National Assembly Hears Dr. Ákos Kozma’s Report on 2023 Activity - AJBH-EN
Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Ernő KÁLLAI, Deputy-Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, responsible for the Rights of Nationalities
Studies
2008 Ph.D. degree in legal theory and legal sociology at the Deák Ferenc Doctoral School of Law and Political Sciences, University of Miskolc
1997 - 2002 Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law and Political Sciences - lawyer
1994 - 1998 Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Arts - secondary school teacher of history
1990 - 1994 Eszterházy Károly Teacher Training College - teacher specialised in history and music
1994 - 1995 Journalism School - certified journalist
1995 Hungarian Radio - news editor and radio journalist
Employment
2010 Eszterházy Károly College, Faculty of Teacher Training and Knowledge Technology - head of department
2009 University of Debrecen, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Department of Constitutional Law - guest professor
2008 Corvinus University of Budapest, Post-graduate specialist training programme in equality and minority issues - mentor and guest professor
2007 Parliamentary Commissioner for National and Ethnic Minority Rights
2002 - 2010 Apor Vilmos Catholic College, Institute of Romology and Applied Social Sciences - head of institute, college professor
1998 Hungarian Academy of Sciences Ethnic and National Minority Research Institute - Head of research group on Romology
1999 - 2002 Miskolc University, Department of Sociology, professor
1996 - 1998 member of staff of the Roma Civil Rights Foundation
1988 - 1997 teacher at various educational institutions
Scholarships
2000 - 2002 Civic Education Project
1997 - 1999 Soros Foundation
1998 - 2002 European Roma Rights Centre
1997 - 1999 Roma Civil Rights Foundation, „Invisible College" for Roma students
Public and professional activities
2007 - Member of the Equal Treatment Professional Advisory Board
2002- 2005 Member of the board of trustees of the Autonomy Foundation
1998- 2004 Member of the board of trustees of the Gandhi Public Foundation
Membership of professional organisations
Hungarian Sociological Society - member of the Presidential Board
Hungarian Academy of Science - member of the Public Body
Hungarian Association of Lawyers
Hungarian Society of Political Sciences
Hungarian Ethnographical Society
Awards
2006 Award for Minorities
2005 honoured by the National Gypsy Self-Government for excellence in research
Main areas of research using empirical data survey in the past years
- Emergence of cultural rights of the minority communities'
- The new paradigms of handling of ethnic data
- Roma entrepreneurs in Hungary
- Research on local Gypsy minority self-governments
- The past and present of Gypsy musicians
- The social history of the Hungarian Roma in the 20th century
- Equal opportunities of Roma in Hungary. Self-governance, positive discrimination, and the role of education in improving the situation of the Roma - theoretical and practical models
- The theoretical models and practice in Hungary of local Gypsy minority self-governments
- The cultural autonomy of minorities
On 2 December, 2024, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Dr. Ákos Kozma presented a report to the National Assembly on the 2023 activities of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary and his deputies.
During his keynote speech in the plenary parliamentary debate, Dr. Ákos Kozma highlighted:
“In 2023, the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary issued 187 reports containing suggestions, with a total of 193 actual suggestions. Citizens submitted 5 742 petitions to us, of which our Office concluded and closed 4 772 cases in 2023. The increase in case numbers is significantly influenced by the expanding fundamental rights mandate, namely the special responsibilities and tasks recently entrusted to the Ombudsman’s institution by the National Assembly. In my assessment, these figures demonstrate that our Office continues to enjoy broad public trust in its work.”
Dr. Ákos Kozma also reported positively on the continuation of the Ombudsman’s children's home renovation project in 2023. This initiative, which began in 2021, is based on the collaboration with the Hungarian Prison Service and state forestry services.
From 1 January, 2023, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary assumed the role of independent framework for disability rights. Additionally, from 24 July, 2023, his responsibilities further expanded to include the tasks defined in Act XXV of 2023, concerning complaints and public interest disclosures. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary provided an update on the initiation of these responsibilities.
In his conclusion, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary emphasized that one of the key elements of the activities of 2023 was the role of serving as a bridge for fundamental rights protection, both domestically and internationally. He stressed the deliberate commitment to working collaboratively with various stakeholders to find solutions to major fundamental rights challenges, which he also considers as a guiding principle for the future.