Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the transformation of the institutional system of personal protection briefly over the last twenty-five years and to outline the main legislative and personnel (in particular, the scope of very important persons) changes up to the present day.
Methodology: Governmental law enforcement has been characterised by constant change over the last quarter of century. This process involved not only changes in tasks and authority, but also the transformation, dissolution and creation of institutions. Despite this fact, there are few areas of law enforcement that have undergone such a complex and extensive transformation as personal protection in Hungary. After the change of regime, between 1990 and 1996, the field closely followed democratic transformation in the spirit of reform efforts, but no profound reform was achieved as comprehensive legislation was not ready until 1997.
Findings: After 2010, there were several organisational, operational and regulatory changes resulting in the loss of the unity of personal protection and the emergence of a parallel institutional network with different types of bodies and different functions. This process is interpreted as a kind of slow reform of the field, but it is debatable from several viewpoints.
Value: The study highlights the fact that the designation or removal of protection for public managers, and the reorganisation of tasks and authority between bodies give the overall impression that the professionalisation of the field took place in recent years without any real sectoral strategy.