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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2022)1451/H46-16 |
8 December 2022 |
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1451st meeting, 6-8 December 2022 (DH)
H46-16 Gubacsi group v. Hungary (Application No. 44686/07) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference document |
The Deputies
1. recalled that this group of cases concerns ill-treatment (between 2000 and 2016) by law enforcement officers during arrest, transfer and detention, lack of effective investigations, including failure to investigate possible racist motives for ill-treatment, and violations of the right to life;
As regards individual measures
2. noted with interest the Deputy Prosecutor General’s detailed information on the re-examination of eleven cases of this group and his conclusion that in Tarjáni, following re-examination of the case evidence, the latter did not allow reopening of criminal or disciplinary proceedings, and in Gubacsi, Borbála Kiss, Réti and Fizli, László Károly No. 2, Haász and Szabó, Terge, M.F., Kovács, Csonka, R.S. reopening was not possible due to prescription, invited therefore the authorities to urgently submit the prosecution’s reasoned decisions in respect of the remaining cases (Nagy, Pósa, Csúcs, Mata), on the investigatory steps that can still be taken, on those that can no longer be taken for practical or legal reasons, on the possibility of (re)opening disciplinary proceedings and on whether the domestic legal order provides for the possibility of seeking compensation outside the just satisfaction awarded by the Court;
3. while expressing deep regret about the considerable delay of this re-examination following the Court’s final judgment, which in certain cases may have contributed to their prescription, decided to end their supervision of the individual measures in Gubacsi and end their supervision in the other cases except for Nagy, Pósa, Csúcs and Mata, given that no further individual measures seem to be possible, without prejudice to the continuing need for the adoption of general measures, and adopted Final Resolution CM/ResDH(2022)349;
4. urged the authorities to proceed to the outstanding payments in the Nagy and Mata cases without further delay;
As regards general measures
5. noted with grave concern that ill-treatment by law-enforcement officers has been a long-standing and complex problem in Hungary, which continues to give rise to a significant number of complaints at domestic level and new applications and judgments by the Court;
6. welcomed the authorities’ efforts in co-organising the Round Table in October 2022 on “Professional policing and treatment of apprehended persons by law enforcement” with a focus on preventing torture and other forms of ill-treatment at the hands of law enforcement agents;
7. strongly reiterated their call on the authorities to communicate, at the highest possible level, a “zero tolerance” message towards ill-treatment in law enforcement and invited the authorities to take the necessary steps to identify and adopt the measures required to promote an institutional “zero tolerance” culture towards
ill-treatment by focusing on prevention notably through systematic training, awareness raising activities and psychological support to low-ranking officers faced with challenging situations of policing;
8. invited the authorities, in the light of the European Court’s case-law in this respect, to provide information on whether the Minister of Interior’s practice to reinstate, upon request, law enforcement officers who have been sentenced to suspended imprisonment could be and has already been applied following a conviction for ill-treatment;
9. reiterated their call on the authorities to adopt, in line with the recommendations made by the CPT, legislative measures extending the scope of instances where video recording of police work is mandatory, and increasing the thirty-day statutory period of storage of video-recordings; invited the authorities also examine the possibilities of augmenting the number of cameras available for use in interrogation rooms, in detention facilities, in police vehicles and as body cameras, as well as to present data on the number of recorded interrogations broken down by categories as foreseen by law;
10. reiterated their call on the authorities to provide information on the measures taken (i) to improve the quality of the medical examination of detained persons in police holding facilities complaining of ill-treatment,
(ii) to establish an independent medical examination body mandated to examine alleged victims of ill-treatment, and (iii) to ensure the full confidentiality of detainees’ medical examinations in practice; as well as to provide information on measures taken or foreseen to strengthen the role of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights in performing its NPM function;
11. noted that important developments appear to have taken place in respect of training of law enforcement authorities and invited the authorities to submit all pertinent information shared by the relevant stakeholders during the Execution Department’s mission and the Round Table on training provided to patrolling officers, low-ranking officers and police commanders, with a particular accent on the new curriculum that has been reportedly introduced for low-ranking police officers;
12. noted with interest the recent establishment of the Operational and Military Cases Unit within the Budapest Regional Investigative Prosecutor's Office which aims at increasing the prosecution’s ability to react rapidly in police ill-treatment investigations, as well as the promotion of the Council of Europe HELP training courses among the prosecuting authorities and the prompt organisation on 7 November 2022 of a training for prosecutors on “Treatment of persons under investigation and legal safeguards” which aimed at reflecting on the issues raised during the Round Table and the Execution Department’s mission in Budapest;
13. expressed their grave concern regarding the low rates of indictments between 2019 and 2021 following complaints against law enforcement agents and the lenient sentences (suspended prison sentences and criminal fines) of law enforcement officers in ill-treatment cases; recalling that under the 2011 Committee of Ministers Guidelines on Eradicating Impunity for Serious Human Rights Violations, in cases where serious human rights violations have been proven, the sentences which are handed out should be effective, proportionate and appropriate to the offence committed, invited the authorities to submit updated statistical information on police-ill-treatment-related disciplinary and criminal investigations, prosecutions, trials and their outcomes;
14. reiterated their call on the authorities to consider introducing an ex officio practice of re-examining ill-treatment investigations at an earlier stage of the Convention proceedings and invited the authorities to provide information on whether Section 400 of the Code of Criminal Procedure would allow such practice; called on the authorities to review the domestic legislation to extend or lift the relatively short five-year prescription period for crimes of ill-treatment by law enforcement officers;
15. invited the authorities to submit an updated action plan, including information on all the above issues, by 31 March 2023 at the latest, and in the event that no tangible progress has been achieved, to consider the adoption of an interim resolution at the next examination of this group.