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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2021)1419/H46-16 |
2 December 2021 |
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1419th meeting, 30 November – 2 December 2021 (DH)
H46-16 Gubacsi group v. Hungary (Application No. 44686/07) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference document |
Decisions
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. urged the authorities to proceed to the outstanding payments in Nagy, Pósa and Csúcs without further delay;
3. reiterating the Committee of Ministers’ constant position that respondent States have a continuing obligation to conduct effective investigations into alleged abuses by members of the security forces, expressed their deepest concern that, ten years after the leading case of this group became final, and despite the Committee’s repeated calls, no information has been provided on the re-examination of the cases of this group in a Convention-compliant manner;
4. strongly urged the authorities to submit, by 31 March 2022, copies of the competent independent body’s reasoned decisions on the investigatory steps that can still be taken in these cases, on those that can no longer be taken for practical or legal reasons and on the means that can be deployed to overcome existing obstacles; should it be established that certain cases have become time-barred, invited the authorities to explore the possibility of (re)opening disciplinary proceedings and to provide information on whether the domestic legal order provides for the possibility of seeking compensation outside the just satisfaction awarded by the Court; in respect of the cases that are not yet time-barred, strongly urged anew the authorities to give them absolute priority in order to avoid prescription and to take all the necessary measures to ensure that reopened criminal investigations and/or proceedings are completed in a Convention-compliant manner;
As regards general measures
5. at the outset, noted with serious concern that ill-treatment by law-enforcement officers has been a long-standing and complex problem in Hungary, which continues giving rise to a significant number of complaints examined both at domestic level and by the Court; expressed their deep concern that despite the long-standing nature of the problem, it is not possible to discern an overall strategy envisaged by the authorities to ensure that ill-treatment by law-enforcement agents is eradicated and ill-treatment complaints are effectively investigated; noted that a fundamentally renewed, swift and resolute approach on behalf of the Hungarian authorities, and their close cooperation with the Department for the Execution of Judgments on this matter are therefore urgently required;
6. urged the authorities, as a matter of priority, to assess the impact of the legislative and regulatory measures already adopted, whether the provisions in force are being properly implemented by all relevant actors and which further improvements are required, including but not limited to: a) extending the scope of instances where video recording of interrogations is mandatory, in line with recommendations made by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT); b) extending the thirty-day statutory period of storage of relevant video-recordings to prevent their untimely destruction; and c) reviewing the domestic law allowing the restoration to their positions of law enforcement officers sentenced to suspended imprisonment for ill-treatment in order to align it with the Court’s case-law;
7. as regards the detainees’ access to a doctor, strongly urged the authorities to provide information on the further measures taken a) to improve the quality of the medical examination of detained persons in police holding facilities complaining of ill-treatment, b) to establish an independent medical examination body mandated to examine alleged victims of ill-treatment, and to ensure c) the full confidentiality of detainees’ medical examinations in practice, and d) the completeness of police files (notably as regards the medical documentation); as to the National Preventive Mechanism function of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, strongly reiterated their call for information on the measures taken to strengthen its functional independence and funding, to increase the human and financial resources allocated and its capacity to carry out additional preventive work other than detention monitoring.
8. strongly reiterated their call on the authorities, at the highest possible level, to reiterate their zero tolerance message towards ill-treatment in law enforcement; further, strongly urged the authorities to provide detailed information on the human rights training sessions aimed at low-ranking officers, including on their frequency, duration and content of the curricula; urged them to consider developing guidelines for the Convention-compliant conduct of arrests and interrogations, and to provide information on the measures taken to enhance the capacity of the prosecution and judicial authorities to examine ill-treatment complaints in a Convention-compliant manner;
9. encouraged the authorities in their plan to examine, in 2022, the possibilities of equipping a maximum number of police vehicles with operating sound and image recording devices and of extending the use of body cameras, in particular given that the relevant numbers appear to have deteriorated since 2020; strongly reiterated their call to reflect on measures leading to the installation of adequate recording devices in all police detention facilities and to present data on the number of recorded interrogations broken down by categories as foreseen by law;
10. took note of the centralisation of investigations into police ill-treatment with specific prosecution authorities and invited the authorities to submit further information in this respect; noted with regret that the authorities have still not submitted any statistical data on the outcome of ill-treatment complaints and expressed their grave concern both as to the apparently very low rates of indictment upon complaints of
ill-treatment by law enforcement officers and as to the reportedly lenient sentences imposed by courts in such cases; regretted that the lack of information on the measures taken to address the deficiencies of investigations established by the Court and therefore exhorted the authorities anew to present, without further delay, a strategic plan aimed at tackling the problem of ineffective investigations into police ill-treatment;
11. considering the obligation of the Respondent States for an ex officio review of the possibility of reopening of investigations in cases where the Court finds a violation of the procedural aspect of Articles 2 and/or 3 and the need to prompt reaction in this respect to avoid impunity, urged the authorities to consider introducing an ex officio practice of re-examining such investigations at an earlier stage of the Convention proceedings, either when applications are communicated by the Court, or at the latest immediately after the delivery by the Court of a judgment finding a violation; in this context, reiterated their call on the authorities to expand this practice to ill-treatment complaints dismissed at the investigatory stage (without indictment);
12. invited the authorities to provide updated information on all the above issues in an updated action plan by the end of September 2022, at the latest, and as regards the above-mentioned outstanding individual measures by 31 March 2022; decided to resume the examination of this group of cases at their 1451st meeting (December 2022) (DH); and, in the event that no tangible progress has been achieved by then, instructed the Secretariat to prepare a draft interim resolution for the Committee’s consideration.