On 21 September 2012 a working group was set up at the Ministry of Human Resources to work out the specifications of the term “domestic violence”.

The first session of the committee was attended by the Minister of Human Resources, representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the National Judicial Office (OBH), the Equal Treatment Authority and the Ombudsman's Office and Pálma Halász, NGO representative and initiator of a bill on the subject.

At a press conference following the meeting, Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog said that the relevant bill may be created by December 2012. The working group will formulate its proposed definition for domestic violence in the next one or two months. It has not yet been decided whether the term will be “violence within the family”, “relationship violence”, “violence between partners” or the English-style usage “domestic violence”.

The minister added that an open day will be organised in Parliament at which professional organisations and NGOs will have the opportunity to state their positions on matters to be taken into consideration in the legislation process.

The working group, which will meet in two weeks’ time, will also be joined by specialists delegated by NGOs.

Pálma Halász expressed her appreciation for the fact that the legislation is being developed with the participation of civil society. In her opinion, it is in the common interest of society to create an Act on domestic violence. She highlighted the initiative’s topicality, as in Hungary 2012 is the year for creation of a child-friendly justice system.

(Ministry of Human Resources)