On Wednesday Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice, announced that two new child-friendly police interview rooms have been created in Hungary – one in Nagykanizsa and the other in Tatabánya.

In connection with the Year of Child-friendly Justice, the minister has arranged that by 2014 every county town will have such a room, in which investigators will be able to interview child victims or witnesses of crime, in far more humane conditions.

The police interview rooms are being created in order to reduce trauma for children in the course of proceedings. The atmosphere is designed to be welcoming and the rooms are equipped with video and audio recording equipment, the latter to ensure that children will only have to give statements once, rather than several times throughout the different stages of legal proceedings.

Minister Navracsics also reported that recently Hungary has scored a significant success, when on 12 September the European Parliament adopted a directive on protection for victims of crime, in which children are defined as a specially protected group. The preparations for this breakthrough directive started during Hungary’s 2011 presidency of the EU. Additionally, the new Criminal Code, which was adopted this year, places special emphasis on stricter punishment of crimes committed against children.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)