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The General Prosecutor’s Recommendation on the Ethical Rules of the Profession of Prosecutor1

In order to comply with the obli­ga­tions of Sec­ti­on 7 of the Act CLXIII. of 2020 on Pro­se­cu­ti­on Ser­vi­ce and to promo­te the con­duct wor­thy of the pro­fes­si­on of pro­se­cu­tor, I shall pub­lish the fol­lo­wing recom­men­da­ti­on:  

Pro­se­cu­tors play a key role in jus­ti­ce. In sup­port of a law­ful, impar­ti­al, fair and unbias­ed pro­ce­du­re, the recom­men­da­ti­on sum­ma­ri­ses the ethi­cal stan­dards of the pro­fes­si­on of pro­se­cu­tor.  

The stan­dards con­ta­ined in the recom­men­da­ti­on serve as guide­li­nes, raise aware­ness of ethi­cal risks, pro­vi­de sup­port in iden­ti­fying and add­r­es­sing ethi­cal prob­lems cor­rectly.  

In the recom­men­da­ti­on, the requ­i­re­ments towards pro­se­cu­tors are offe­red for gui­dance to other staff of the Pro­se­cu­ti­on Ser­vi­ce, too, inc­lu­ding the dif­fe­ren­ces in leg­il­sa­ti­on that are app­lic­ab­le to them. 

Seri­o­us vio­la­tions of ethi­cal stan­dards may serve as a basis for cri­mi­nal and dis­cip­li­nary actions in accor­dance with the provi­sions in force. 

I. BASIC OBLIGATIONS

Pro­se­cu­tors sho­uld at all times and under all cir­cum­stan­ces

  1. imp­le­ment their obli­ga­tions, inc­lu­ding the obli­ga­ti­on to act, in accor­dance with rele­vant nati­o­nal and inter­na­ti­o­nal law;
  2. carry out their tasks fairly,impartially, con­sis­tently, effi­ci­ently and in a timely man­ner;
  3. respect and pro­tect human dig­nity, obser­ve and comply with human rights and avoid all forms of discri­mi­na­ti­on in their pro­ce­du­res;
  4. take into account that they are acting on behalf of the State and in the pub­lic inte­rest;
  5. seek to balance the gene­ral inte­rests of soci­ety and the inte­rests and rights of indi­vi­du­als wit­hin the fra­me­work of leg­i­sla­ti­on.

II. GENERAL RULES FOR THE EXERCISE OF A PROFESSION

1. Pro­se­cu­tors sho­uld

  1. pre­ser­ve the dig­nity of their pro­fes­si­on at all times;
  2. they must always act in accor­dance with pro­fes­si­o­nal rules, fairly and with the utmost care;
  3. be infor­med and qua­li­fi­ed properly to fol­low rele­vant legal and soci­al changes;
  4. carry out their dut­i­es wit­ho­ut exter­nal inf­lu­en­ce, wit­ho­ut fear, bias; they must not be inf­lu­en­ced by inte­rest of any indi­vi­du­al or group or by pres­su­re from the pub­lic and the media;
  5. they must also take care of the appe­arance of their impar­ti­al and uni­form pro­ce­du­re; ref­ra­in from engag­ing in any poli­ti­cal acti­vity incom­pa­tib­le with the requ­i­re­ment of impar­ti­a­lity; they may excerci­se their right to fre­e­dom of exp­r­es­si­on and asso­ci­a­ti­on in a way that is com­pa­tib­le with their offi­ce and does not affect or appear to affect the inde­pen­den­ce of the Pro­se­cu­ti­on Ser­vi­ce or impar­ti­a­lity;
  6. ensure equ­a­lity befo­re the law and ref­ra­in from any discri­mi­na­ti­on, in par­ti­cu­lar on grounds of sex, race, colo­ur, lan­gu­age, reli­gi­on, poli­ti­cal or other views, sexu­al ori­en­ta­ti­on, ori­gin, rela­ti­onship with nati­o­nal mino­ri­ti­es, property, health or disa­bi­lity;
  7. pay par­ti­cu­lar attent­ion to the situ­a­ti­on of disad­van­tag­ed or vul­ne­rab­le, in par­ti­cu­lar minors, vic­tims and the dis­ab­led;
  8. respect the views, legi­ti­ma­te inte­rests, pri­vacy and pos­sib­le rela­ti­onsh­ips of indi­vi­du­als with whom they inter­act in their offi­ci­al capa­ci­ty;
  9. seek to ensure (wit­hin the extent of their com­pe­ten­ce) that indi­vi­du­als are properly infor­med of their rights and legal sta­tus;
  10. per­form their dut­i­es in rela­ti­on to the court, the poli­ce, other aut­ho­ri­ti­es or other rep­re­s­en­ta­ti­ves of the legal pro­fes­si­on in a firm but respect­ful and cour­te­o­us man­ner;
  11. they must act in a man­ner that is com­pa­tib­le with their offi­ce when lia­ising with the media, and such con­duct sho­uld not affect the inde­pen­den­ce of the Pro­se­cu­ti­on Ser­vi­ce and impar­ti­a­lity; they sho­uld respect fre­e­dom of the press, ful­fil their obli­ga­ti­on of con­fi­den­ti­a­lity, respect the con­fi­den­ti­a­lity of investiga­tions and the integ­rity of pri­vacy and human dig­nity;
  12. they shall not be allo­wed to be inf­lu­en­ced by their own per­so­nal or finan­cial inte­rests, soci­al or other rela­ti­onsh­ips in their legal pro­ce­e­dings;
  13. Pro­se­cu­tors shall not act in cases in which they them­sel­ves, their fami­li­es or per­sons with whom they share eco­no­mic inte­rest have a pri­vate or finan­cial inte­rest or have a per­so­nal con­tact. Pro­se­cu­tors shall not under­take any acti­vity or case or can­not engage in any acti­vity or case or can­not apply for func­tions or posit­ions, whet­her paid or free, which are incom­pa­tib­le or dimi­nish their abi­lity to per­form their own tasks properly.

1. Leaders sho­uld

  1. respect the human dig­nity of their col­le­agues, guide them with respect, wit­ho­ut bias, and enco­u­rage them to show their per­so­nal examp­le;
  2. sup­port their col­le­agues, moni­tor their work, their wor­klo­ad, pro­vi­de the infor­ma­ti­on neces­sary for the per­for­mance of their dut­i­es in a timely and proper man­ner and take care of their pro­fes­si­o­nal deve­lop­ment;
  3. take into account the cir­cum­stan­ces of their col­le­agues and, if neces­sary, help solve their dif­fi­cul­ti­es;
  4. be objec­tive in the eva­lu­a­ti­on of their col­le­agues, con­sis­tent in the cour­se of audits and in the event of an inspec­ti­on;
  5. strive for coope­ra­ti­on in their rela­tions with each other.

III. RULES OF PROFESSIONAL ACIVITY IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Pro­se­cu­tors sho­uld at all times, in the cour­se of cri­mi­nal pro­ce­e­dings,

  1. respect the requ­i­re­ment of a fair pro­ce­du­re;
  2. carry out their tasks inde­pen­dently wit­hin the fra­me­work of the leg­i­sla­ti­on;
  3. seek to ensure that cri­mi­nal jus­ti­ce ope­ra­tes as quickly as pos­sib­le;
  4. ensure that all neces­sary and rea­son­ab­le pro­ce­dural steps are car­ried out befo­re pro­se­cu­ti­on or other substan­tive final deci­si­on is taken;
  5. take into account all the rele­vant cir­cum­stan­ces of the case, inc­lu­ding the cir­cum­stan­ces that are affec­ting the pro­se­cu­ted person's situ­a­ti­on, regard­less of whet­her they are for or aga­inst the pro­se­cu­ted per­son;
  6. act stea­di­ly but fairly;
  7. they must pre­sent all cre­dib­le evi­den­ce to the court and help the court to give a just ver­dict;
  8. take their deci­sions on the basis of an objec­tive assess­ment of the ava­i­lab­le evi­den­ce and, if the facts are unprov­ab­le, take the neces­sary pro­ce­dural steps;
  9. ensure that the prin­cip­le of equ­a­lity of arms is respec­ted, in par­ti­cu­lar when trans­mitt­ing infor­ma­ti­on to the accu­s­ed per­son and his defen­ce;
  10. take due account of the inte­rests of wit­nes­ses and promo­te the pro­tec­ti­on of their lives and phy­si­cal integ­rity;
  11. take due account of the inte­rests of vic­tims and help to inform vic­tims of their rights and, to the extent pos­sib­le in the inte­rests of the pro­ce­e­dings, of deve­lop­ments in the pro­ce­e­dings.

IV. RULES OF PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY IN THE FIELD OF PUBLIC LAW

Pro­se­cu­tors acting in the field of pub­lic law must comply with prin­cip­les simil­ar to those exist­ing in the field of cri­mi­nal law. In addi­ti­on, pro­se­cu­tors sho­uld:

  1. respect the legal prin­cip­les app­lic­ab­le to non-criminal pro­ce­e­dings;
  2. ensure that the res­pon­dent is infor­med, as deter­mi­ned by the rules of pro­ce­du­re, of the evi­den­ce and posit­i­on put for­ward by the pro­se­cu­tor during the trial;
  3. they can­not rep­lace the respondent's right of appe­al;
  4. seek to avert impa­ir­ment result­ing from vio­la­ti­on of law by using effec­tive means of law ava­i­lab­le, tak­ing into account, where app­rop­ria­te, the sub­se­qu­ent per­so­nal and soci­al effects of the cho­s­en mode of acti­on.

V. BEHAVIOUR IN PRIVATE LIFE

Pro­se­cu­tors in their pri­vate lives sho­uld:

  1. not comp­ro­mi­se the actu­al or rea­son­ab­le integ­rity, integ­rity and impar­ti­a­lity of the orga­ni­za­ti­on of Pro­se­cu­ti­on Ser­vi­ce with their acti­vi­ti­es;
  2. at all times, have pro­fes­si­o­nal and law-abiding atti­tu­de;
  3. strengt­hen pub­lic con­fi­den­ce in their pro­fes­si­on by their beha­vi­o­ur, be aware in all life situ­a­tions that the orga­ni­za­ti­on they rep­re­sent can be jud­ged thro­ugh them, and the­re­fo­re to ref­ra­in from uncul­tu­red forms of appe­arance and exp­r­es­si­on that vio­la­te the rules of pub­lic mora­lity and good taste and may give rise to displea­sure;
  4. they shall not use the infor­ma­ti­on obta­ined in the exerci­se of their pro­fes­si­on to unfa­irly promo­te the pur­su­it of their own inte­rests or those of others; avoid any exp­r­es­si­on which may result in the disc­los­ure of ambi­go­us, mis­lead­ing or unne­ces­sary infor­ma­ti­on about the prosecutor's orga­ni­sa­ti­on, its acti­vi­ti­es, tasks and its mem­bers;
  5. they shall not accept any gifts, rewards, bene­fits or pro­mi­ses the­reof in con­nec­ti­on with their offi­ci­al func­tion­ing and shall reject any advan­tage given or pro­mi­sed to third par­ti­es with regard to them; nor shall they carry out any acti­vity which could end­ang­er their integ­rity and pro­bity and, as far as pos­sib­le, avoid for­ese­e­ab­le life situ­a­tions and exp­r­es­sions which could cause them to appear as such.

Clau­se:
The recom­men­da­ti­on on the ethi­cal rules of the pro­fes­si­on of pro­se­cu­tor was adop­ted by the Nati­o­nal Leaders­hip Con­fe­ren­ce on 3rd Decem­ber 2014.

1 The Rule is based on the recom­men­da­ti­on of the Com­mit­tee of Minis­ters of the Coun­cil of Euro­pe on the role of the Pro­se­cu­ti­on Ser­vi­ce in the cri­mi­nal jus­ti­ce sys­tem Rec (2000)19, and on the draft Opin­ion No 9 (2014) of the Con­sul­ta­tive Coun­cil of Euro­pe­an Pro­se­cu­tors (CCPE-GT) - which revie­wed the recom­men­da­ti­on Rec (2000)19 - and on the "Euro­pe­an Guide­li­nes on ethics and con­duct of pub­lic pro­se­cu­tors - the Buda­pest Guide­li­nes.