In the case of a client represented by Street Lawyer, the Constitutional Court ruled that children cannot be punished for prostitution. The girl, who was taken into institutionalized child care with her siblings, came into contact with prostitution while living in a children’s home. During this time, the Court ordered her to pay a fine for illicit prostitution, but with the help of Street Lawyer, she appealed to the Constitutional Court for redress. After more than two years, the Constitutional Court ruled that several parts of the Infringement Act are unconstitutional.
The law doesn’t sufficiently cover how a decision can later be appealed in writing. Moreover, the law is unconstitutional because children aged 14–18 are threatened with imprisonment instead of help.
The Ombudsman indicated in 2011, and again in 2018, that child prostitution is not a matter of free will, but coercion and exploitation. As a result of an amendment to the law, from 1 July 2020, the child can not be punished in all cases, but certain behaviours will remain punishable (e.g. harassing behaviour, or if the child advertises sexual services).
The amendment was a necessary step, but not a sufficient one, as in some cases, a child forced into prostitution can still be punished and the help provided is not enough, say the experts of the Infringement Working Group set up by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Society for Freedom Rights and Street Lawyer.
