens (until the end of 2001,
in total 258 foreign HIVpositive individuals from 59 countries were
registered. The proportion of infected foreigners has been gradually increasing
for the last five years. Of the 961 HIVpositive
individuals registered at
31 December 2001, 41 were children below 13 years of age, representing
4.8 per cent of the total number;
24 of them were foreigners. Of
the HIVpositive children, 14 suffered from haemophilia from birth, and their
infection had already
been diagnosed in 1986. Of the 590 Hungarian
HIVpositive individuals, 72 per cent live in Budapest or Pest County.
To date, of
the HIVpositive children, 15 were detected in Budapest and Pest
County. The HIVpositive children and those infected with AIDS get
antiviral
treatment centrally, similar to adults, in Szent László
Hospital, Budapest, where guidance is also offered
to parents. The haemophilia
care providers monitor those suffering from haemophilia.
- State
institutes (institutions of the public health network, institutions treating
people with sexually transmitted diseases, blood
supply stations) and social
organizations have launched wide information campaigns for the population and
special groups of the population
(risk groups) since 1986. In these
campaigns, experts gave presentations and a lot of brochures and fliers were
distributed with
the involvement of voluntary organizations and the media.
These focus primarily on describing the methods of HIV infection and
disseminating
information on preventive methods. The population learnt that
cohabiting with HIVinfected individuals does not involve a risk of
infection
without sexual contact. A small number of cases have occurred in Hungary where
parents tried to isolate HIVpositive, primarily
foreign children and they had to
be stopped, with the involvement of epidemiology experts.
- Constitution
Court Resolution No. 36/2000 establishes that limitation of the right of
autonomy of patients with limited capability of action (right
of approval and
rejection) applied in the same way as limitations to patients incapable of
independent action under the provisions
of article 54 (1) of the
Constitution.
- In
the reporting period, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights and his
General Deputy conducted several surveys on children’s
rights with
regard to health care:
(a) Report of the Parliamentary
Commissioner’s Office No 1403/1997. A 19yearold boy living in a
children’s home committed
suicide. Prior to the suicide, he was clearly
in a bad psychological condition, but he did not receive any professional help
to
solve his problems. The Parliamentary Commissioner concluded that the
boy’s right to the best mental health, provided in the
Constitution, was
severely infringed, together with his right to protection and care required for
adequate physical, intellectual and moral development,
as his bad psychological
condition was considered a fact, and he was not given any health support at
all;
(b) Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office No. 1942/2000.
As a result of unhealthy housing conditions, the environment
of the plaintiff
and his family is not adequate from the viewpoint of health conditions, and it
hinders the recovery of children
of minor age from allergy. All these
conditions infringe the right to a healthy environment. Due to the small number
of homes still
owned by the local government/municipality, the local government
can only provide housing to a few applicants, as was the case with
this
plaintiff. Lack of social housing is not a legal issue but an economic one;
(c) Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office No. 2244/2000.
According to the report representing the basis of the
investigation, orthodontic
services were not provided to schoolchildren free of charges in Zala County.
The Parliamentary Commissioner
concluded that in Zala County there were no
orthodontic services for years; therefore, there is a direct risk of
infringement of
a constitutional right to the best physical and mental
health;
(d) Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office No 4650/1999.
At Rákospalota Girls’ Home of the Ministry
of Social and Family
Affairs, cigarettes are used as an educational tool, an award or disciplinary
punishment; therefore, development
or alleviation of harmful dependence led to a
troublesome situation because it represents a risk to the right to the best
physical
and mental health, stated in article 70/D (1) of the Constitution.
3. Social security and childcare services and facilities
(arts. 26 and 18, para. 3)
Paragraph 100
- Children
have practically the same right to social security as any Hungarian citizen and
individuals staying in Hungary, in accordance
with the effective legal
regulations. These rights are specified in the Constitution and applicable
legislation. The system serving social security services to children is based
on several pillars. The services available
on the basis of social insurance are
determined in the Act on social insurance. Benefits available on a meanstested
basis are regulated
in the Social Act, while services extended on the basis of
the Family Support Act are provided to families with children on the basis
of a
subjective right.
- The
Hungarian State supports children raised in families financially through several
channels. The objective of this support is to
contribute to the direct costs of
raising children and to supplement the income of parents raising the child or
children, making
sure that parents can care for their children themselves. The
individual types of support and the related procedures are regulated
by law. A
new act was passed in 1998 on support to families raising children which, in
addition to supporting children living in
poor families, aimed at supporting
families with an average income so that families raising children should not be
in a more disadvantaged
situation than those who do not raise children.
Contributions to the costs of raising children are direct and indirect. Every
mother
is entitled to a single maternity support payment to cover extraordinary
expenses occurring at the time of childbirth. Later on,
parents raising
children receive direct financial support monthly in the form of childraising
support, (family allowance and schooling
support), and they are also
entitled to family tax allowance within the framework of the personal
income tax system. In addition
to these types of support, families in a
socially disadvantaged situation are also entitled to supplementary family
allowance.
Paragraph 101
- Parents
caring for their children, and thus unable to work, receive income substitute
primarily within the framework of social insurance,
in the form of pregnancy and
maternity support, followed by childcare benefit. For those who are not covered
by social insurance,
the State provides a lower amount of support from general
taxes, on the basis of a subjective right, in the form of childcare benefit
and
childraising support. Hungarian citizens living in Hungary and foreign citizens
staying in Hungary with a permanent residence
permit, or recognized by Hungarian
authorities as refugees, are entitled to family support.
- The
single maternity support payment is available for all women giving birth to a
child, irrespective of whether they worked earlier
and whether they are covered
by insurance. The amount of maternity support equals 150 per cent of
the lowest amount of the currently
prevailing oldage pension. (In 2002, the
oldage pension minimum was HUF 20,500 a month.) Under the title of childraising
support,
a parent or adoptive parent is entitled to family allowance, and then,
as soon as school starts, schooling support for each child
below the age of 16
raised in his/her household (or children below the age of 20 participating in
primary or secondary education).
The two types of support are available for all
families raising children on the basis of a subjective right, under the same
terms
and conditions, irrespective of their wealth or income conditions, or
whether the applicant is employed or covered by insurance.
- In
the case of schooling support, a certificate is also required stating that the
child is subject to compulsory schooling. The schooling
support is not
withdrawn even if the child does not attend a school, but in such a case child
protection measures may be required
in the interest of the child.
- The
amount of childraising support depends on the number of children raised in the
family, the health conditions of the child, and
whether he/she is being raised
in a family with one or two parents. In 2002, the monthly amount of support was
HUF 3,800 per child
in the case of families with one child, HUF 4,500 in the
case of an adoptive parent raising one child alone, HUF 4,700 in the case
of families raising two children, HUF 5,400 for single parents raising two
children, HUF 5,900 in the case of families with three
or more children, HUF
6,300 in the case of single parents raising three or more children alone, HUF
10,500 for a chronically ill
or severely disabled child, and HUF 5,400 in the
case of children living in a home, or placed with foster parents.
- The
family tax allowance can be claimed by individuals subject to the payment of
personal income tax in Hungary, provided that they
also receive childraising
support. The rate of tax allowance depends on the number of children raised in
the family. In 2002, it
was HUF 3,000 per child per month, HUF 4,000 per
child per month for two children, and HUF 10,000 per child per month for
three or
more children. The same individuals are eligible for tax allowance as
are eligible for childraising support, the only difference
being that tax
allowance is available from the ninetyfirst day of the conception of the child.
Either parent may claim the family
tax allowance, and parents can also share it.
Parents raising children or supporting students below the age of 25 are eligible
for
supplementary family allowance, if the per capita monthly income of the
family is not higher than the lowest amount of the oldage
- minimum
pension (in 2002, HUF 20,500 a month). This practical benefittype support is
extended by local governments, the funding of
which is reimbursed by the State
budget up to 75 per cent. Supplementary family allowance is disbursed
for approximately 800,000
children, representing approximately
40 per cent of the total number of children. In 2002, the amount of
supplementary family allowance
was HUF 4,300 per child per month.
- Either
parent raising children is eligible for childcare benefit on the basis of a
subjective right until the child is 3, providing
that he/she raises the child in
his/her own household and he/she is not working. While the child benefit is
being paid, when the
child is 18 months old, daily work for up to four hours may
be undertaken. Parents raising chronically ill or severely disabled
children
are eligible for childcare benefit until the child reaches 10 years of age. The
term of disbursement of the childcare benefit
is included in the service period
for pension; therefore, individuals receiving the benefit pay an
8 per cent pension contribution
and the State budget pays a
21 per cent pension insurance contribution to the relevant funds. The
amount of childcare benefit is
identical to the lowest amount of oldage
pension.
- Parents
who raise at least three minors in their own households, with the youngest child
between 3 and 8 years of age, are entitled
to childraising support. The amount
of childraising support is the same as the amount of childcare benefit and,
under identical
conditions, the term of disbursement is included in the service
period for pension.
- Pregnant
women are eligible for pregnancy/maternity support if they are covered by
insurance at the time of the application for support
or give birth within 42
days of the termination of insurance, or use sickness benefit after the
termination of insurance and give
birth during the period of sickness benefit
coverage, or give birth within 28 days of the termination of sickness benefit
and have
had at least 180 calendar days of insurance coverage up to two years
prior to the application date. The pregnancy/maternity support
is payable
during the maternity leave, which is 24 weeks in Hungary. Four weeks of the
maternity leave can be used before the childbirth.
The amount of
pregnancy/maternity support equals 70 per cent of the previous average
wages.
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) obliges local governments to provide sufficient
services and supervision during the day for children
whose parents cannot care
for them during the day because they are at work, they are ill, or for other
reasons. Such services must
primarily be provided for children who are raised
by single parents or old people, or who cannot be cared for by their parents due
to their bad social position. The daytime care of children may be organized for
a period during the day or for weeks, primarily
in the framework of activities
in nurseries, family childcare facilities, nursery schools or afterschool care,
or inhouse child supervision.
The Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) specifies three
forms of daytime care for children: nurseries, family daytime care facilities
and inhouse child supervision. Nurseries care for children below the age of 3
being raised at home, as well as provide early training
and rehabilitation care
for handicapped children. As an additional service, nurseries can also
undertake the supervision of children
for specific periods, and may assist
families by operating a children’s hotel, or running other services
assisting child-raising.
Number of nurseries and places in 1999 and 2000
|
1999
|
2000
|
|
Number of nurseries
|
Places
|
Number of nurseries
|
Places
|
Local government
|
520
|
25 158
|
504
|
24 035
|
Company
|
15
|
528
|
11
|
386
|
Foundation
|
3
|
64
|
3
|
64
|
Enterprises
|
4
|
107
|
6
|
252
|
Central administration
|
1
|
80
|
1
|
80
|
Nonprofit companies (NGOs)
|
2
|
8
|
2
|
70
|
Joint ownership
|
2
|
30
|
3
|
54
|
Public foundation
|
2
|
24
|
2
|
24
|
Total
|
549
|
26 071
|
532
|
24 965
|
Paragraph 102
- The
services of active nurseries are used by approximately 7 per cent of
the child population aged 136 months. Between 1990 and 2000, the number
of such institutions dropped by approximately 50 per cent (in
1990: 1,300, in 2000: 532 nurseries). There were several reasons for
this decline: family policy corrections with the objective of keeping children
in their families as
long as possible; demographic reasons; and the
introduction of new services (family daytime care, child supervision for
specific
periods, playgroups, children’s hotels, inhouse child minder
service). However, it must be noted that since the increase in the
number of places in nurseries occurred as a requirement of the society,
some
development has taken place in this direction since 2001.
- It
is a task for child and youth protection to arrange daytime supervision for
children. The public educational institutions are
involved in this activity.
On the basis of the provisions of the Public Education Act, nursery schools
fulfil the task of caring for children during the day. Nursery schools care for
children between the ages of 3
and 7 years. On the basis of the provisions of
the Act, afterschool daytime care must be organized at schools from first to the
tenth year, in accordance with the parents’ requirements. Family daytime
services provide daytime care for children below
the age of 14, mainly in
smaller settlements. The childminder receives and cares for children during the
day in his/her own home
or other premises specifically established for this
purpose. The conditions for the provision of this service are defined in legal
regulations. This type of service and the inhouse child supervision detailed
below have been created with the Child Protection Act
(Gyvt.); therefore, the
establishment of a national network has only started recently. This explains
the low number of these services.
Daytime care for children includes the
supervision of children not attending nursery schools, supervision of children
in families
and outside the official school time, and supervision of children
not using the daytime care facilities of schools for purposes other
than public
education. A family daytime care facility provides supervision and care,
education, boarding and other activities for
children raised at home during the
day and in accordance with their age. Disabled children must receive services
in accordance with
their special needs.
Family daytime facilities in 1999 and 2000
|
|
2000
|
|
Places (on 31 December 1999)
|
Actual days of care
|
Minors supervised in family daytime facilities in
1999
|
Places (on 31 December 2000)
|
Actual days of care
|
Minors supervised in family daytime facilities in 2000
|
Total
|
268
|
15 976
|
424
|
272
|
18 338
|
852
|
- In
the framework of inhouse child supervision, daytime care is provided in their
own homes for children who cannot be placed in a
daytime institution for a
variety of reasons. This service must be adjusted to the parents’ work
schedule. In the framework
of inhouse child supervision, daytime care may be
provided to children by a childminder in the home of the parents or other legal
representative if permanent or temporary care for the chid cannot be provided in
a daytime institution (for example, due to an illness)
and the parent cannot
care for the child during the day at all, or only partially. The term of
daytime care provided in the framework
of inhouse child supervision must be
adjusted to the work schedule of the parents. In 2000, in total 26 childminders
cared for 312
children.
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) sets an obligation for local governments to provide
daytime care for children in some form. A local
government may operate its own
institutions for this purpose, but they can also satisfy this obligation by
entering into a contract
with an institution operated by an NGO church or
foundation or an entrepreneur for such purposes. The State provides support to
local governments and other operators for these tasks from the central
budget.
Paragraph 103
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights concluded in several cases during
the reporting period that the extension of procedures
related to benefits and
services for children, and late disbursement, caused infringement of the right
to social security (see Parliamentary
Commissioner’s Office report
4330/2001, Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report 4049/2000, and
Parliamentary Commissioner’s
Office report 571/2000). Similarly, a
constitutional anomaly arose in several cases from local government decrees,
which interpreted
the provisions of the law in relation to services with
limitations and set further conditions for eligibility for services that were
not regulated by law (see Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report
3768/2001, Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report
4703/1999,
Constitution Court Resolution 7/1999 AB).
- Constitution
Court resolution No. 42/2000 states that the right to social security specified
in article 70/E (1) of the Constitution contains a State guarantee of the
minimum subsistence by means of social services. No specifically defined
partial rights, including
the right to housing, can be derived as fundamental
constitutional rights from the guarantee of minimum subsistence. The Child
Protection
Act (Gyvt.) describes the concept of support as home creation,
temporary homes for families, temporary care for children and followup
care. In
relation to these types of support, the Constitution Court has repeatedly
stressed that the State must continuously strive to increase the rate of
support, taking into account the current
conditions of the national economy, and
extend social services in accordance with the performance of the society.
- Constitution
Court resolution No. 8/1999 states that, pursuant to the provisions of the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.), the subject of child protection
support, extended as an
inkind service, is the child who is exposed to financial or social risks, and
that the support must be used
to alleviate the expenditure directly relating to
the child. The existing social policy system, regulated in the Welfare Act
(Szt),
is aimed at alleviating and supporting expenditure affecting the entire
family, including children. The elements of this system
aimed at housing
support cannot be integrated into the child protection support system of the
local government decree adopted for
the local implementation of the Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.), because that would be contrary to the objectives and
provisions of
the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.).
- In
the reporting period, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights and his
General Deputy conducted a lot of surveys in relation
to social security.
Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report No. 3965/2000 established that
the objective of regular child
welfare support is to assist children at risk,
due to financial reasons, of failing to receive care at home from their own
family
in accordance with the rights of the child, and also established that
deduction of the support from the local tax liability infringes
the
constitutional right of the child to outstanding protection and is separate from
the constitutional principle of legal security
prevailing in a State of
law.
- No.
1609/2002 Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report. A mother raising
her child submitted a petition claiming that young
mothers do not receive
information on the benefits they are entitled to for their children, where the
benefits can be applied for,
where the application forms are available and what
documents need to be submitted for the application. With regard to the part of
the petition concerning family support and benefits, it was acknowledged that
lack of information and its occasional nature cause
problems in relation to
legal security prevailing in a democratic State of law, defined in article 2 (1)
of the Constitution. The Parliamentary Commissioner recommended to the national
medical chief nurse that district nurses should be given information
on all
available family support types and benefits in the entire country. District
nurse services should have forms related to types
of family support, and they
should also be aware of the address and accessibility of the competent Regional
Public Administration
Office. It should be made compulsory for district nurses
to provide information to pregnant women treated by them before birth on
the
types of family support and accessibility of the competent Regional Public
Administration Offices.
- Parliamentary
Commissioner’s Office report No. 5499/2000 states that the local
government provides regular child protection
support to all eligible primary
school students and nursery school pupils in the form of inkind benefits
(meals). The law does not
allow local governments to provide support to all
eligible individuals only and exclusively in the form of inkind benefits and
individual
cases cannot be studied with a view to providing the most suitable
benefit.
- Parliamentary
Commissioner’s Office report No. 1425/2002 established that the unclear
provisions of applicable legal regulations
have resulted in problems related to
constitutional rights. Since 1 January 1999, when Act LXXXIV of 1998 on family
support entered
into force, no mother has received family allowance for children
born and temporarily placed in a penitentiary hospital, thereby
infringing the
right of children concerned to appropriate physical, intellectual and moral
development.
4. Standard of living (art. 27, paras. 13)
Paragraphs 104 and 105
- The
physical, mental, intellectual and moral development of children is influenced
by the situation and region of their place of residence,
financial and cultural
relations in their household, and family holidays. In addition, the economic,
cultural and health position
of the mother, the relationship between work and
home and the time spent directly on children also have an influence on
development.
The annex describes in detail life conditions promoting the
development of parents and children (regional distribution and living
conditions
of households, their income and support depending on the number and age category
of children, and institutional services;
demographic, economic and cultural
characteristics of mothers and their time management), and how the State assists
parents (institutional
services for children, social support, food and clothing
allowance).
G. Education, leisure and cultural activities
1. Education,
including vocational
training and guidance (art. 28)
Paragraph 106
- The
Constitution stipulates that the Republic of Hungary provides the right to
education to its citizens, which is implemented through the extension
and
generalization of general education, free and mandatory primary schools,
secondary and higher education available for everyone
based on capabilities, and
financial support for those participating in education. The Republic of Hungary
respects and supports
the freedom of scientific and artistic life, freedom to
study and the freedom to teach.
- The
Public Education Act stipulates that public education includes education in
nursery school, schools and dormitories. Schools can participate in vocational
training under the terms and conditions laid down in the Act on vocational
training. Nursery schools, schools and dormitories participate
in teacher
training and additional training in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Everybody is entitled to education and
training in public education
institutions. The State is responsible for operating a public education system.
Within the framework
of tasks specified in the Act, nursery schools, schools and
dormitories are responsible for the physical, intellectual, emotional
and moral
development of children, and for the establishment and development of a children
and student community. The Public Education Act is currently being
revised.
- The
scope of the Act on vocational training covers basic training, obtaining
vocational qualifications required for a particular job,
occupation or activity,
as well as rehabilitation training for those in a disadvantaged situation and
with changed working abilities.
Vocational training institutions include
vocational training schools, secondary schools training for specific skills,
special technical
schools, and workforce development and training centres.
- The
right to higher education is regulated in the Act on higher education and a
Government decree laying down the general rules for
admission procedures for
higher education institutions.
- The
ministerial Commissioner for Educational Rights regularly monitors the
implementation of the right to education. There has been
an increase in both
the number and proportion of petitions submitted by students. In 2000, of the
petitions submitted to the office,
20 per cent were from
students. This proportion rose to 33.8 per cent in 2001,
and 38 per cent in 2002. In view of the fact that
young
people like using the Internet and electronic mail, the method of approaching
the office has also changed. In 2000, only 5
per cent of the
petitions were submitted in an electronic form; in 2001 it was
31 per cent, and in 2002, 50 per cent of the
petitions
were submitted via email. In 2001, the Commissioner submitted a
legislative proposal to the Minister of Education as a result of
a survey
initiating amendments to the Act on higher education so that students with
disabilities could sit for exams in accordance
with their abilities. The
Minister accepted the proposal and Parliament amended the Act on higher
education, authorizing the Minister
to regulate these issues in a ministerial
decree. The decree entered into force at the beginning of January 2002.
- During
the three years of operation, the Commissioner found that Hungarian legislation
complied with international conventions and
the requirements of democracy on
most issues. This is justified by the fact that only six legislative proposals
were made. However,
there is a huge backlog in the area of the implementation
of regulations. The problem is not only that the individuals concerned
are not
aware of their own rights; even institutions and authorities are not aware of
the legal regulations which are responsible
for protecting and implementing the
rights of children. However, it is an equally important problem that there is
no forum for the
rational solution of conflicts in educational
institutions.
- Authorities
have a lot of educationrelated information, but the information does not reach
children, although that could lead to cooperation
between all parties concerned.
Everybody feels deceived if information has been hidden. Conflict can only be
avoided if the most
important data are available for children and families when
they make decisions. The Commissioner is convinced that this is the
only way
democracy can work at school. The Hungarian authorities still have a lot to do
in this field.
- Children
belonging to minorities are entitled to participate in nursery school and school
education in their own language. In Hungary,
a considerable proportion of the
population of nursery school age, 92 per cent (in 1990,
87.1 per cent) attend nursery schools.
Regarding the network of
nursery schools, the majority are still run by local governments
(94 per cent in the country, 81.7 per cent
in Budapest).
Compared to the past, churches, foundations and other nonlocal government
agencies participate more in the care of
children of nursery school age. Their
role is most striking in Budapest.
- Occasionally
the large size of the groups represents a problem in nursery schools, although
the number of nursery school pupils has
declined significantly as a result of
demographic changes. On the basis of 1999/2000 data, 39.6 per cent of
the groups have more
- than
25 pupils (the maximum number allowed). In the National Programme of Nursery
School Education, it is an important principle
that child education is primarily
the right and obligation of the family, and nursery schools only have a
supplementary role. Teachers
conduct their pedagogic work under the permanent
influence of the opinion of parents a lot more in nursery schools than
other schools.
- As
a result of flexible school starts, with children starting school when they are
mature enough, the age of children in the first
class has changed. Between
1991/92 and 1999/2000, the proportion of children below the age of 6
dropped from 5.3 per cent to 1.3
per cent and the
proportion of 6yearold children also decreased, especially in the last few years
(1999/2000, 78 per cent of students
in the first class were 6 years
old), but the proportion of 7yearold children in the first class has
increased significantly, from
11 to 18.9 per cent. The
proportion of older pupils was about 2 per cent in the period
covered.
Composition of students in the first class of primary school by
age group,
1991/92, 1993/94, 1996/97 and 1999/2000 (per cent)
under 6 years
8 years and over
7 years
6 years
Source: Ministry of Education, education statistics.
- Concerning
the number of pupils starting primary education, the impact of demographic
processes can be felt in the number of pupils
in primary schools. While at the
beginning of the decade the upper classes contained significantly more pupils,
by 1996/97, the
difference completely disappeared, and the number of pupils in a
year varied between 115,000 and 125,000. In 1999/2000, the
number
of students was about 340,000 fewer than the peak number in 1986/87.
After the demographic peak, the proportion of students attending
lower and upper
classes is practically the same. Since 1997/98, primary schools also contain
9th and 10th classes, but the number
of students attending those classes is not
significant. The distribution of primary school students according to sex is
the same
as in the relevant age group, i.e. there is a
- slight
majority of boys. The proportion of girls has been stable approximately
49 per cent - for years, while in the 1999/2000 school
year, of the
total of 960,601 students, 469,500, i.e. 48.9 per cent, were
girls.
- As
a result of the changes taking place in recent years, entry into secondary
education is possible at several ages: 10, 12 and 14.
As a result of
competition between schools, an entrance exam is now generally used irrespective
of the training programme, despite
the fact that originally it was required in
institutions offering special training programmes. Entrance exams were
introduced because
the decisions on the acceptance of students fell into the
competence of the management of the school. The amendments to the Public
Education Act in 1999 significantly restricted the decisionmaking freedom of
schools in this area in order to eliminate a superfluous workload
on students,
because entrance exams can only be organized for a scope covering and with a
method specified in the procedures of the
curricular year. Concerning
the 1999/2000 academic year, the ministerial decree regulating the entrance
procedures allowed the organization
of an entrance exam in the case of secondary
elementary schools for years below the 9th year if the average number of
applicants
for the last three years was 3½ times higher than the number of
acceptable students. The entrance exam was a centralized and
standard
competence test in the 1999/2000 curricular year. The same degree set new rules
for further training after the 8th year
too: from 2000, entrance into a
secondary institution takes place with the use of a new central information
system.
- During
the last few years the school system became very fragmented, and there are
significant differences between the content, standards
and efficiency of
individual institutions. These differences represent a risk in relation to the
subjective right to quality education
in the case of numerous students. A
national curriculum represents a stop to this undesirable process and guarantees
that education
operates in a system. The national curriculum sets a clear and
common basis for preparing a local syllabus. The curriculum sets
out clearly
for teachers what is expected from each institution, based on civil rights. The
curriculum for all subjects and educational
modules focuses on skill development
and the principle of learning based on activities. Therefore, it functions not
only as a regulatory
instrument, but also as a source of uptodate methodological
knowledge, improving the quality of public education. The modification
of the
Public Education Act defined four basic pillars of development of public
education: improvement of financing conditions; a stronger role for planning;
supplementing the documents regulating the content of the curriculum; and
putting in place conditions for evaluation, control and
quality development.
The focus on the quality principle also creates a clear framework in education
for institutional autonomy.
The objective of qualitybased education control is
the coordination of the education system and the setting and establishment of
the frameworks and procedures within which schools and nursery schools can
operate, according to the local requirements and expectations.
Institutional
autonomy cannot be an end in itself; it will achieve its real meaning when it is
capable of providing quality education
for everyone while satisfying special
expectations.
Paragraph 107
- The
Public Education Act prohibits discrimination, and also contains a lot of
measures for equal opportunities. There is a separate provision dealing with
students who are not capable of progressing with the others because of their
condition. The Act provides for the right to special
care and
rehabilitationtype services, within the framework of which children and students
can claim additional services and preparation
in accordance with their condition
in order to overcome deficiencies of the body, sensory organs, mind and speech.
The same provisions
guarantee additional services required for the preparation
of children and students struggling with learning, behavioural and integration
problems. A separate institutional system gives advice for the preparation of
the students and children concerned. Educational
consultation, speech therapy
services, conductive pedagogy and expert and rehabilitation activities guarantee
that these children
and students receive the required care in nursery schools
and schools.
- The
Constitution also recognizes the right of individuals belonging to national and
ethnic minorities to participate in education and training in
their own
language. On the basis of the Public Education Act, nursery school education,
school education and training, and boarding schools may also be organized in the
language of national
and ethnic communities in addition to the Hungarian
language. It is up to the parents to decide what education to choose for their
children. The law sets an obligation for local governments to organize minority
services. If eight parents belonging to the same
national or ethnic minority
request a nursery school or primary school, the village, town, county borough or
Budapest district government
has to organize the institution. The counties are
responsible for secondary schools. The State budget supports the organization
of national and ethnic minority education with a separate supplementary
normative contribution.
- Institutions
offering special pedagogic support provide adequate education for children and
students. The education consultation
service, further education selection
consultants, and the expert and rehabilitation committee help children and
students in a situation
disadvantaged because of their capabilities to receive
appropriate services.
- The
Public Education Act defines the qualifications for teachers. Only individuals
possessing the required qualifications can perform pedagogical activities.
The
requirements are valid throughout the country. In general, the number of
teachers working in the educational system of the
Republic of Hungary is
sufficient.
- The
law stipulates the obligation of local governments to organize public education
services. Each village, town, district and county
borough is obliged to
guarantee that children and students living in the area of their jurisdiction
can have access to nursery school
education and school education.
- There
are special institutions in public education for students who were unable to
successfully complete primary school during the
years of compulsory school
attendance, i.e. until the age of 16. Such students learn subjects related
to general education, as well
as subjects with the help of which they can join
vocational training in the framework of this followup training. This type of
training
was added to the Public Education Act in 1998. At the moment, a few
thousand students attend such training.
- Early
development and care for children below the age of 3 must also be organized on
the basis of the provisions of the Act. Early
development and care may be
organized at home, in nurseries, or in the framework of services provided in the
home by nurses and carers,
or in the framework of care in children’s
homes, under remedial education, consultation, early development and care, or
conductive
pedagogic services. Children may participate in early development
and care until the age of 5. After that, children who are unable
to attend
school will participate in obligatory training. In the obligatory training,
they receive all services that are required
for the development and improvement
of their personality. The obligatory training lasts from the age of 5 to the
end of the compulsory
school attendance age. The preparatory year and
individual progress increase the chances of students who struggle with a
disadvantage
at the beginning of school, or during the first four years, to
attend a school. This category also includes Roma children in a disadvantaged
sociocultural or social environment. With this regulation, children need not
attend a school with a special curriculum at the beginning
of their school
attendance unless there is a specific reason.
- This
Government provides HUF 84,000/person for disabled persons participating in
higher education. Education of individuals participating
in national and
minority training is supported at a high normative rate. During the entrance
exam, they can use their own language,
and higher education is provided in the
languages of six of the officially recognized nationalities. In 2000, a Roma
studies specialization
was established for the Roma minority and for those
holding a teacher’s diploma, a postgraduate specialization was introduced
in Roma sociology. A foreign language exam may be taken in the Roma language,
which is officially recognized by the State.
- Regarding
primary education, the school network has been extended during the first years
of the decade, mainly in regions with small
villages where the proportion of
commuting students has decreased. However, there is still a high number of
schools at risk of closure
because of the low number of students or inadequate
financial capacities of local governments. Despite the fact that regional
higher
education centres have strengthened and the scale of higher education has
increased with specializations, there are still unequal
opportunities in further
training and there are large differences in the standard of education.
Outstanding support is needed for
training and retraining, primarily in
preferred regions, equal opportunities must be provided for disadvantaged groups
and attempts
must be made to reduce differences in the standard of education.
The surveys of the last few years proved that the followup training
supported
with special amounts did not satisfy the hopes, and even strengthened
segregation of disadvantaged and Roma children within
schools. From September
2004, the Government will also introduce a new, socalled integration normative
support, which will be made
available for the gradual elimination of such
segregation.
Paragraph 108
- In
the Republic of Hungary, all children must attend school. Compulsory schooling
lasts until the age of 18 for children who began
their primary school studies in
the 1998/99 academic year or afterwards (earlier compulsory schooling ended at
the age of 16). The
notary competent in the place of residence is obliged to
monitor the start of school attendance and the completion
- of
school attendance obligations. The notary must prepare a list on the basis of
which each school knows which students need to be
enrolled. The school director
must notify the notary if a child subject to obligatory school attendance has
not been enrolled in
the school. The students must be monitored until the end
of the compulsory schooling period. The school must notify the notary
if a
student subject to compulsory schooling does not attend school, drops out or
does not enrol in another school after completing
the first school. In a public
administration procedure, the notary can oblige parents to take their child to
school. In extreme
cases, a criminal procedure may also be initiated.
- The
Act on public education defines the services that are available free of charge.
The free status relates to the tasks of local
governments. Nursery school
services, primary school education and the 9th and 10th years of secondary
education are free of charge.
In general, school education is free until the
age of 23, provided that the student attends a daily course. This free status
applies
to services extended by institutions. Meals, textbooks and other
required instruments, such as clothing and shoes, are not free.
The budget,
however, contributes to such expenditure. Part of the support is distributed
through public education institutions,
and the other part is distributed in the
framework of child and youth welfare. Various pedagogical services, education
consultation,
further training selection, conductive pedagogic services and
expert and rehabilitation committees offer their services free of charge.
Education is also free of charge in adult education until the end of the 10th
year. In school education operating with daily courses,
the first and second
qualification are also free of charges until the ages specified above.
- In
the territory of the Republic of Hungary, secondary education is provided by
elementary schools and secondary technical schools.
Elementary school and
secondary technical school attendance are among the free services in the
framework of daily education. Disabled
students can always use the services
free of charge. Until 1998, the first qualifications could be obtained free of
charge in school
education, but since 1998, the second qualification is also
free.
- All
students of all settlements must have access to the services of public
education. The Budapest and county governments must prepare
a development plan,
in which they indicate the services available for particular settlements. The
institutional system of public
education covers the whole territory of the
Republic of Hungary. Secondary education is available for everyone free of
charge, with
standard support, which does not depend on the situation within the
country, or the number of children and pupils attending the institution.
It is
the right of the children and students to receive free or preferential meals and
learning tools in education and training
institutions, depending on the
financial position of their families, and to be exempted, partly or entirely,
from the payment of
expenses obligatory for students according to the law, or
receive permission to defer a payment obligation, or pay in instalments.
The
State also provides budgetary support to organizations operating nonStateowned
or nonlocal governmentowned public education
institutions in an amount specified
in the Annual Budget Act in accordance for the tasks of the institution. A
local government
or the State may also provide supplementary support in addition
to the budget support if, on the basis of an agreement regulated
in the Act, a
- nonStateowned
or nonlocal governmentowned public education institution performs a State or
local government task. No budget contribution
can be allocated to the operator
of educational institutions for practical vocational training in a school system
if the organization
operating the institution is obliged to pay vocational
training contribution.
- The
amendment to the Vocational Training Act has extended the range of free
services, and thus the first and second vocational exams
are free during the
study period. Similarly, the additional exams and the first correction exam are
also free.
- In
relation to the right to education, the Constitution permits contribution
according to capabilities in the present admission system. The State specifies
the number of students to be
financed by it each year. The entrance exams are
regulated in a separate legal regulation, based on public administration. The
proportion of students participating in higher education in a given age group
reaches 30 per cent, and the objective of development
of higher
education is to increase this proportion to 50 per cent. Preferential
subsidy is given to nationality training (a specialization
is launched with
a low number of students). Applications and scholarships are also offered
to assist successful entrance examination
applicants. Regarding education
providing a second diploma, the State finances the second diploma in remedial
teacher training for
400 individuals. In 2002, the completion of a psychology
specialization was also made available for 100 teachers in a similar framework.
On the basis of an application, individuals participating in training for mental
hygiene, health development and supervisor training
will receive higher support
on the basis of an application. The Hungarian State introduced a credit system
for higher education
students in 2001 and offers HUF 400 million in support,
based on an application, within the framework of “Chance for
Learning”
Public Foundation. In addition, with the Bursa Hungarica Higher
Education Scholarship, the State also contributes to higher education
studies of
young people supported by local governments.
Paragraph 109
- The
Education Act does not specifically define pregnancy, deficiency, HIV/AIDS
infection or punitive judgement among the causes for exclusion from
education.
The Replacement Committees of the Ministry of Education provide training and
education opportunities for individuals
with deficiencies, pregnant girls and
HIVinfected individuals, in the spirit of the Public Education Act. It is a
very important human right that each child should receive education according to
his/her capabilities, and that equal opportunities
should be given for learning
in all areas of education. Minorities with low populations, living scattered in
the country, learn
their native language in the framework of a socalled Sunday
school, and they can also participate in “supplementary minority
education”.
- In
the case of disadvantaged Roma students, a mandatory element of the nursery
school and school programmes is to provide a chance
for schooling. It is a
mandatory element of all minority education and training to develop minority
culture and pass on popular
knowledge. It is important that students
and their parents select minority education and its forms voluntarily and
freely. The
central budget provides supplementary support for such tasks,
representing 2530 per cent of the basic support. It is extremely
important
for disadvantaged
- Roma
children because it increases the chances of Roma children for school education
as, according to the provisions of the Education Act, the nursery school
training period may be extended on the basis of an expert opinion. An
individual progress schedule can be defined
in the lower classes, which means
that until the end of the fourth year, children are exempted from assessment.
It is important,
though, that by the end of the fourth year they must be able to
satisfy the requirements. These measures may protect children from
initial
failures and can also prevent Roma children from being enrolled in schools
operating with a special syllabus without a good
reason. It also increases the
chances of disadvantaged Roma students in school education and vocational
training that students who
did not complete eight years of primary school during
the compulsory school attendance period can participate in a one or twoyear
followup course in a special school, in the framework of which they can prepare
for vocational qualifications.
- The
most important point of this measure is that students should not leave the
public education system without qualifications. The
success in education of
students belonging to the Roma minority is also assisted by the Ministry of
Education in the form of special
programmes implemented in the framework of
public applications, including support to the operation of minority education
institutions
and NGOs, support to popular knowledge and lifestyle camps, support
to accredited postgraduate training for teachers participating
in Roma minority
education, research supporting Roma minority education and support to the
production of teaching aids required for
Romology training.
Support made available from the corresponding chapter of the
central budget
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
in HUF ‘000
|
Education programmes
|
6 274
|
8 027
|
3 600
|
31 000
|
5 800
|
Reimbursed study costs
|
2 718
|
7 322
|
7 850
|
7 281
|
8 980
|
Supplement to operating expenses for public education
institutions
|
5 000
|
5 324
|
14 194
|
3 000
|
2 500
|
Romology research and higher training
|
5 362
|
12 530
|
10 320
|
4 100
|
4 500
|
Development of training institutions
|
10 300
|
8 500
|
22 167
|
19 300
|
153 000
|
Traditionpreserving and popular knowledge camps
|
|
8 748
|
8 200
|
6 100
|
6 275
|
Postgraduate training of teachers, Romology conferences
|
425
|
655
|
|
7 600
|
6 900
|
Total
|
30 079
|
51 106
|
66 331
|
78 381
|
187 955
|
- In
order to promote successful education, the Ministry of Education announced a
boarding school development programme for Roma students
in 2000 for the first
time, for which HUF 150 million were allocated, based on applications.
Consequently, from September 2001,
in total 287 disadvantaged Roma students were
admitted to 16 boarding schools. In 2001, a special Roma talent support
programme
was launched in three secondary education institutions in the
framework of the Arany János Talent Support
Programme.
- The
progress of disadvantaged Roma students in school is supported with the
scholarship system covering the entire school system.
Scholarship support from the “Public Foundation for
Roma People in Hungary” between 1996 and 2001
|
Primary education
|
Secondary education
|
Higher education
|
Other
|
|
No.
|
HUF ‘000
|
No.
|
HUF ‘000
|
No.
|
HUF ‘000
|
Definition
|
No.
|
HUF ‘000
|
1996/97
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Support to textbooks and other school stationery for primary schools
|
8 039
|
30 000
|
1997/98
|
272
|
25 000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1998/99
|
748
|
25 645
|
93
|
3 720
|
|
|
|
|
|
1999/2000
|
1 933
|
70 900
|
497
|
17 910
|
|
|
|
|
|
2000/01
|
4 285
|
124 895
|
1 720
|
77 920
|
406
|
43 600
|
Higher education abroad
|
9
|
1 190
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Technician training
|
9
|
360
|
2001/02 first halfyear
|
6 995
|
140 530
|
2 838
|
84 320
|
950
|
57 200
|
|
24
|
3 085
|
Scholarships provided by the Hungarian Public Foundation for
National and Ethnic Minorities between 19962001
|
Secondary level
|
Higher level
|
|
No.
|
HUF ‘000
|
No.
|
HUF ‘000
|
1996/97
|
675
|
33 750
|
110
|
7 700
|
1997/98
|
401
|
20 050
|
132
|
9 240
|
1998/99
|
540
|
27 000
|
103
|
10 300
|
1999/2000
|
562
|
28 100
|
111
|
11 100
|
2000/01
|
662
|
33 000
|
174
|
17 400
|
Total
|
2 840
|
141 900
|
630
|
55 740
|
- In
accordance with Constitution Court resolution No. 1042/B/1997, the conclusion
cannot be drawn from the international treaties examined that the State must
provide
primary education free of charge, according to the parents’
choice, with regard to all organizations operating public educational
institutions. It does not follow from the treaties referred to either that the
State must provide the same conditions of support
that it offers to
organizations providing free education to everyone at the school of choice. The
fact that nonStateowned and nonlocalgovernmentowned
institutions may charge a
fee does not involve a consequence violating the prohibition of
discrimination.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights and his General Deputy conducted
numerous surveys in the reporting period in relation
to the implementation of
the right to education:
(a) In Parliamentary Commissioner’s
Office report No. 3193/1997, an answer had to be found to the question whether,
according
to the effective legal regulations, a local government is obliged to
provide access to various education and training methods in
institutions run by
it. The Act on local governments states that primary school education and
training and secondary education are
mandatory tasks for local government, but
it does not contain any provisions concerning the methods. Similarly to the Act
on local
governments, the Public Education Act does not contain any provisions
on the accessibility of training and education methods. However, the approach
to the problem from
the point of view of the obligation of the local government
is only one of the possible methods. The other thing is to define the
scope of
the right to education;
(b) Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report No. 6796/1997
established that a teacher prohibiting a student from attending
lessons due to
his conduct infringed the provisions of the law and led to a conflict in
relation to article 2 (1), article 16 and
article 67 (1) Constitution;
(c) Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report No. 3143/2000 states
that the Constitution declares the parents’ right to select education for
their children, but this does not mean that the parent can take a child
out of
school during the academic year without enrolling him/her in another
institution;
(d) Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report No. 4004/1998. Among
the documents made available by the school director, none
proved that the school
warned a student in writing about the consequences of uncertified absence.
Therefore, since the student was
not warned in advance, the procedure of the
school director in determination of the studies of the child concerned infringed
the
applicable provisions of the decree. Educational institutions also have an
obligation to promote youth protection, declared in the
Constitution.
Consequently, in this specific case, the school should have been obliged to duly
inform the student and warn him in advance, and
since these actions did not take
place, the school did not fulfil its obligations laid down in the law. This
negligence also imposed
a risk on the full implementation of the right of the
student concerned to youth protection, declared in the Constitution;
(e) Parliamentary Commissioner’s Office report No. 1180/1999 states
that there are no reasons in school education or training
that would entitle a
teacher to use physical punishment. A teacher, as an employee of a public
educational institution, infringes
constitutional rights in relation to the
right to dignity of the person when he/she applies physical punishment to
students.
Paragraph 110
- The
Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) lays down the right of children to protection
against violence. In addition, the Public Education Act prohibits all types of
physical violence at school. It orders that schools and teachers must respect
the personality of children
and their right to human dignity. The Commissioner
for Education Rights deals with students’ petitions in public education.
Each student has a right to ask the Commissioner for help, on the basis of which
a procedure may be launched against decisions and
faults of institutions. The
Public Education Act declares the children’s right to freely express their
opinion. Therefore, children may express their opinion and make a proposal
on
all issues related to school selection and management of their affairs. The
Public Education Act makes it obligatory to take into account the opinion of
children in relation to decisions made in matters concerning them.
Paragraph 111
- Hungary
has been participating in the European Union’s Socrates education
cooperation and Leonardo training cooperation programmes
since 1997. Within the
framework of cooperation between institutions, Hungarian schools learnt about
education issues and developments
taking place in member States, participate in
the development of specific projects and have learnt useful experiences in the
framework
of individual followup training, while they also described Hungarian
results in various international events.
- PHARE
programmes relevant in the Reporting Period:
(a) The objective of
programme HU 990401 (19992003) is to support social integration of
disadvantaged, primarily Roma, youths (nanny
training programmes, teacher
training, further training, various primary school programmes, vocational
training programmes in and
outside the school system, talent support programmes
in secondary schools);
(b) The objective of programme HU 000802 (20002003) is to support transition
to work (reduction of the number of dropouts at schools,
assistance in career
selection and orientation, improvement of adult training and lifelong learning
opportunities);
(c) The objective of programme HU 010101 (20012004), which is the
continuation of HU 990401, is also support to the social integration
of
disadvantaged, primarily Roma, youths (telehouses, training of community
organizers in small regions, alternative pedagogical
programmes, Romology in
higher education).
Paragraph 112
- Concerning
the operation of educational and training institutions of national and ethnic
minorities, approximately one third of support
provided from the intervention
and coordination budget is used for reconstruction of education and training
institutions (nursery
schools, schools and dormitories), completion of capital
expenditure projects, extension of institutions, procurement of equipment
and
other items, and supplement of operating
expenses.
- A
considerable proportion of the applications for support by the Interministerial
Committee of Minorities is aimed at the solution
or alleviation of crises in
educational institutions. With support to minority schools, the danger of
closure of several small schools
for nationalities has been eliminated and
reconstruction and other capital expenditure projects can be implemented in the
schools
and nursery schools concerned. In addition, the items required for
highquality education and training activities may be purchased.
In the
case of the Roma minority, the Committee accepted 56 applications
involving approximately HUF 73 million. More than
50 per
cent of the accepted applications came from educational
institutions in which the proportion of Roma children is higher than
50 per
cent. The support has improved the operating conditions
of educational institutions, and also helped children of Roma origin to
participate in daytime care, in addition to the reorientation and talent support
programmes. Twenty applications from Croats living
in Hungary were accepted and
support of nearly HUF 43 million was allocated. The Committee
allocated HUF 51 million to the 34 applications
from Germans living in
Hungary. Twenty applications from the Romanian minority received support
in the amount of HUF 38.5 million.
HUF 16 million in support was
given for 13 applications from the Serbian minority. From the Slovak
national minority, 27 applications
were accepted by the
Committee with support involving nearly HUF 43 million. In the case of
Slovenes, 6 applications were given
support in the amount of approximately
HUF 10 million.
- There
is a PHARE programme assisting social integration of youths, in the framework of
which the main stress is put on the successful
attendance of Roma children in
nursery schools and schools, and their vocational qualifications. In these
programmes, nanny training
was launched in three counties in 2001, in the
framework of which 270 nannies of Roma origin were trained. Similarly, in the
framework
of the same programme, 130 new pedagogical programmes were developed
in 270 institutions, with the involvement of 1,230 teachers
and the
participation of 13,350 disadvantaged and Roma children. In order to assist the
successful secondary education of disadvantaged
Roma children, two training
centres, involving also a boarding school, were established with PHARE
support.
2. Aims of education (art. 29)
Paragraph 113
- Pursuant
to the provisions of the Public Education Act, the tasks of a leisuretime
officer also include participation in the dissemination of basic human values,
national, nationality
and minority traditions within the school, as well as
dissemination and acceptance of cultural and ethnic differences.
- The
Ministers of Education and Environmental Protection signed a cooperation
agreement “On the development of environmental
education and
training” on 5 June 1999. According to the agreement, each ministry
provides HUF 120 million for the objectives
and tasks included in the
agreement.
- The
objective of the “school in the woods” is to create the right
conditions so that each student can attend at least
a forest school during the
first eight years of studies. The objective of environmental education in
secondary schools is that classes
and groups should cooperate with the local
community in identifying local problems, discussing the potential solutions and
making
a proposal for the solution. In higher education, the main objective is
the development of environmental education methods applicable
to the methodology
of environmental training and teacher training.
- Hungarian
minorities live scattered in the country, and minority languages have been
excluded from everyday use. By now, families
have also lost their role in
passing on minority native languages. The jobs of passing on minority languages
and culture, and strengthening
of identity remains with nursery schools, schools
and nongovernmental organizations. Minority education, as part of the Hungarian
public education system, provides all services that are provided in general in
public education, and also creates the necessary conditions
for learning the
native language and studying the culture and history of these nationalities.
While the tasks of nationality education
are primarily of a language and
cultural nature, Roma education must be able to find an answer to problems which
go significantly
beyond the world of public education. Many members of the Roma
population struggle with social problems and discrimination, and
an everyday
phenomenon is their segregation. The unemployment rate is significantly higher
than average among the Roma population.
- It
is an important task for public education to try and close the gap. One of the
most important ways to achieve social integration
of the Roma population is
schooling. However, education can only bring good results on a longterm basis,
with extensive social cooperation.
This is why coordinated cooperation between
ministries is very important; this is laid down in a mediumterm government
resolution
on a package of measures aimed at the improvement of the living
conditions and social position of the Roma population. In order
to achieve the
above objectives, the Ministry of Education hopes for effective assistance from
the Interministerial Committee for
Roma Matters, established on the basis of the
government resolution. The new legal, financial and organizational conditions
of minority
education were formulated in the 1990s relying mainly on former
structures. In the framework of this process, the various regulations
provide
multilateral guarantees for minorities living scattered in the country to enjoy
equal rights in education. With regard to
the regulation of education of the
Roma minority, special attention must be paid to regulatory and financial
guarantees in relation
to the extra tasks in the education system within the
framework of various programmes, yet the results of these regulations should
not
encourage separation of children, students and pupils according to origin.
- The
educational and pedagogical programmes of institutions involved in minority
education and training were completed for the 1998/99
academic year in
accordance with the provisions of the Public Education Act. However, during the
development of local syllabi, it turned out that integration of the special
subjects of nationality education,
such as grammar and literature, as well as
popular knowledge, caused a conflict in the weekly mandatory timetable.
- The
13 national minorities defined in the Minorities Act can be classified into
three groups for the purposes of education: (a) so-called traditional national
minorities, i.e. Croats, Germans,
Romanians, Serbs, Slovaks and Slovenes,
who already have an education network
- within
the Hungarian public education system; (b) the second large group,
i.e. Bulgarians, Greeks, Poles, Ruthenes and Ukrainians,
who do not have an
education network but teach their languages in socalled Sunday schools,
i.e. within the framework of activities
outside schools, or have only
individual institutions; (c) the third largest group, the Roma minority, whose
education and training
take place in the framework of “Roma minority
education within the Hungarian public education system”. At the moment,
Roma minority education is organized in approximately 250 nursery schools and
approximately 650 primary schools for an estimated
25,000 nursery school pupils
and 55,000 primary school pupils. These days, all Roma children attend schools,
and the majority of
students complete primary school. It is a problem that
programmes that improve the chances of disadvantaged Roma children in education
take place in the framework of Roma minority education. In future, the content
of the two systems must be separated. Similarly
to nationality education,
opportunities should be provided for minority education and training, and the
conditions required for programmes
to improve the chances of disadvantaged Roma
children in education should be developed separately.
- Minority
secondary education takes place in Hungary in 19 elementary schools
teaching in the languages of minorities, or in two languages,
and in 1 Roma
elementary school and 4 secondary technical schools. (Of these, 10 secondary
schools teach in German, 2 in Slovak,
2 in Croatian, 2 in Romanian, 1 in
Serbian, 1 in Slovenian, 1 in Bulgarian and 1 in the Roma language.) In the
case of Roma students,
secondary education and education at boarding schools
have a preponderant role in intellectual and vocational training. These
institutions
have achieved significant results. These days, approximately
85 per cent of Roma students continue their studies after primary
school,
16 per cent of whom study in secondary schools providing
matriculation at the end of the studies. Prevention of dropouts and talent
support activities in secondary education and boarding schools are of
outstanding importance. This process is developed even further
with the Roma
boarding programme of the Arany János Talent Support scheme, which was
launched by the Ministry of Education
last year. The talent support programme
started with 50 individuals in three boarding schools. Another important result
of education
during recent years is the system of scholarships offered by public
foundations, formed mainly with State support, assisting Roma
youths.
Paragraph 114
- National
and ethnic minority education and training contains clearly identifiable extra
tasks. Since 1991, the yearly acts on the
budget have provided additional
support to organizations performing these tasks. The rate of supplementary
support has increased
year by year, although not always according to
expectations, and, as a result of further differentiation, it also encouraged
the
development of higherstandard bilingual and minoritylanguage education. The
supplementary support provided sufficient funding for
minorityrelated tasks.
Most of the problems occurred after 1996 in the operation of nationality schools
with a small number of
- students.
After various experiments, the Act on the budget in 2000 provided a solution.
According to the regulations, local governments
are eligible to twice the
socalled smallsettlement normative support for settlements with a population of
less than 1,100, 3,000
and 3,500 people if they operate educational training
institutions teaching a minority language, educating in the minority language
or
in two languages. This measure not only increased the abilities of small
settlements to retain their institutions, but also contributed
to the survival
of small nationality schools and the preservation of the nationality character
of particular settlements. In addition,
each year a separate budget can be used
(in 2000, HUF 300 million and in 2001, HUF 320 million) as supplementary support
for the
operation of minority nursery schools and schools accepting students on
the basis of applications. The State budget primarily supports
local
governments operating minority education and training institutions that are not
eligible for the support described above because
of the size of their
settlement, and because providing nationality and minority education would
involve a very large burden for them.
According to the experiences of the year
2000, the central budget contributed to the operation of nursery schools and
schools involved
in minority education and training with 8090 per cent
of their total expenditure in the form of this supplementary support. The
State
also considers it important to provide the physical equipment required for
operation. In addition to several minority schools
(Slovak, Croatian, Serbian
and German) accepting students from the whole country in 12 classes and
providing boarding facilities,
built from the investment of the central budget,
the new Romanian boarding school in Gyula was opened in September 1998. At the
moment, a boarding school is being built for the GermanHungarian school centre
in Pécs with support from the Ministry of Education.
The construction of
Gandhi Elementary and Boarding School has continued also, mainly using funds
from the central budget.
Paragraph 115
- On
the basis of the provisions of the Public Education Act, in addition to the
State and local governments, public education may be established, maintained and
operated by local minority governments,
a national minority selfgovernment,
churches registered as legal entities in the Republic of Hungary, legal entities
established
in the territory of the Republic of Hungary and having their
headquarters in Hungary, foundations, associations and private individuals.
Organizations operating such institutions other than local governments are
eligible for the same support as local governments.
- In
Hungary, the freedom to establish educational institutions is not limited. The
quality of education and the provisions of the legal
regulations concerning
operations and terms must be complied with, irrespective of the organization
operating the school, and a monitoring
system has been put in place.
- Sector
neutrality also applies in financing, as non-State-owned and
non-local-government-owned institutions are eligible for the same
amount of
State support as institutions owned by the State or local governments.
Paragraphs 116 and 117
- The
system to monitor compliance with regulations exists. Besides control by the
operators, independent institutions working as subsidiary
institutions of the
Ministry also monitor how the institutions function and how successful they
are.
- The
Public Education Act prohibits all forms of discrimination. It sets out
provisions that ensure that in the course of decisions made by the operators
and
by the institutions, the interest of children prevail above everything else. It
also defines the conditions which guarantee
that the views of children are
sought and respected. Legislation defines the extent of minimum services as
well as the time frame
for the implementation of educational tasks. Legislation
also defines the minimum facilities and tools that every institution must
provide.
3. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities (art.
31)
Paragraph 118
- Pursuant
to the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.), one of the roles of child welfare services
is to organize leisure programmes in order
to promote the physical and
psychological health of the child as well as to support the upbringing of the
child in a family.
- Pursuant
to the Public Education Act children and students are entitled to have their
nursery school and school study schedules set up in a way that rest time,
leisure
time and physical exercise are included, as well as sport and meal
opportunities corresponding to their age and level of development.
The student
is entitled to use the facilities provided in the school and in the dormitory,
including sport and leisure facilities,
and to join cultural, art, knowledge,
sport and other groups and clubs in school. The Act also provides for the
possibility to organize
leisure activities in the educational institution.
Where the number of students reaches 300, it is compulsory to employ a
leisuretime
officer.
- The
leisuretime officer helps the teachers organize leisure time for students and to
develop a kind of community within the school.
One of the jobs of the
leisuretime officer is to prepare and organize extracurricular activities
related to the educational programme
of the school and to support activities
related to environmental education (such as “schools in the woods”,
camps, etc.)
- Pursuant
to the Sports Act, the National Leisure Sport Association represents the
interests of children’s sports vis à
vis Government organizations,
local governments, the Hungarian National Olympic Committee, the National Sports
Association, public
sports foundations and other civil society organizations; it
provides opinions on sport policy issues related to sports, initiates
Government
action in these areas and comments on sportrelated draft legislation.
- Conditions
for organized and regular physical exercise and sport activities must be
provided in the public education institutions
by law. No school, boarding
school or nursery school can be built without a gym or an exercise room the size
of which must correspond
to the size of the student population. The operator of
a school that has no gym must create sport opportunities for the students
as
provided by legislation.
- Free
access to participation in cultural life and in the arts is manifested basically
in the areas of theatre, dance and music. Hungarian
theatres owned by the
municipalities in Budapest have children’s performances on their
programmes, usually popular musical
pieces played in a
- long
series that runs for years. Theatres owned by local governments in the
countryside do the same (the Csiky Gergely Theatre in
Kaposvár,
nationally renowned for its high artistic standards, stands out among them with
an audience more than 30 per cent
of whom are children). Private
theatre companies and alternative theatre workshops specialized in
children’s programmes and
operating from funds obtained through grants
also have an annual programme (the annual amount of the grant given to such
theatres
is between HUF 1 and 6 million, but the Merlin Theatre stands out with
a grant of HUF 5 million besides the operating costs to
implement its
children’s theatre programme). The average annual subsidy to puppet
theatre companies is around HUF 1 million.
Out of the 11 puppet theatre
companies the two largest ones, the Budapest Bábszínház
(Budapest Puppet Theatre)
and the Kolibri Theatre, play to an audience of
90 per cent children. In the countryside, new puppet theatres are
springing up.
The latest one opened in Veszprém in 2000. In 2001, two
new buildings were donated to the puppet companies in Kecskemét
and
Debrecen. Central budget grants to support localgovernmentowned puppet theatres
increased by 26 per cent as compared to last
year (HUF 185 million
from the Ministry of Culture).
- Besides
the above, representatives of all genres and structures may apply for grants to
produce children’s programmes to the
National Cultural Basic Programme
(NKA), which put children’s programmes at the top of its priority list
between 1998 and 2000.
(For example, Hungarian Television received HUF 3
million from the NKA special ministerial budget in 1999 to broadcast children
theatre performances.) The Ministry of National Cultural Heritage (NKÖM)
and the Ministry of Education (OM) jointly issued
a call for applications for
the socalled “initiating” theatre projects, which supports
children’s visits to theatres
on the one hand, and on the other hand helps
to put those children’s performances on stage which involve the audience
in the
actual development of the play. One of the main jobs of the three
concert agencies set up by NKÖM is to organize youth concerts.
Schoolchildren can get classical music concert season tickets at a very low
rate, where nationally known orchestras and especially
talented musicians
acquaint them with the world of music. This is built upon the school music
education system, and is an organic
supplement to it. Besides the theatre
opportunities, films made for young people also provide a sensible way to spend
leisure time.
Five children’s films received a total sum of HUF 775
million in the last three years by way of grants from the Cultural
Ministry.
- The
National Cultural Basic Programme also gave an especially high amount from its
budget to programmes related to the cultural life
of children in the areas of
functional applied arts and interior design. It supported the renovation of
playgrounds and the creation
of new ones.
- The
Ministerial Council of the Council of Europe adopted the document prepared by
the Cultural Cooperation Committee of the Council
of Europe on 3 February 2000,
discussing the problems of education and learning and the cultural situation of
Roma children. The
recommendation and the preparatory working document gave
Hungary as a positive example of how to solve such problems. The 2001 country
report on the implementation by Hungary of obligations deriving from the
European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages was a
great
- recognition
of our minority cultural policy. This document clearly shows that the most
positive area of a generally very positive
total picture of the country is
minority culture and public culture. It states that initiatives related to
minority languages and
the different forms of selfexpression are motivated
through various channels. These are funded through the Ministry of Culture
and
the Government Office for National and Ethnic Minorities, as well as through
subsidies to minority selfgovernments, from the general
central budget. Access
to art in minority languages and art exhibitions and festivals are also
supported by funding. Some minority
selfgovernments operate their own culture
houses and museums, but in general the Government maintains museums and theatres
for the
sake of minority languages.
- NKÖM
has been supporting certain national minority events and national minority camps
for years, helping publish books in national
minority languages and offering
grants to individual national minority projects, Gypsy cultural events and
events to preserve traditions.
As of 2000, the budget for a mediumterm
package of action regarding NKÖMrelated tasks was increased to HUF 70
million, and
the basic budget for nationality and ethnic minority cultures was
raised to HUF 120 million.
- Largescale
events of national or regional importance, programmes involving several
nationalities and programmes for the maintenance
of minoritymother country
relations were also priorities. The grants given to documentaries, feature
films, and public or regional
television and radio programmes made by Roma
artists or with a Roma subject is of outstanding importance. We can say in
general
that all significant workshops and artists have received grants in
different amounts. NKÖM provided a onetime grant of HUF
150 million in
1998 to set up the National Gypsy Information and Cultural Centre, and gave
another HUF 30 million in 1999 for its
operations. NKÖM provided 35
million more annually for 20002002 for the annual operating costs.
Paragraph 119
- Besides
the programmes provided by the leisuretime officers in schools, the operation of
the network of boarding schools guarantees
the abovementioned rights of the
child. One of the major tasks of public education is to reduce social,
economic, and cultural inequalities.
One of the most efficient arenas where
this could be achieved is the boarding schools. The creation of the National
Basic Programme
for Boarding School Education and its approval by the profession
signify the renewal of the content of boarding school education.
The Government
set up the National Boarding School Public Foundation in 2000, which started to
operate in January 2001.
- Cultural
institutions operating under the Municipality of Budapest (Budapesti
Művelődési Központ, Petőfi
Csarnok
Ifjúsági Szabadidő Központ) guarantee the rights of
children to rest, to leisure and to cultural
activities.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights highlighted in his report
OBH 2196/2000 that sport is a basic tool for national health
development;
it is a socially useful way to spend leisure time and plays an important
role in the moral and physical education of
children as well as in the shaping
of their personalities. Spreading an attitude expressing the
- usefulness
and need for an exerciserich lifestyle, the upgrading of the existing facilities
and the creation of new ones contribute
to orienting the lives and the leisure
activities of young people towards a desirable direction. If conditions for
safe sports are
created, parents are happier to let their children do
sports.
- In
a petition neighbourhood residents complained that the basketball games in the
nearby playground disturbed the tranquillity of
the neighbourhoods. The
Parliamentary Commissioner pointed out that activities that disturb others are
prohibited only if the disturbance
is unnecessary. Thus, if the disturbance is
inevitable, the activity is not unlawful. The disturbance caused by sport
activities
at the playground is inevitable, and the residents must put up with
it.
H. Special protection measures
1. Children in situations
of emergency
(a) Refugee children (art. 22)
Paragraph 120
- The
Constitution declares that in accordance with the conditions established by law,
the Republic of Hungary shall, if neither their country of origin
nor
another country provides protection, extend the right of asylum to foreign
citizens who, in their native country or the country
of their usual place of
residence, are subject to persecution on the basis of race or nationality,
membership of a specific social
group, religious or political conviction, or
whose fear of being subject to persecution is well founded.
- The
goal of the Asylum Act is to define the rights and obligations related to asylum
provided within the territory of the Republic
of Hungary, to guarantee the
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms through providing legal
guarantees in the procedure
of the asylum authorities, and to guarantee the
prohibition of discrimination due to race, religion, nationality or political
views.
- As
corresponds to the goal of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees,
asylum regulations guarantee the special protection
of asylumseekers authorized
to stay in Hungary and recognized refugee children. Besides specific local
regulations, refugee children
enjoy the same rights as Hungarian children in
education, health care, welfare services and aid, as provided by the relevant
legislation.
Distribution of asylumseeking children
by age on 1 March
2002
|
Number
|
014 years
|
65
|
1418 years
|
116
|
Total
|
181
|
Distribution of asylumseeking children accommodated
in
reception centres and other contracted accommodation
by nationality
|
014 years
|
1418 years
|
Afghani
|
18
|
29
|
Bangladeshi
|
|
18
|
Ghanaian
|
|
1
|
Georgian
|
2
|
|
Yugoslavian Hungarian
|
2
|
|
Yugoslavian Croatian
|
1
|
|
Yugoslavian Serbian
|
3
|
1
|
Yugoslavian Albanian
|
|
1
|
Indian
|
|
3
|
Iraqi
|
19
|
13
|
Iranian
|
|
1
|
Cameroonian
|
1
|
|
Chinese
|
|
3
|
Macedonian
|
1
|
|
Moldovan
|
|
1
|
Mongolian
|
2
|
|
Nigerian
|
|
19
|
Pakistani
|
|
2
|
Sierra Leonean
|
|
15
|
Sri Lankan
|
|
1
|
Somali
|
5
|
6
|
Turkish
|
10
|
1
|
Ukrainian
|
1
|
|
Vietnamese
|
|
1
|
- The
legal guardian of an asylumseeking minor arriving with the parents is the person
who exercises parental rights. In case of unaccompanied
minors, if the legal
representative cannot take part in the procedure, the asylum authorities appoint
a case guardian without delay
the moment the procedures start. The case of a
minor under the age of 18 is handled together with that of the parent providing
legal
representation and exercising parental rights. All asylumseeking children
are entered into the asylum registry. Fingerprints may
be taken in the course
of the asylum procedure only from minors over the age of 14. Children arriving
with the family can be interviewed
on the conditions of flight only if they are
over 14 years of age and if the interview is necessary in order to clarify the
situation.
Parents and legal representatives receive multilingual written
information on their rights and obligations; they are also informed
verbally
through an interpreter. A threetier legal remedy system is available in the
asylum procedure. Those who, in the course
of the interview, mention any kind
of torture or inhuman and humiliating treatment will have the opportunity to get
in touch with
the Cordelia Foundation, consisting of psychiatrists, for
treatment. The same accommodation must be allocated to immediate relatives
(children and parents) at the reception centres or at other contracted
accommodation. Children must not be accommodated at detention
centres.
Paragraph 121
- Asylumseeking
children are entitled to three meals a day at the reception centre, a sanitary
package every month, and a child’s
clothing package upon arrival. Food
for infants depends on their special needs. Asylumseekers above the age of 14
are entitled
to some pocket money as of the third complete month of stay. Great
care is taken to organize leisuretime activities for children
during the period
they stay at the reception centres. Social workers of the reception institution
and of the NGOs work with the
children. There is a nursery school functioning
at every reception centre. The head of the accommodation and the social and
information
teams that coordinate joint activities keep in touch with the
cultural and serviceproviding institutions operating in the locality.
- A
special accommodation centre is being established for unaccompanied minors,
after the example and experience of EU member States.
The Office of Immigration
and Naturalization of the Ministry of the Interior, the local municipality, an
NGO and the Hungarian Representation
of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees cooperate on this project.
- Pursuant
to the Asylum Act and for the sake of family unification, the immediate family
members of the alien must also be recognized
as refugees if they submitted their
applications together, or if a family member submitted the application with the
consent of the
asylumseeker before the decision is made on his/her status. The
Search Service of the Hungarian Red Cross is available every time
the Office
gets information on the possible whereabouts of the parents of unaccompanied
minors. Before the introduction of compulsory
education for asylumseekers
on 1 January 2001, education had been organized for children at
reception centres if there were many
of them speaking (or understanding) the
same language. When there were small numbers of schoolage children speaking a
certain language,
it was difficult to provide a teacher. Organizing school for
children in English, Russian or SerboCroatian was no problem.
- The
Office for Immigration and Naturalization initiated the introduction of
compulsory education with the Ministry of Education in
June 2001. An amendment
to the Public Education Act extended compulsory education to cover asylumseekers
as well. Educational institutions in Békéscsaba had, even before
the introduction of compulsory education, undertaken to provide a suitable place
(for lack of a proper classroom) to teach the children,
which was funded for
years from donations given by the International Children’s Safety
Service.
- Based
on Government Decree 25/1998, the Office for Immigration and Naturalization
finances the total costs of education for unaccompanied
minors. The same
applies to children who are authorized to stay. It was also the Office for
Immigration and Naturalization that
initiated the inservice training of teachers
teaching refugee, asylumseeking and authorizedtostay children. From among the
different
forms of support included in the Government Decree, children are also
entitled to the aid for living expenses received by their parents.
The amount
of housing aid depends on the number of children; it increases with every child.
Aid to start school can be given once
a year if the family is in need, unless
the notary had granted such aid to the child pursuant to the Welfare Act (Szt).
In case
of refugees and authorizedtostay aliens, it is the responsibility of the
parents to comply with the obligation of education.
Paragraph 122
- A
Government Decree on the care and support of aliens covered by the Asylum Act
provides the opportunity to refugee children studying
in basic (elementary) or
secondary education institutions to participate in Hungarian language courses
free of charge to bring them
up to the necessary level. The same for
authorizedtostay children was financed by UNHCR until 2001. In 2001, contracts
were signed
with five educational institutions belonging to the municipalities
to provide such catchup language courses.
Paragraph 123
- A
problem with schoolage asylumseeking children is that most of them do not speak
or understand Hungarian. This fact makes the organization
of catchup language
courses necessary. However, children stay in Hungary usually only for a few
months, and they are unable to learn
enough Hungarian and become integrated into
a Hungarian school during such a short period of time. Elementary and secondary
schoolteachers
are usually not trained to teach Hungarian as a foreign language;
thus, the education of asylumseeking children is not very successful.
The
problem is even more severe because most of these children suffer from traumas
requiring special training (in psychology) on
the teacher’s part. The
families usually have no assets whatsoever which could cover expenses arising in
the course of schooling.
These problems are also typical for refugee and
authorizedtostay children, with the difference that their stay is usually long
enough
to learn Hungarian and especially in cases of recognized refugees
employment of the parents can ease the financial difficulties
of the
families.
- The
Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights discussed the condition of the
community shelters in several reports. His reports
also covered some
discrepancies related to children’s rights. These shelters lacked among
other things the necessary conditions
and tools for a longerterm, civilized stay
and activities for children, facilities to bathe smaller children, or trained
personnel
to take care of the children. (See Parliamentary Commissioner’s
reports OBH 3020/1998, OBH 3524/1998, OBH 5551/1998, 5935/1998,
6359/1998.)
(b) Children in armed conflict (art. 38), including physical
and psychological
recovery and social reintegration (art. 39)
Paragraphs
124132
- Act
CX of 1993 on national defence, article 70, provides that based on universal
conscription, all men of Hungarian citizenship and
all men who live in the
territory of the Republic of Hungary are liable to military service. Universal
conscription starts at the
age of 17. Thus, Hungarian legislation complies with
the provisions of the Convention. The Representative of the Republic of Hungary
signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on 11
March 2002.
- There
has been no armed conflict in Hungary since 1956, but as for our international
relations, we proceed (in issues related to children)
as provided by the
Convention. Hungary has ratified the relevant conventions. Of these the major
ones are: Act X of 1998 on the
ratification
- and
promulgation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling,
Production and Transfer of Antipersonnel Mines and
on Their Destruction;
lawdecree 20 of 1989 on the promulgation of Additional Protocols I and II to the
Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949, on the protection of the victims of war;
Act XXXIX of 1996 on the implementation of obligations arising from the Statute
of
the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; Act XXVII
of 2001 on the promulgation of Convention No. 182 on the
Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour adopted
at the International Labour Conference.
2. Children involved with the system of administration of
juvenile justice
(a) The administration of juvenile justice (art.
40)
Paragraph 133
- Pursuant
to the Penal Code (Btk.), a juvenile is a person who, at the time of committing
the criminal act, has reached the age of
14 but is not yet 18. In the Hungarian
legal system, juvenile penal law is an integral part of penal law as a whole,
yet it is to
some extent independent. This relative independence is manifested
in the structure of the relevant legislation. Penal substantive,
procedural and
executory laws stipulate provisions that are different from those for adult
perpetrators. The reason is that the
critical, moral and intellectual
development of a juvenile is still taking shape. When sanctions are
chosen, it is not retaliation
one should apply for a juvenile, but tools of
education. Hungarian penal law does not have any special code for juvenile
perpetrators;
rather, it opts for the solution that penal standards applying to
this category of accused should differ in a number of aspects from
the general
rules. Special provisions on juveniles are included in a separate chapter in
the Penal Code (Btk.) and in Criminal Procedures
(Be). The Statutory Regulation
on the Execution of Penalties and Measures also includes provisions that differ
from or complement
the general rules.
- Act
XXXIV of 1994 on the police also stipulates certain rules applicable to
juveniles that differ from the general ones, for instance:
the legal
representative of the juvenile must be informed about the detention of the
juvenile without delay; no technical testing
(by polygraph) of the juvenile is
permitted; no firearm can be used to prevent the escape of or to capture a
juvenile. The Penal
Code provides the guarantee that criminal procedures
against a juvenile must be carried out in a manner that promotes the development
of the juvenile in the desired direction; this must also be taken into account
in the course of exercising the rights of the juvenile.
If necessary, the order
to implement protective measures is to be requested for the sake of the
juvenile, or measures against the
person who failed to duly educate, take care
or supervise the juvenile.
- During
criminal procedures against a juvenile, a prosecutor for the juvenile appointed
by the senior prosecutor shall proceed in the
prosecution. In the first and
second instance courts it is the appointed board that proceeds in criminal cases
except in the Supreme
Court while in offence cases in the first instance it is
the appointed judge who acts (as a juvenile court). One of the lay judges
of
the juvenile board in the first instance court shall be a
teacher.
Paragraph 134
- Pursuant
to the Criminal Procedures Act, the principle of nullum crimen sine lege
is a guaranteed rule, and so is the presumption of innocence. Also, the accused
is entitled to defence.
- In
the course of criminal procedure against a juvenile, continuous attention must
be paid to the requirement that in this category
of accused, education goals are
the priority goals and punishment is secondary. This principle must prevail at
all the stages of
the procedure (investigation, prosecution, trial). The
dignity and the sensitivity of the juvenile are protected by a provision
of the
Act which stipulates that the public can be excluded from the court not only for
the usual reasons, but also for the sake
of the interests of the juvenile. The
court may order certain parts of the trial that might have a negative impact on
the correct
development of the juvenile to take place in the absence of the
juvenile, and inform the juvenile of the essence of this part of
the trial
afterwards. Pursuant to the Penal Code, a defence lawyer must participate in a
procedure against a juvenile. The Penal
Code also stipulates that in case the
accused juvenile has no authorized lawyer, a defence lawyer must be appointed
when informing
him/her that he/she is under suspicion. This legal regulation
makes the presence of the defence lawyer possible beginning at the
first
interrogation. The legal representative (parent, guardian, professional
guardian) has a similar legal status, and has the
right to exercise a wide range
of procedural rights and thus provide help, in addition to the help of the
defence lawyer, to the
juvenile suspect or accused in presenting a proper
defence. The law also recognizes that the interests of the juvenile and the
legal
representative might be contradictory in certain cases, or the juvenile
might not have a legal representative, or the legal representative
might not be
able to be identified. In such cases a case guardian is to be appointed with
the rights of the legal representative.
The defence lawyer and the legal
representative (case guardian) are independently entitled to legal remedy
against the investigating
authorities, the prosecutor and the ruling of the
court. Though there are no special provisions for juveniles regarding the
ruling
on the appeal against measures restricting personal liberty, general
provision set tight deadlines. Thus, in case of appeal against
ordering remand
in police custody and its extension, the court must send the documents without
delay, but within three days at the
latest, to the competent court. The second
instance court rules on these types of appeals within five days. Regarding
rulings of
the court on the case, among them rulings on appeals against the
restriction of liberty or a sentence, the general provisions of
the law also
apply for a juvenile. In the case of police custody, the procedure must be
anticipated; otherwise, the first instance
court shall submit the documents to
the second instance court without delay, but within 15 days at the latest,
and that court shall
set the date of the court session or trial within
30 days of the receipt of the documents.
- The
law guarantees free exercise of religion to the detained. Thus, all inmates in
the penitentiary institutions must be able to
participate in masses or other
religious services, and they must also be given the opportunity to receive care
from a priest or another
representative of the church. As for the juvenile
correction centre, the juvenile can freely exercise his/her religion at a time
and in a way which are defined in the house rules. The juvenile can keep
contact with the representatives of the church without
supervision.
Paragraph 135
- Pursuant
to the penal law, children are not liable to punishment. The Penal Code defines
the legal fact of being under 14 years of
age at the time of committing the
criminal act as a factor that rules out culpability. Legislators felt that the
physical and intellectual
development of a child of that age especially since
children normally finish elementary education around this time reaches a level
that makes it possible to make them liable for their actions.
- As
for children, the police can use only police arrest as a measure of deprivation
of liberty and only if the child escapes parental
supervision, the
guardian’s care or institutional care without permission. Such behaviour
on the part of the child is not
a crime for want of a subject but it does
not rule out the possibility of putting the child in basic care within the
(institutional)
childcare system or of action by the authorities against the
child. If a crime is committed by a child, the guardianship authorities
may put
the child under their protection. The purpose of protection is to help the
parents to raise the child, to adjust the child’s
behaviour, and to
prevent another crime being committed by the child. If protection is ordered,
the guardianship authorities appoint
a family visitor for the child whose job is
to act together with the parents and the child in developing an education and
care plan
in which they define the tasks of the family visitor, the parents and
the child, so that it leads to the elimination of the child’s
vulnerability and to the prevention of another act of crime. At the time
the child is put under protection, the guardianship authorities
may set certain
rules for the behaviour of the child in order to change the unwanted
behaviour, or may oblige the parents to visit
a child welfare institution
(e.g. educational counsellor) where they can get help in changing the
child’s behaviour. This
action is taken if the child has committed a
crime, but the family visitor feels that taking the child out of the family is
not necessary.
If the family visitor and the guardianship authorities feel that
the act of crime by the child can be linked to such a high degree
of
vulnerability that the child must be removed from the family, the child is taken
into temporary care by the guardianship authorities.
The child in temporary
care is accommodated with a foster parent or in a children’s home, or, in
case of a child struggling
with severe behavioural or integration problems, with
a specially trained foster parent, or in a specialized children’s home
where the trained staff will try to change the behavioural and integration
problems.
Paragraph 136
- The
various types of punishments and actions make it possible to handle the child or
juvenile perpetrator according to his/her age
and depending on the severity of
the crime committed. Pursuant to the Penal Code, confinement of the juvenile
must be executed in
a juvenile prison which has two levels, first
(börtön) and second (fogház). Hungarian law
prohibits the use of the most severe type of prison, the thirdlevel penitentiary
(fegyház), for juveniles. The confinement must take place in the
firstlevel juvenile prison if the juvenile was sentenced to two years or
more in
prison, or one year or more to a juvenile correction centre because of
recidivism or a wilful act of crime. In all other
cases the confinement takes
place in the secondlevel juvenile prison. If the perpetrator is 21 at the time
of commencement of the
sentence, or reaches this age during the prison sentence,
the court decides on the level of prison for the rest of the sentence.
A
special penal action for juveniles is a sentence in the juvenile
- correction
centre which can be given for one to three years, and which is executed in a
girls’ or a boys’ correction centre.
Juveniles may spend their
prison sentences in a correction centre if other necessary conditions are
present. Based on the amended
penal legislation, police custody can take place
also in a juvenile correction centre, as of 1996.
- In
the case of juvenile perpetrators, supervision by the probation officer is
compulsory if probation is ordered or bringing charges
is postponed and if the
sentence is suspended, but in such cases the juvenile does not have to be taken
out of his/her environment.
Probation of juveniles functions within the child
welfare system, and the probation officers are employed by the county
guardianship
authorities. Services supporting probation work still need
enhancement. The purpose of probation is to help the juvenile to reintegrate
into society and to supervise compliance with general behavioural standards and
with standards set by the judge or the prosecutor.
The person on probation is
obliged to keep regular contact with the probation officer, present him/herself
at the designated times,
inform the probation officer as needed especially
on any changes of place of residence or stay, of jobs or of educational
institution,
as well as any changes in the family situation. The person on
probation is obliged to have a job, if he/she is capable of working,
or to do
some incomeearning activity. This rule does not apply if the juvenile on
probation is a day student in an educational institution,
or if he/she takes
part in a course preparing for employment and is supported by the family or in
an institution. The point behind
the legal institution of postponement of
charges is that in the case of crimes punishable by not more than five years of
prison,
the prosecutor may, for the sake of a desirable development of the
child, postpone bringing charges against the juvenile by one to
two years. The
juvenile is under probation during this time. If the probation is successful,
the criminal procedure is terminated.
Paragraphs 137 and 138
- As
for the timing of criminal procedures, it is evident that some of them
(complicated cases with many participants, serial crimes)
are delayed; this is
either justified or not because of the unfortunate slow action of the
authorities. Some investigating authorities
do not always stick to the special
provisions of the law applicable to juveniles, leading to additional
investigation orders, which
again results in delays. Just as before, procedures
in juvenile cases were often delayed in 2001; the number and proportion of
orders
for additional investigations increased (by 9 per cent).
A similar increase can be seen in ordering complementary investigations.
At
present there are three institutions available for the custody of male juvenile
convicts. The goal is to establish another two
juvenile prisons so that
juveniles can serve their sentences near their places of residence in a modern
institution built with attention
to international recommendations. Before
defining the most important tasks of the penitentiary system, the situation had
been analysed;
a development plan was worked out with the goal of eliminating
shortcomings and to create the real bases for development.
- In
case of child perpetrators who are not of competent age, and if the child does
not live in his/her own family, the amended Child
Protection Act (Gyvt.) already
provides for the accommodation of the child in a specialized children’s
home where the necessary
professional programmes and trained personnel are
available. The amendment also opens up the possibility for the local government
or for NGOs to organize, in the form of services, day supervision or activities
for children over the age of 10 who are just hanging
around or who are
vulnerable for other reasons (e.g. child perpetrators).
(b) Children deprived of their liberty, including any form
of detention, imprisonment or placement in custodial settings (art.
37
(b)(d))
Paragraphs 139142
- The
principle set out in the Criminal Procedures Act that only prejudices defined in
the court ruling and in law can be applied against
the convict is a special
guarantee. The Reasons section of Constitution Court resolution 13/2001 points
out that State power to punish, which is manifested in the prison system, is not
unlimited; thus,
the convicted person is not totally defenceless. The convict
is not the object, rather a subject of the penitentiary, and has certain
rights
and obligations. The Constitution Court established the principle that the
constitutional limits of penitentiary action are set on the one hand by the
right to human
dignity and to personal safety, and on the other hand by the
prohibition of torture and merciless, inhuman and humiliating treatment.
- Detention
and police custody of a juvenile are considered to be the last resort in the
Criminal Procedure Act. A restricting rule
limits the possibilities of
application of such action. This provides that a juvenile can be detained or
remanded in police custody
only if the severity of the crime justifies it, even
if the general legal reasons are present (hiding, the risk of repeated crime,
endangering criminal procedures). This restricting rule is well used in legal
practice. About 34 per cent of juvenile perpetrators
are remanded in
police custody. The number of juveniles in police custody or in detention was
1,132 and 444, respectively, in 2001.
Detention may last at the most 72 hours
for juveniles as well as adults; the law currently in force does not set a time
limit for
police custody for either. However, the law provides that the
authorities must attempt to keep people in police custody for the
shortest
possible time and the court shall periodically review its justification. The
new Criminal Procedure Code enacted on 1 January
2003 does set a time
limit on police custody, which cannot be more than two years for a juvenile.
- Police
custody of a juvenile accused can take place either in a police jail, in a penal
institution or in a juvenile correction centre.
At present there are three of
the latter institutions, two of them in Budapest, for boys and girls separately,
while the third one,
located in the eastern region of the country, is for boys.
These institutions are under the supervision and direct control of the
Ministry
for Social Welfare and Family Affairs. Unlike in police jails and prisons,
there are no uniformed guards in the correction
centres; instead plainclothes
staff members supervise the detained juveniles with the help of technical
facilities. Police custody
as a security measure is not aimed at education.
However, all the very complex problems of juveniles are handled from the moment
of arrival in the correction centre by educational and psychological methods.
Some 50 per cent of juveniles in police custody are
accommodated in
juvenile correction centres. Longterm plans include the establishment of more
correction centres in other regions
of the country. Taking international
expectations into account and to accommodate juveniles closer to their
homes, a regional penal
institution was established in the eastern region of the
country in 1997. Since 27 March 2002, another penal institution has been
available for prison sentences or police custody for juvenile
males.
- The
Penal Code declares that the purpose of punishment and action against juveniles
is to help in the correct development of the juvenile.
The law differentiates
between those who have already reached 16 years of age and those who have not,
when setting the possible
prison sentence limits. The provision of the law that
a sentence can be given to a juvenile only if the action taken does not lead
to
results, and deprivation of liberty or a punishment can be used only if the
purpose of punishment cannot be achieved by other
action or through any other
means, is working well in practice.
Actions to deprive a juvenile of liberty
Action to restrict liberty
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
Confinement
|
1 223 persons
|
1 127 persons
|
1 132 persons
|
Remand in police custody
|
478 persons
|
418 persons
|
441 persons
|
Prohibition to leave the locality of residence
|
22 persons
|
17 persons
|
13 persons
|
Total
|
1 723 persons
|
1 562 persons
|
1 586 persons
|
- Courts
have ordered probation in about half of all juvenile cases, and some
34 per cent of them were sent to juvenile correction
centres.
Paragraph 143
- The
Penitentiary Act declares that the human dignity of the condemned must be
respected, he/she must not be tortured, no merciless,
inhuman or humiliating
measures may be used against them, no medical experiment or scientific study can
be done on him/her without
his/her consent. The detained person exercises
his/her rights personally or through his/her legal representative or a proxy.
The
institution must provide the opportunity to the detainee to become familiar
with the rules pertaining to his/her rights and obligations.
The protection of
the civil rights of the detainee must be guaranteed during the detention by the
penal institution and other participating
or supporting organizations and
persons. In case of deprivation of liberty of a juvenile, special attention is
paid to educational,
personal and physical development.
Paragraph 144
- The
basic principles and rules of detention are defined in a law decree on the
execution of punishments and actions. This piece of
legislation has a separate
chapter on the special rules applicable to juveniles for police custody,
deprivation of liberty and stay
in a correction centre. This legislation
provides that detailed rules of police custody must be established based on
principles
applicable for all penal institutions. Thus, the Ordinance of the
Minister of Justice on the rules of deprivation of liberty and
police custody
has special provisions on the rules of detention and police custody applicable
for juveniles. Detailed regulations
for education and stay in the juvenile
correction centres are defined in the Ordinance of the Minister of Welfare on
the Regulations
on the juvenile correction centres, the amendment to which
provides for the use of the juvenile correction centre for boys located
in the
eastern part of the country.
- The
above legislation guarantees a wide scale of possibilities for the juvenile to
keep contacts with the family and relatives. Correspondence,
packages, visits
and telephone calls are available in all institutions. Another possible way to
keep contacts during a sentence
in a juvenile correction centre is leave or
absence allowed for shorter or longer periods. The right of the juvenile to
keep contact
can be restricted during police custody by the prosecutor before
the indictment is submitted and afterwards by the court, for the
sake of a
successful criminal procedure. The different forms of contact can be checked by
the institution from the perspective of
the security aspects. However, the
right of the juvenile in police custody to contact the defence lawyer is
different; it cannot
be restricted or supervised. The law provides that
juveniles in police custody must be separated from adults. This provision is
significant especially when police custody takes place in a police jail or in a
penitentiary institution, because adults are also
detained in these
institutions. Juveniles serving their sentences are separated from adults.
Separation applies to everything:
institutions, sections, parts of sections and
cells or rooms. The law also provides that adult convicts can be put into a
juvenile
penitentiary institution only for the purpose of the operation of the
institution (skilled work).
- Juveniles
(in police custody or convicted) are also entitled to file a complaint. There
is a twoinstance legal remedy system. The
inmates can turn directly to the
commander or director of the institution. The inmates can also turn to the
prosecutor or the military
prosecutor with his/her complaint. Juveniles can
also file their complaints with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights
or with the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Rights of National and Ethnic
Minorities if their civil rights are infringed, or to
the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Data Protection if their rights related to handling of their
personal data or their right to have
access to public data are infringed.
- Pursuant
to the Act on the Prosecutor’s Office, the prosecutor can, at any time,
inspect compliance with the legality of detention,
remanding in custody and
deprivation of liberty procedures in police jails, in the penal institutions and
in juvenile correction
centres. Inspection focuses especially on the entry of
the accused, on the documents serving as the basis for the procedure, on
the
implementation of the provisions of the documents, on observing the time limits
of custody, on the observation of the inmate’s
rights and
responsibilities, on supplies and health care, on awards and punishments, on
education and training and on observing the
rules of employment. Compliance
with the rules on the treatment of the inmates is especially inspected. The
prosecutor draws up
minutes of the statutory inspection and sends them to the
head of the institution. The heads of the inspected institutions must
comply
with the orders of the prosecutor in connection with lawful procedures and the
conditions of confinement of people in police
custody. The heads of the
concerned institutions may file a complaint against the orders of the prosecutor
with their superiors,
but this has no delaying force. In the course of
inspection of a police jail, penal institution or in juvenile correction centre,
the prosecutor interviews the juvenile inmates. If there is a complaint by an
inmate of inhuman treatment, the prosecutor enters
this fact in the minutes and
takes the necessary steps. If the complaint implies a wellfounded suspicion of
crime, the prosecutor
initiates criminal procedures. Based on regular
inspections by the prosecutors, we can say that the treatment of inmates
including
juveniles is generally lawful and complies with international
expectations and with the provisions of the
- legislation
in force. Juvenile inmates can receive their visitors outside the area of the
institution if the court has relaxed the
rules of detention for them. It is
also possible to permit the transportation of the juvenile to an institution
near his/her home
so that he/she can receive visitors.
- Pursuant
to the Public Education Act, teaching and education in penal institutions can be
done on the basis of an education programme which corresponds to the given
circumstances;
deviation from the schedule and order of a regular school year is
permitted.
- During
the course of a criminal procedure by the police, the juvenile spends police
custody time either in a police jail or in a juvenile
correction centre. The
Police Jail Service Regulations provide for the treatment of detainees in the
police jail. Regulations also
cover rights to meals, health care, personal
hygiene, keeping contacts and complaints. Accordingly, a medical doctor
monitors the
health of the detainees at regular intervals, and takes steps
towards medical care and supply of medication. The investigating authorities,
the head of the institution or in their absence the acting head must guarantee
the rights of the inmates to keep contacts and receive
visitors. Receiving and
sending of packages are also authorized by the institution. The detainee may
file his/her complaints with
the institution or with the prosecutor’s
office, which exercises statutory supervision over police procedures. The law
stipulates
that medical care must be provided to the juveniles in police jails,
in penal institutions and in juvenile correction centres. They
get medication
free of charge. Juvenile detainees can use medical services and treatment
within the institution, but if necessary
preventive treatment may take place
outside the institution too.
- During
police custody, school type of education and training goes on only in the
juvenile correction centres. The purpose behind
education and training of the
juvenile inmates in penal institutions during deprivation of liberty and in the
juvenile correction
centres for boys and girls during confinement in the
correction centre is to make up for the missed school education, to continue
schooling and to provide training to help entry into the labour market.
Juveniles can take part in elementary and secondary education
as well as in
vocational training. Schooling must be provided to disabled juveniles in
accordance with their disability. In the
course of education in the correction
centre, the director of the centre may give permission to the juvenile to study
outside the
institution if the juvenile and his/her legal representative request
it jointly and if the public education institution or the vocational
training
school assumes responsibility for the juvenile. Juveniles in police custody may
not participate in education, training
or employment outside the institution.
The juvenile sentenced to stay in the correction centre is entitled to care and
supervision
corresponding to his/her needs related to age; to health and
psychological care; to correspondence with people named by the juvenile
and
permitted by the institution (the frequency and length of letters are not
limited); to receive visitors in accordance with the
rules of the institution;
to packages, the content of which may be inspected; to freely practise religion
according to his/her own
conscience; to mainstream or outofschool education and
training; to receive remuneration for his/her work as corresponds to the
quantity
and quality of the work done; to participate in leisure activities that
correspond to his/her interests; to use the cultural and
sports facilities of
the institution; to freely express his/her views, to be heard and informed on
issues related to his/her person;
to file information, complaints or petitions
of public interest to the institution or to any other nonrelated
organization.
- Boys
and girls must be separated in the course of stay in a juvenile correction
centre. Young people can be put into groups according
to age, health and
educational level. Special attention must be paid to the treatment of juveniles
who need special education or
who suffer from personality disturbances, and
special care and education must be provided to them. In the course of stay in
the
juvenile correction centre, care must be taken about suitable accommodation,
supervision, meals, clothing and health care for the
juvenile, the conditions
for modern education and training, community life, culture and sport. The
director of the juvenile correction
centre informs the legal representative of
the juvenile upon the entry of the juvenile into the institution. The right of
the legal
representative to educate and to raise the child is discontinued
during the time spent in the juvenile correction centre, and it
is transferred
to the director of the institution.
Paragraphs 145 and 146
- The
Criminal Procedures Act provides for the compulsory presence of the legal
representative of the juvenile in the course of the
procedure. Furthermore, the
presence of the defence lawyer is also obligatory in the procedure.
Paragraph 147
- The
European committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment visited Hungary for the second time in 1999
and recognized the
significance of the supervisory activities of the prosecutors carried out in
order to ensure lawful treatment.
After the Committee’s visit, the Deputy
General Prosecutor defined further tasks for the prosecutors in a special
circular.
Thus, prosecutors inspect all penal institutions at least twice a
month regarding the conditions of detention, the legal situation
and the
treatment of inmates. Monitoring the legality of treatment of juveniles is a
priority. It is checked, besides the supervisory
prosecutors of the
penitentiary and the legal prosecutors, by the child and juvenile welfare
prosecutors as of 2001, based on the
orders of the General Prosecutor, in all
penal institutions and police jails.
(c) The sentencing of
juveniles, with particular reference to the prohibition of
capital
punishment and life imprisonment (art. 37 (a))
Paragraphs 148 and 149
- The
main purpose of punishment and action against juveniles is to help in the
correct development of the juvenile and to make him/her
a useful member of
society. A sentence can be given to a juvenile only if the action taken does
not lead to results, and deprivation
of liberty or a punishment can be used only
if the purpose of punishment cannot be achieved by other action or through any
other
means. All the primary and secondary measures can be used in case of a
juvenile except for confiscation of assets which are used
for adults, with
some differences. Confinement in a juvenile correction centre is the only
action which can be used only against
juveniles. The usual minimum limit of
deprivation of liberty is one month; the upper limit can be 5, 10 or 15 years,
depending on
whether the juvenile is under or over 16 years of age; it is
executed in a juvenile prison of the first or second levels. Pursuant
to the
law, no life sentence can be given to a
juvenile.
Breakdown of juveniles sentenced to stay in the juvenile
correction centre
by age and time spent there (on 31 December 2000)
|
Item
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
(19)
|
Total (a)(f)
|
yearold inmates
|
(a)
|
(b)
|
(c)
|
(d)
|
(e)
|
(f)
|
(g)
|
1.
|
In the given year
|
1
|
22
|
51
|
63
|
25
|
|
162
|
2.
|
Number of years spent in the Institution before the given year
|
1
|
|
|
1
|
7
|
18
|
12
|
|
38
|
3.
|
2
|
|
|
|
3
|
9
|
|
12
|
4.
|
3
|
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
2
|
5.
|
4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
6.
|
Total count on 31 December (from 15)
|
1
|
23
|
58
|
84
|
48
|
|
214
|
7.
|
Of the total (of No. 6)
|
temporary care
|
1
|
6
|
18
|
20
|
1
|
|
45
|
8.
|
longterm care
|
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
|
5
|
Breakdown of juveniles in police custody by age and
time
spent there (on 31 December 2000)
|
Item
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
(19)
|
Total (a)(f)
|
yearold inmates
|
(a)
|
(b)
|
(c)
|
(d)
|
(e)
|
(f)
|
(g)
|
1.
|
In the given year
|
10
|
29
|
41
|
37
|
10
|
3
|
130
|
2.
|
Number of years spent in the Institution before the given year
|
1
|
|
|
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
|
9
|
3.
|
2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
4.
|
3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
5.
|
4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0
|
6.
|
Total count on 31 December (from 15)
|
|
|
44
|
43
|
11
|
3
|
139
|
7.
|
Of the total (of No. 6)
|
temporary care
|
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
|
|
18
|
8.
|
longterm care
|
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
3
|
(d) Physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of the child (art. 39)
Paragraphs 150 and 151
- Education
and vocational training programmes organized for juvenile convicts are mostly
catchup programmes to bring them up to the
necessary level (teaching
illiterates), elementary education (grades 18), language skills, IT skills,
secondary school education
(for private students), vocational secondary
education, vocational training, computer operator courses, language courses,
skilled
worker training, teaching flower arrangement, motor bike mechanics,
bricklaying, organizing study circles, programmes for the sensible
use of
leisure time, gardening, housekeeping, first aid, literature circle, model
making, art circle, basketweaving circle, music
circle, sport circle. Another
important point is the organization of celebrations related to anniversaries and
important dates,
quizzes and sport competitions.
- A
temporary motherandbaby section was established for nine persons in the
BácsKiskun County penal institution and probably
by the end of this year
a new section with a capacity of 20 will be ready to accommodate mothers and
their children.
- Precedentbased
judicial practice applied the principles of the Convention in the reporting
period in cases listed below, among others:
(a) BH1997.16.I. The
ruling on the continuation of the detention of the juvenile after indictment is
to be annulled if one of the
lay judges of the court board was not a
teacher;
(b) BH2001.465. If the court does not take note of the fact that the
primary accused is a juvenile and carries on with the procedures
which apply to
adults, the procedure is annulled;
(c) BH2001.418. If the accused is in police custody, the procedures must be
carried out in anticipation. The rule of anticipatory
handling requires that
priority be given to cases of detained people over those accused who are not
detained. This is especially
important in cases where a juvenile is
involved;
(d) BH1997.12.I. An accused juvenile may not be interrogated without the
presence of a defence lawyer; if a ruling is made based
on the interrogation of
the accused in the absence of the defence lawyer, it must be annulled by the
second instance court. This
new provision of the law may contribute to the real
exercise of the right of the juvenile to a defence if detention is proposed,
and
also allows the defence lawyer, if he/she is present, to bring up substantial
arguments when exercising the right to legal remedy;
(e) BH1999.495.I. The provision in the Criminal Procedural Act according to
which a defence is compulsory in the case of an accused
juvenile does not mean
that the presence of the defence lawyer is required at all stages of the
procedure and in all actions. The
presence of the defence lawyer is not
compulsory in investigative actions, even in case of compulsory defence;
(f) BH2002.297. If a juvenile perpetrator commits a relatively minor crime,
had no previous criminal record and lives under normal
family conditions, as can
be seen from the file, a prison sentence is unjustified as being a serious
case of retaliatory punishment,
which is unlawful. This is because the purpose
of punishment is not retaliation but the prevention of another crime committed
either
by the accused or by anyone else. And in the case of a juvenile the main
objective is, as was very correctly pointed out by the
municipal court in
question, to channel the development of the accused into the right direction and
to make him/her a useful member
of society;
(g) Report of the General Deputy to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil
Rights OBH 4650/1999. Persons under criminal investigation
are at a
disadvantage with respect to the official bodies. The need to compensate for
this disadvantage is even more pressing in
the case of juveniles. One of the
many reasons is that the juvenile accused, due to age, judgement, or any other
circumstance cannot
defend his/her own rights and interests as effectively as
adults. So it follows that if a juvenile cannot personally defend him/herself
effectively, he/she has the right to a defence lawyer, even if he/she is an
appointed one. Therefore, the actual presence of a defence
lawyer, the right to
a defence, and the fundamental constitutional rights that must be guaranteed
to all accused in practice at every stage of the procedure, are even more
important in the case of juveniles. Guaranteeing a defence
does not only mean
the obligation of the appointed lawyer to be present at the trial; it also
includes the obligation to keep continuous
contact with the accused, which is
crucial for an effective defence. At the time of investigation, a juvenile girl
was held in police
custody and was not visited by the appointed defence lawyer
at all during the period of police custody. The court set the date of
7 October
1999 for the appeal trial. The preliminary documents sent to her bore the name
of defence lawyer Dr. ... , who did not
get in touch with her either. This
infringement of the rules of the legal profession, the failure to provide a
defence to a defenceless
person in custody and under criminal investigation, and
the failure to keep in touch jeopardize the right to a defence as stipulated
by
the Constitution, article 57 (3), thus creating an irregularity;
(h) OBH report 2485/1998. The plaintiff complained that he had wanted to
file a complaint against his landlord for unlawful entry.
It took about an hour
and a half at the police station to write everything down, and he and his family
(three children aged 2, 4
and 6) were made to wait for hours; after midnight
they were told that not even with regard to the three children would immediate
action be taken. He also said that he had complained about this at the local
municipal prosecutor’s office, but got contradictory
answers there too.
Considering the right of the three minors to protection and care as stipulated
in the Constitution, article 67 (1), the hours of waiting in the middle of the
night directly endangered the children’s constitutional right to
the rule
of law and security in law, as well as to normal care. The Budaörs Police
are not excused from the obligation to fully
guarantee these rights, even if a
serious crime was committed in the area under their jurisdiction which required
immediate action
from the police officers on duty. Not even the excuse given by
the police that the complainant and his family stayed at the station
voluntarily
and could have left freely at any time is acceptable;
(i) OBH report 5919/1999. The police had wellfounded suspicions that minors
P.Á. and Sz.L. had caused a fire; interviewing
them was thus justified in
order to clarify the situation. However, taking them to the police station
infringed the provisions of
the Police Act because article 33 (2)
provides that persons suspected of a crime can be taken to the police station;
however, since
children cannot be the subjects of a crime, taking them to the
station is out of the question. The police would have acted lawfully
if the
children had been summoned together with their legal representatives to be
interviewed, or, without a summons, they could
have been interviewed in their
schools. Even in this case the interview must take place in the presence of the
children’s
legal representative or a case guardian. The fact that the
restriction of personal liberty lasted only for a short time does not
lessen the
level of legal infringement; as a matter of fact, it was even more severe
because it concerned children, who can be frightened
easily due to their age,
who do not know their rights and cannot defend themselves alone. The rulings of
the prosecutors also stated
the fact of legal infringement. Based on the above,
the General Deputy ruled that the police officers acting in the case infringed
the provisions of the Police Act, as well as those of the Act on the
promulgation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and
through this they
caused constitutional irregularities in connection with the rule of law and
security in law declared in the Constitution, article 2 (1), as well as in
connection with the right to personal liberty;
(j) According to report by the General Deputy to the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Civil Rights OBH 2783/2001, legal regulations
related to
detention in a penal institution, to penal procedures and to special measures to
protect juveniles were infringed in a
Budapest penal institution by putting the
16yearold T.M. into a cell where mostly adult detainees of much stronger build
were also
held, and no preventive action was taken to avoid severe abuse. The
disregard of the requirement to separate him infringed the requirement
of
security in law derived from the rule of law stipulated in the Constitution,
article 2 (1); furthermore it created irregularities in connection with the
constitutional right defined in the Constitution, article 54 (1): the
right to life and to human dignity. The failures of the investigating
authorities infringed the rights of
the juvenile T.M. and his legal
representative as regards the right to legal remedy under the Constitution,
article 57 (5), and the unreasonable delay in the procedure endangered the
security in law derived from the rule of law declared
in the Constitution,
article 2 (1). The conditions of the case imply that the actions
taken by the concerned authorities were not in compliance with
the provision of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child that stipulates that detention, arrest
or deprivation of liberty of a
child can be used only as a last resort, and even
then only for the shortest possible time. The sixmonth detention of a
15½yearold
juvenile and the initiative to transfer this juvenile to a penal
institution three weeks before the end of the detention especially
with a kind
of supervision which, together with an unlawful accommodation, was not capable
of guaranteeing even the physical integrity
and safety of the juvenile were not
disproportionate to the crime committed by the juvenile, and the time of
detention could not
be considered as the shortest possible time;
(k) Statement of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection on the
supplement related to data protection of the report of
the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Civil Rights OBH 553/2000. “In my view, the rights
of minor witnesses might be infringed
because the Criminal Procedure Act (Be)
allows for the presence of the guardian or of the teacher during the
interrogation only if
permitted by the authorities.”
3. Children in situations of exploitation, including physical
and
psychological recovery and social reintegration
(a) Economic exploitation of children, including child
labour (art. 32)
Paragraphs 152 and 153
- The
right of the child to protection against economic exploitation, any possibly
dangerous work, or any work that interrupts school
studies or is a hazard to the
health or physical, mental, moral or social development of the child is
guaranteed by several acts,
among them the Labour Code, the Public Education
Act, the Child Protection Act (Gyvt.) and the Labour Safety Act. The Vocational
Training Act regulates training conditions accordingly,
so that the principles
of the Convention also prevail. Pursuant to the Labour Code (Mt), a young
employee must not be sent to do
a job that might have negative consequences on
his/her physical condition and development. The range of jobs that cannot be
done
by young employees, or can be done only if certain conditions are
guaranteed, or if a preliminary medical examination allows it,
is defined by
legislation.
- Pursuant
to the Decree on medical examination, young people, among others, belong to the
vulnerable category. The Decree stipulates
that employment of trainees
necessary for the practical learning of the profession cannot last longer under
working conditions that
have health risks than what is necessary to learn the
profession. The list prohibiting employment of young people in a regular
job,
or allowing it only with certain conditions, can be found in annex 8 of the
Decree; the list of working conditions for which
risk analysis by aptitude test
is necessary if a young person is to be employed can be found in annex 9/A.
- Pursuant
to the provisions of the Labour Protection Act, an employee can be employed for
a job only if his/her health, physical integrity,
or the development of a young
employee is not affected negatively. The law also provides that within
mainstream education students
must be acquainted with the bases of safe living,
and safe working that does not endanger one’s health. Participants in
vocational
training are to be taught the health and safety requirements of the
jobs they can do with the given qualifications.
- Pursuant
to the amendment to the Decree on the operation of educational institutions, if
the parents decide to comply with the compulsory
education requirement for their
child through private studies, the principal of the school shall obtain the
opinion of the competent
child welfare authorities within three days of receipt
of the notice of the above in order to decide whether this solution is to
the
child’s advantage. The child welfare service shall send its answer within
15 days. The purpose of this provision is to
prevent any unreasonable
action to take the child out of school, for example in order to involve him/her
in the family division of
labour.
Paragraph 154
- The
Labour Code provides that people above the age of 16 can be employed in regular
employment. Also, people above the age of 15
studying in the day session of
elementary school, vocational school or secondary school can also be employed
during the summer holidays.
The consent of the legal guardian of young
employees under the age of 16 must be obtained for employment. The Labour Code
has a
separate section for regulations on young employees that are different
from the general provisions. The maximum working time for
a young employee
is 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week. In case of a young employee, a
work cycle longer than one week cannot be used.
If the daily working time of a
young employee is over 4½ hours, at least 30 minutes of break must be
guaranteed during work.
The shortest period of continuous daily rest for a
young worker is 12 hours. Young employees cannot be assigned to night shifts
or
extra shifts; he/she is entitled to five additional days of leave a year, the
last time in the year he/she turns 18 years old.
- The
Act on Labour Inspection provides that labour inspection also covers compliance
with provisions related to the employment of young
people. Pursuant to the
Government Decree on certain infringements, the employer who infringes the
provisions related to the employment
of young people can be fined up to HUF
100,000. In case of the crime of jeopardizing a young person, the Penal Code
provides for
aggravating circumstances and stipulates that a sentence of two to
eights years of deprivation of liberty can be given to the adult
person who
forces a minor to work (forced labour).
Paragraph 155
- Hungary
has ratified ILO Convention No. 182. National legislation includes
Act XXVII of 2001 on the immediate action to prohibit
and eliminate
the worst forms of child labour, Act LXIX of 2000 on the lowest age limit
of employment, Act L of 2000 on the medical
examination defining the aptitude of
children and young people to do nonindustrial work, Act XLIX of 2000 on the
medical examination
defining the aptitude of children and young people to do
industrial work, LawDecree 9 of 1976 on the promulgation of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, LawDecree 18 of 1958 on the
promulgation of the Protocol amending the Slavery Convention,
as well as on the
promulgation of the Supplementary Convention, on the abolition of Slavery, the
Slave Trade, and Institutions and
Practices Similar to Slavery.
(b) Drug abuse (art. 33)
Paragraphs 156158
- Pursuant
to the Penal Code, drug abuse is liable to punishment. Often, children and
young people are on the demand side; thus, cases
in this area are quite complex.
The adult perpetrator who commits this crime with the involvement of a person
under 18 years of age,
or in the course of which such persons gain possession of
drugs, can be sentenced severely, from 5 to 10 years of deprivation of
liberty; the same punishment is stipulated by law if the crime is committed in
the area or in the vicinity of educational or child
welfare institutions or
buildings of public culture. The crime of generating addiction defined by law
also serves the interests
of minors, since the adult perpetrator who provides
help to a person under the age of 18 in the use and abuse of hazardous narcotic
substances not considered to be drugs is also liable to punishment.
- The
Health Act defines the special roles of the youth health service: to consult
with the parents in providing advice on hazardous
circumstances, drugs or
alcohol abuse that would jeopardize the integrated physical and mental
development of the child, or to initiate
action if necessary. The youth
healthcare service also covers, among other things, checking compliance with
provisions on the consumption
of alcohol, drugs, other psychotropic substances
and tobacco products.
- Under
Act XLII of 1999 on the Protection of NonSmokers and Particular Rules of
Consumption and Distribution of Tobacco Products, no
area for smoking shall be
marked in rooms used by students in public education institutions, or rooms open
to users of daytime or
permanent boarding facilities in child welfare or child
protection institutions.
- The
Government Decree No. 4/1997 (I. 22) on the Operation of Shops and the
Conditions of Pursuing Domestic Trade Activities prohibits
the selling of
alcoholic drinks in public areas within 200 metres of the entrance to
institutions of primary and secondary education
and health care, childcare and
youth protection institutions, except for catering establishments serving warm
meals. It also prohibits
selling alcoholic drinks, among others, in
institutions of students’ sports federations and school sport facilities.
Government
Decree No. 218/1999 (XII. 28) on Law Infringements provides that
persons making juveniles wilfully drunk in public areas or places
may be fined
up to HUF 50,000.
- Decree
No. 11/1994 (VI. 8) of the Minister for Culture and Public Education on the
Operation of Educational Institutions prohibits
the sale and consumption of
unhealthy luxury articles in educational institutions and at events organized
for children and students
outside educational institutions.
- Government
Decree 1036/2002 defines the Government’s tasks in connection with the
implementation of the short and mediumterm
National Strategic Programme for the
reduction of the drug problem. The resolution highlights that the Government
puts special emphasis
on youth having the necessary information on the negative
impacts of drug use through the necessary number and quality of health
development and drug prevention programmes. Accordingly, the Government calls
upon the concerned ministers to develop general drug
prevention and health
development programmes for their sectors to be implemented outside education
institutions, and to ensure that
they are applied in practice.
- The
Government established the Drug Affairs Coordination Committee the members of
which are representatives of the competent ministries
performing their
coordinating and cooperative work by coordinating the measures taken to build up
antidrug programmes, making particular
age groups aware of the dangers and
mitigating the harm caused by drug abuse. The programmes must cover the widest
scope of youth
and vulnerable groups, including those participating in public
education and higher education, dropouts, unemployed youth, other
groups with
psychosocial problems, pregnant women and drugaddicted newborn infants, drug
users susceptible to HIV and hepatitis,
others suffering psychiatric problems,
young conscripts and inmates of juvenile penal institutions.
- The
document National Strategy to Fight the Drug Problem was adopted by the
Hungarian Government in first reading on 22 February 2000.
After that it was
debated. In the course of the debate 1,054 Government and Church institutions
and nongovernmental organizations
presented their views. Experiences gathered
during the debate were incorporated in the final document, which was adopted on
11 June
2000 by the Hungarian Government. The document (Parliament Resolution
No. 96/2000 (XII. 11)) came into force in December 2000 as
a parliamentary
resolution. The document, pursuant to international recommendations, reflects
an approach from among the various
interpretation models of this phenomenon,
which takes several disciplines into consideration. Related to the ways of
tackling the
problem, it reflects an approach based on the equilibrium of
reducing supply and demand. The general objective of the National Strategy
is
as follows: “At the verge of the Third Millennium we are lead by the
vision of developing a free, selfconfident and productive
society. For this
society human dignity, mental, physical and social wellbeing as well as
creativity are of highest priority. To
safeguard and improve these factors the
society shall be able to handle the health, social and criminal hazards and
disadvantages
resulting from the abuse and distribution of drugs. The drug
problem affects us all and calls for joint action. The State and its
institutions shall play a significant role in carrying out joint
actions.”
- The
illicit use of drugs and the related personal and social problems have become
serious in Hungary. The number of young people
and schoolchildren trying drugs
is constantly growing, as is the number of drug users, drug addicts and carriers
of drugrelated infectious
diseases. The
- Ministry
of Education, having recognized the severity of the problem as outlined above,
is determined to support health education
above all, and within that to promote
prevention and related events and actions aimed primarily at schoolchildren of
1218 years and
the teachers working with them. Accordingly, an Action Plan for
20002001 was drawn up to achieve the goals set by reaching the mentioned
groups
with the help of NGOs in order to reduce drugs at all levels.
- Amendments
to the Public Education Act and to the Ministry of Education (OM) decrees were
needed in 1999 and in 2000, respectively, in order to implement the above. The
Public Education Act defines compulsory health education tasks for schools and
compels them to integrate these into the curriculum. As for nursery schools
and
schools, child and youth welfare tasks are compulsory. The Public Education Act
also set certain provisions on the local curricula derived from the national
frame curriculum. The frame curriculum includes drug
prevention in the
following areas: 8th grade biology and health, 10th grade chemistry, 11th grade
biology and home room classes
in 5th to 12th grades, within which the school
must spend 30 per cent (10 hours at least) of the lessons
delegated to education for
a healthy life. The Ministry of Education also
amended MKM Decree 11/94 which covers drug prevention activities as a compulsory
action by the institutions. According to the Decree, the role of the youth
welfare officer is to help to organize and to monitor
school education
programmes, including health education programmes that cover drug prevention; to
initiate action with the principal;
and to provide information to students,
parents and teachers. The job of the leisuretime officer is to organize special
leisuretime
activities related to healthy living, to the prevention of
addictions and to the reintegration of recovered formerly addicted
students.
- The
establishment of a national data collection network related to drug prevention
has started. In the first stage a twopart questionnaire
has been developed
which was sent out to all schools. This questionnaire served as the basis for
the questionnaire for the call
for applications issued in 2000 jointly by the
Ministry of Youth and Sports (ISM) and the Ministry of Education (OM).
- The
Ministry of Education encourages inservice training for teachers on health
development topics in order to have at least one teacher
in every school who can
do drug coordination and health education jobs. In the academic year 2001/02,
an inservice training programme
along the lines of drug prevention training for
teachers started with the participation of 700 secondary schoolteachers,
which was
totally funded by the Ministry of Education.
- Within
the drug prevention call for grant applications announced jointly by ISMOM in
December 2000, supporting secondary education
institutions, ISM and OM
granted from their own budgets some HUF 220 million for the year 2000 and also a
significant amount of organizational
expenses for secondary level health
development projects in secondary education institutions, with special emphasis
on drug prevention
activities. The grant provides funds for the per capita norm
of HUF 1,200 for over 180,000 students in 300 secondary schools participating
in
programmes developed jointly by the two ministries and implemented in 2001 by
the schools with the help of experts chosen from
the list of experts published
on the home pages of the ministries.
- The
Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights OBH 444/1999 pointed
out that “it is well known that without the
will and cooperation of adult
addicts, no successful recovery is possible. This is true for children and
youth too. In the case
of minors the responsibility of society is greater
because of their yet undeveloped judgement; they must be saved, in spite of
themselves,
from the negative environmental impacts, and very often from their
own selves”. In the case of young people addicted to alcohol
or drugs,
the difficulty is that there are very few boarding institutions in the country
that specialize in treating them.
(c) Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (art.
34)
Paragraphs 159 and 160
- The
Penal Code (Btk.) chapter on crimes against marriage, family, youth and sexual
decency provides punishment for acts that have
a negative impact on the sexual
development of youth and are dangerous for society. Penal Code (Btk.) mentions,
among crimes against
sexual decency, the act of forced intercourse (rape) and
the act of indecent assault, which are liable to a punishment of two to
eight
years in prison. Pursuant to the law, victims of intercourse or lewd acts who
are under 12 shall be considered as victims
of a coercive act even if the
passive subject had consented to the act. Furthermore, it makes unnatural acts
of lewdness (i.e. an
adult over the age of 18 who engages in lewd acts with
a younger person of the same sex) a crime punishable by three years of
deprivation
of liberty, and unnatural coerced lewd acts (forcing a person of the
same sex or a person unable to defend him/herself, by physical
force or threat
against life or physical integrity, to commit lewd acts or to suffer such acts
committed upon him/her) punishable
by two to eight years of deprivation of
liberty. Constitutional Court ruling 37/2002 annulled the legal concept of lewd
acts and
coerced lewd acts, which have consequently been void since 4 September
2002.
- People
who have intercourse with children under the age of 14, and adults over the age
of 18 committing lewd acts with children under
the age of 14 commit a crime
and are liable to one to five years of deprivation of liberty, since they commit
the crime of abuse
of the child.
- Taking
into consideration the expectations of the Convention, Act LXXIII of 1997
complemented the Penal Code (Btk.), article 195/A,
in order to guarantee a
healthy sexual development of minors and to prevent their sexual exploitation by
declaring the making of
banned pornographic recordings a crime. Another step
was to amend it once again to punish any abuse of pornographic recordings,
a
provision which has been in force since 1 April 2002. Accordingly, a person
making a pornographic video, film or still picture
or any other kind of image of
a minor, or obtaining such pictures and keeping them, is liable to three years
of deprivation of liberty.
Those who offer or hand over such pictures are
liable to five years of deprivation of liberty; those who make, sell, trade in
or
make such pictures accessible to the public are liable to two to eight years
of deprivation of liberty. Accordingly, those who make
minors appear in
pornographic performances are also liable to punishment. Persons providing
financial means to commit the above
two crimes are liable to two to eights years
of deprivation of liberty. The Act also defines the concepts of pornographic
pictures
and performances as ones that depict sexuality with an openness that
severely violates decency and which clearly aim at arousing
sexual desire.
- With
respect to the Penal Code, the crime of trafficking in humans is aggravated if
it is done with the purpose of committing lewd
acts or intercourse. Another
aggravating circumstance is if it is done to make illegal pornographic pictures;
as a matter of fact,
punishment can go up to life imprisonment if the crime of
making pornographic images is committed against a child under the age of
12.
- Another
aggravating condition is defined in the law in connection with the crime of
promoting or helping prostitution. Acts of prostitution
committed by a person
under the age of 18 in a brothel are considered to be serious and are
liable to more severe punishment.
- A
Hungarian delegation participated at the Second World Congress Against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Yokohama,
Japan in December
2001. The qualitative research carried out by the Research and Education Centre
for the Rights of Women and Children
and the British Council within their child
welfare programme on the mistreatment of children stated the following regarding
the sexual
violence/abuse of children: most criminal procedures were too
lengthy, an average of three years elapsing between the beginning
of the
procedures and the legally binding ruling. Sometimes even fourfive years after
the rape of a teenager the victim had to testify
in court and recall the
horrible event, sometimes as a grownup, married woman. The rule seems to be
that perpetrators of this serious
crime can continue to remain at large, and in
case of violence in the family the abusive parent or relative can continue to
rape
the child while remaining under the same roof with the victim, the
authorities being completely aware of the situation.
(d) Sale, trafficking and abduction (art. 35)
Paragraphs
161163
- Though
the Penal Code does not use the concept of “abduction of a child”,
kidnapping/abducting a child is liable to punishment
within the crime of
abduction as such.
- In
compliance with international law and the provisions of the Constitution,
Act LXXXVII of 1998 added the crime of trafficking in humans to the Penal
Code on 1 March 1999. The Act actually names the crime,
thus
creating the legal basis for the fight against trafficking in children.
Former pieces of legislation guaranteed protection
of children against this
type of act within the concepts of the crimes of changing a child’s
family status and jeopardizing
a minor.
- The
crime of trafficking in humans also takes into account and includes the
requirements set out in the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations
Convention against Transnational
Organized Crime. The legal concept provides
that the person who sells, purchases, transfers or takes over someone else in
exchange
for something, as well as a person who recruits people, transports,
accommodates, hides and obtains them for others for this very
purpose is liable
to three years of deprivation of liberty. If the act is committed for the
purpose of making pornographic pictures,
or if the victim of the crime is under
the age of 12, or if the perpetrator is someone who teaches or is responsible
for the care,
supervision or medical care of the child, a heavier sentence is
pronounced.
- Hungary
and Europol cooperate on trafficking in humans, the sexual exploitation and
jeopardizing of minors, and the trafficking in
abandoned children. These forms
of exploitation include the making, sale and distribution of child
pornography.
(e) Other forms of exploitation (art. 36)
Paragraphs 164
and 165
- The
Ministry of Children, Youth and Sports signed an agreement with the
representatives of the media to reduce violence broadcast
in the media, thus
contributing to the healthy development of children. If programmes containing
elements which are undesirable
for children are broadcast, they are scheduled at
a time when children probably do not watch it, or there is a suitable sign
during
broadcasting stating this fact.
- The
International Child Safety Service has organized conferences twice in the
reporting period on the “Impact of the Media on
Children and Youth”.
There was a joint closing statement issued at the end of both events. The
conferences were organized
by the Service, by the National Radio and Television
Board (ORTT) and by the General Deputy to the Parliamentary Commissioner for
Civil Rights. The proceedings of the conference were published in the form of a
book, and the publication was supported by the Ministry
of Children, Youth and
Sports. The publications were sent by the organizers to experts and
institutions working on this topic.
- The
Health Act and Decree No. 23/2002 of the Minister for Healthcare provides for
medical research involving human beings. Both pieces
of legislation include
special provisions related to research involving incompetent persons and persons
with diminished capacity,
i.e. children. The Act provides for the
conditions, for carrying out such research. The Decree specifies further rules
for these
cases, inter alia the obligation of information and the right of
consent; it states, among other things, that in the course of informing
minors
persons with pedagogical experience shall be involved that persons with
diminished capacity and incompetent persons shall
not be involved in research as
healthy volunteers.
4. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous group
(art. 30)
Paragraphs 166 and 167
- The
Constitution defines the place of national and ethnic minorities in Hungarian
society and provides that “national and ethnic minorities
living in the
Republic of Hungary participate in the sovereign power of the people: they
represent a constituent part of the State”.
The Constitution guarantees
them collective participation in public affairs, the establishment of local and
national selfgovernments, the fostering
of their cultures, the use of their
native languages, education in their native languages and the use of names in
their native languages.
- The
Act on the rights of national and ethnic minorities guarantees individual and
collective rights the right to establish personbased
autonomy and
selfgovernments to the 13 minorities living in Hungary. The Act
defines the concept of national and ethnic minorities.
According to the law,
the Bulgarian, Gypsy (Roma) Greek, Croatian, Polish, German,
- Armenian,
Rumanian, Ruthene, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian minorities are
recognized in Hungary. The institution of the
Parliamentary Commissioner for
the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities has been established by the
Constitution. Citizens can appeal to the Parliamentary Commissioner in all
cases when, in their judgement, their constitutional rights are infringed
in the
course of a procedure by an authority, or if the danger thereof is
imminent.
- Pursuant
to the Act on radio and television, public service media have the duty to make
programmes on minority cultures and lives.
Public service radio and television
guarantee the regular making and broadcasting of ethnic minority programmes. In
areas where
minorities live, the State promotes including via international
agreements the reception of radio and television programmes broadcast
from the
mother countries. Minority communities have the right to establish bilingual or
mothertongue nursery, elementary, secondary
and higher education schools.
- The
Act on the protection of cultural heritage and museum institutions, on the
supply of public libraries and on public culture defines
as a job for the entire
society, the preservation and continuation of national and ethnic minority
cultures; the improvement of the
personnel, intellectual and financial
conditions for community and individual cultural education; the promotion of
activities improving
citizens’ quality of life; and supporting
institutions and organizations established for the implementation of the
foregoing.
- The
Minority Act regulates the individual and community rights of minorities, which
includes those of children. Persons belonging
to a minority are entitled to
have minority traditions pertaining to family relations respected, to foster
family relations, to hold
family celebrations and events in their native tongues
and to request the related church ceremonies in their native tongues.
Furthermore,
they are also entitled to freely choose their own and their
children’s first names, to have their first names and last names
kept by
the Registrar according to the rules of their native languages and to write them
in official documents within limits as
defined by law in that manner. If
requested, birth certificates and other official documents can be
bilingual.
- Persons
belonging to a minority are entitled to become acquainted with their native
tongue, history, culture and traditions, to foster
them, develop them, transfer
them to future generations and participate in education and culture in their own
native tongues. The
Bulgarian, Gypsy (Romani and the Beah) Greek, Croatian,
Polish, German, Armenian, Rumanian, Ruthene, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and
the
Ukrainian languages are considered to be minority languages in Hungary.
Education in or on the native language for minorities
can be provided in
minority nursery schools, schools or classes, or in a group, depending on local
possibilities and demand. If
the parents or legal representatives of eight
children of the same minority request it, a minority class or group must be
organized
and operated. The extra costs of minority education in or on a native
language shall be borne by the State or by the local government.
The minority
education institutions can be used by persons not belonging to the given
minority only if the institutions have extra
places after all the requests of
the minority have been complied with. Teaching Hungarian is a must in minority
education institutions.
A minority library network provides native language
literature. The State provides for the publication of textbooks necessary for
- native
language education, as well as educational tools and instruments. The State
supports the collection of traditional objects
of minorities as well as the
foundation and growth of public collections; publication of minority books and
periodicals; laws and
announcements of public interest in native languages; and
religious services of the churches in native minority languages. The Government
provides additional per capita normative amounts, as provided in the budget law
in force, to native language education in schools.
A public foundation must be
established with the purpose of preserving the identity of Hungarian minorities,
to foster and transmit
their traditions, to foster and develop their language,
to preserve their intellectual heritage and traditional objects, to preserve
their collective memory, and to reduce the cultural and political disadvantages
arising from belonging to a minority.
[*] HRI/GEN/2/Rev.2, chap. VII, sect.
B.
[*] Available for consultation with the
Secretariat.
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