In his parliamentary address on Tuesday, Minister of State for Justice Róbert Répássy said that a legislative proposal is initiating the amendment of seven pieces of legislation related to criminal law.

The first significant change he referred to was on violence within relationships, identified as a problem affecting large sections of the population. Therefore the Government has proposed raising the seriousness of such offences to include them in the Penal Code in cases for which – at the time of the offence or prior to it – there is evidence of regular abuse of a current or former spouse or partner, a relative within a household, a guardian, ward or disabled dependent.

Mr. Répássy stressed that a condition for inclusion within this category of offence is that the parties have been in cohabitation, but this may be either at the time of the alleged offence or previously. After this change, sentences for these offences will range from one to five years' imprisonment. The Minister of State emphasized that the effectiveness of the new provisions is dependent on wide-ranging cooperation within society. To encourage victims to come forward there is a need for comprehensive information, which the Government expects civil society organisations to assist in.

Mr. Répássy also described as important the amendment to the Act on international legal assistance in criminal cases, which from July will introduce new legal institutions: temporary or permanent blocking of access to electronic data. The new legislation will allow Hungarian authorities to request legal assistance from foreign authorities – and vice versa – if a website uses a web hosting service in another country. It is important that this will be possible in relation to countries with which Hungary has no international agreement.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)