The Ombudsman for the more effective assistance of social reintegration of released prisoners

AJB-2987/2012

The Ombudsman for the more effective assistance of social reintegration of released prisoners

Assisting the social reintegration of prisoners who have served their sentence requires an active attitude and expenditures both from the state and the society. Considering this, the state can not rely solely on the voluntary activity of civil organizations. As part of his project on the investigation of the penitentiary system, ombudsman Máté Szabó drew the attention of the competent authorities on the importance of parole, after-care and employment of ex-prisoners.

The future of a prisoner is largely influenced by the conditions after his/her release. Prisoners need assistance to combat harms resulting from confinement, financial-mental drawbacks resulting from imprisonment and social prejudice. It should be noted, that a significant proportion of these prisoners are poorly socialized: low educational levels, long-term unemployment, uncertain or difficult housing situation, alcoholism, lack of a firm family background, types of friends contribute to potential relapse, moreover, these factors interact often simultaneously. Having served a sentence of imprisonment, even those have to face serious problems who had not have such disadvantages previously.

This requires an active assistance and resources both from the state and the society for facilitating social reintegration of prisoners who have served their sentence in order to ensure public order and public security. It is up to the state to choose the assets for it, however its activity should not be restricted in any way to the limitations of criminal policy, the outcast of criminals from society. Prisoners released after a longer or shorter time can not become useful members of the society without assistance, on their own – recalled the ombudsman in his investigation-report. The state can not rely solely on the activities of non-governmental organizations. This task is very complex indeed, and given its constitutional obligation the state can not keep in the background. The commissioner stressed that the rule of law is a basic value in democracies that includes crime prevention as a constitutional aim, being the common interest of state and society.

Based on the report which gave a detailed summary of difficulties in the functioning of probation system, after-care and employment problems and deficiencies of cooperation between competent authorities the commissioner for fundamental rights asked the minister of administration and justice, the minister of interior, the minister of national economy and the minister of human resources to take all necessary measures, if possible jointly.

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