Regional activities > European police and judicial systems Hungary

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1. Introduction

 1.1 Location

The Republic of Hungary lies in Central Europe, bordered by Austria and Slovenia to the west, by Slovakia to the north, by Ukraine to the north-east, Romania to the east, and by Croatia and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro to the south.

 1.2 Area - Population - Language

• 93,030 km²
  
• 10,121,000
  
• Hungarian
  

 1.3 Government

Hungary is a Republic. Legislative power is vested in a unicameral National Assembly.
The President of the Republic, elected for five years is the Head of the State and acts on the advice of the Cabinet (led by the Prime Minister), which is responsible to the National Assembly.

2. Police system

 2.1 Law enforcement bodies

The law enforcement bodies of Hungary are: the Police, the Border Guards and the Customs and Excise Authority. The Police and the Border Guards are independent organisations of the Ministry of the Interior, while the Customs and Excise Authority is under the direction of the Ministry of Finance.

There are three levels of law enforcement: national, county and local (district or municipal) level.

The Police

In Hungary there is one national police force. There is no Gendarmerie and there are no municipal police forces.

 2.2 Hungary - Police Organization Chart

1. National Police Headquarters

Directorate General for Criminal Investigations

• Organised Crime Directorate
  
• Criminal Logistics Directorate
  
• International Law Enforcement Cooperation Centre
  
• Analysis and Coordination Directorate
  
• Forensics and Research Institute
  
• Financial Investigation Directorate

Directorate General for Public Security

• Traffic Enforcement Department
  
• General Police Duties Department
  
• Police Administration Department
  
• Airport Security Service

Directorate General for Economic Affairs

• Budgetary Planning Department
  
• I.T. Department
  
• Technical and Construction Department

Directorate General for Human Resource Management

Office of the National Police HQ

• Secretariat of the High Commissioner
  
• Legal Affairs
  
• Command and Control Department
  
• Emergency Planning Department
  
• National Courier Service
  
  
• Complaints and Internal Affairs
  
• Communications Directorate
  
• Force Development Bureau
  

2. Special units and regional organisations

• Rapid Response Unit
  
• Republican Guards
  
• Budapest Metropolitan Police HQ - 22 District Police Stations
  
• 19 County Police HQ - 131 Town Police Stations
  

 2.3 NCB structure

The Hungarian NCB is part of the International Law Enforcement Cooperation Centre of the Directorate General for Criminal Investigations. Other units of the Centre are: Department for International Relations and EU Integration, Europol National Unit, Message Response and International Telecommunication Unit.

 2.4 International investigations

The above-mentioned units of the International Law Enforcement Cooperation Centre operate as central contact points for matters relating to international investigations. The Organised Crime Directorate and the Criminal Logistics Directorate have limited authorisation to directly cooperate with foreign police agencies, as well.

 2.5 Pre-trial police and judicial powers

3. Judicial system

 3.1 General

The courts of the Republic of Hungary are independent of any political body. They are supervised by the National Judicial Board. The court system includes: Courts of Labour, Municipal or District Courts, County Courts and the Metropolitan Court, the Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Court. All courts try both civil and criminal cases, except the Courts of Labour. Appeals are made to the court competent in jurisdiction next in the hierarchy. Sentences are passed by a judge or a board of judges, assisted by lay assessors.

 3.2 Prosecution

Prosecutions are brought by the staff of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

This Office is completely independent of the courts themselves, and reports to the Parliament.

Tasks of Public Prosecutors: uphold the charge in courts cases, representing the State; supervise the lawfulness of criminal investigations; ensure the observation of the rule of law; approve and supervise certain policing measures concerning intelligence gathering and measures of constraint; carry out investigations in criminal cases involving law enforcement employees, public administration and political personalities; carry out tasks originating from international rogatories.

4. Investigation possibilities and international co-operation

 4.1 Possibilities

 4.2 Access to files (through NCB)

 4.3 Liaison officers

4.3.1 Hungarian liaison officers posted abroad

1 Kiev (Ukraine)
1 Moscow (Russia)
1 Europol, The Hague (The Netherlands)
1 BKA, Wiesbaden (Germany)
1 SECI, Bucharest (Romania)

4.3.2 Foreign liaison officers posted to Budapest

Austria, France, Germany (BKA), Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden (Skandinavia), UK, Ukraine, USA (FBI assistant legal attaché). There are four liasion officers (Belgium, Canada, Israel, Spain) who, though not posted to Budapest, are responsible for Hungary, as well.

5. Police/Customs co-operation

The Hungarian Customs and Excise Authority is authorized to conduct criminal investigations in matters falling within their competence.
The Customs can access criminal background information from the central criminal database.
The Customs has seconded a liaison officer within the International Law Enforcement Cooperation Centre.

6. Miscellaneous

 6.1 Public holidays

New Year's Day (1st January)
National Day of 1848 Revolution (15th March)
Easter Monday
Labour Day (1st May)
Whit Monday
National Day, St. Stephens Day, the Day of State Foundation (20th August)
National Day of 1956 Revolution (23rd October)
All Saints Day (1st November)
Christmas (25th December and 26th December).

 

Regional activities - European police and judicial systems