The Hungarian Ombudsman

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The Hungarian Ombudsmans Investigations About
Childrens Rights In Care

• Dr. Agnes Lux
• legal referent, head of the childrens rights
  project
• Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for
  Civil Rights
• in Hungary
• lux_at_obh.hu
• ENOC Annual Conference, Warsaw Poland
• 14-16 September 2011

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Ombudsmans role

• The main task of the Ombudsman (Parliamentary
  Commissioner for Civil Rights) is to investigate
  any abuses of constitutional rights he/she has
  become aware of and to initiate general or
  particular measures for their redress
• Act LIX of 1993, on the Parliamentary
  Commissioner for Civil Rights, states that
  anybody may apply to the Ombudsman, if they have
  suffered injury as a result of action of any
  authority or body performing a public service.

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The role of the childrens rights ombudsman a
special six year project

• No independent body/institution for childrens
  rights,
• Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights
  (quasi childrens rights ombudsman) has a
  special responsibility based on the Act XXI of
  1997 on Child Protection
• ? ex officio investigations
• ? complaints
• Project thinking
• Regular media presence,
  publicity
• MINI website about childrens rights
  www.gyermekjogok.obh.hu

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Special topics in every year

• In 2008
• Awareness-raising of the children about their
  rights
• In 2009
• Violence against and amongst children
• In 2010
• Children in care
• In 2011
• Right to health
• In 2012
• Child-friendly justice

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In 2010 the priority was the role of the family
in ensuring childrens rights

• We focused on
• the right of children to be brought up in the
  family
• the role of the state in promoting it (obligatory
  assistance),
• the operation of the system of state provisions
  substituting family and the issue of adoption in
  this context

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Legal basis

• International (CRC) and national law (Hungarian
  Constitution, Child Protection Act of 1997)
  states, that
• every child has the right to protection and care
  provided by the family, by the state and by the
  society, which is necessary to the proper
  physical, intellectual and moral development
• but the pratice shows different picture

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Special comprehensive investigations about
children in care since 1998

• The comprehensive investigations recovered 51
  abuses of rights, and contained 24 proposals
  (later the majority of proposals have been
  accepted)
• ?2002 a follow-up investigation was initiated
• some problem have remained e.g about general
  conditions, staff (education, competence, lack of
  supervision), inadequate treatment (corporal
  punishment, other abuses), presence of
  drug-alcohol-smoking

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Comprehensive investigations (year/nr/county)
2000 3 (Budapest, Heves, Szabolcs)
2001 7 (Budapest, Hajdú-Bihar, Fejér, Pest, Gyor-Moson-Sopron )
2002 51998 follow-up (Budapest, Pest, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Csongrád)
2003 2 (Békés, Szabolcs)
2004 1 (Sopron)
2005 5 (Fejér)
2006 9 (Borsod, Somogy, Fejér)
2007 2 (Fejér, Somogy)
2008 2 follow-up (Szabolcs, Tolna)
2009 7 (Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Komárom-Esztergom)
2010 4 (Somogy, Tolna)
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Persistent problems

• In many cases there are serious problems with
• The quality and quantity of food
• Rooms and places for children are bare
• Lack of freetime programmes
• Difficulties of personal relationships and
  contacts (e.g. with parents, boy/girlfriends)
• The efficiency of procedures managing the
  missing/runaway children are questionable
• Lack of professionals
• Lack of supervisons, education, special trainings
• Presence of abuse, corporal punishment other
  mistreatment (which remains usually hidden)
• Problems in the fostercare system

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Solutions?

• There are budgetary limits but we need a human
  rights budget approach
• The institutional system reproduce these problems
  again and again
• The strength of the linkages and the retaining
  force of the institution depends mainly on the
  professional staff
• ?the children need love, trust, care,
  perspectives (it doesnt depend on money)

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Special reports in 2010

• Investigation into the maintenance of contacts
  between siblings brought up in special care
• Investigation in special childrens homes
• Investigation about education and competences of
  fosterparents
• Investigations about unaccompanied minorss
  rights
• Investigation about childrens homes for 0-3years
  old children
• Investigation about daycare
• Investigation about abuses and signalling system

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• Thank you for your kind attention!
• www.obh.hu
• www.gyermekjogok.obh.hu