Office of the commissioner for fundamental rights of hungary

Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has opened an extraordinary ex officio inquiry in order to find out whether the child protection authorities had made a mistake or an omission in connection with the family tragedy that claimed the life of small children a couple of days ago in Győr. After collecting and reviewing all the information available, the Ombudsman will communicate the results of the independent inquiry in a report.

As reported by the press on 15 and 16 December 2019, a father, who had been convicted of a serious crime (domestic violence) in the past and had just been released from prison, killed two of his three children who were on staying contact with him over the weekend, and then committed suicide. The question of criminal liability in this shocking case is to be clarified by the police investigation.

Bearing a special responsibility for the systemic protection of child rights, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights – walking in the footsteps of his predecessors – is conducting an extraordinary ex officio inquiry to find out whether the child protection authorities had made a mistake or an omission regarding this tragedy affecting children, and whether the child protection mechanism was functioning appropriately. 

In the course of the inquiry, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights will request information, and contact the authorities concerned to reveal if their proceedings had been thorough enough in this particular case in Győr, whether the father should have been granted only supervised staying contact in the presence of professionals, and whether they had done everything to protect the rights, interests and life of the children. Ombudsman Kozma will give account of the findings of his inquiry in a report.