István Ákos Balsai (5 April 1947 – 1 March 2020) was a Hungarian politician and jurist, who served as Minister of Justice between 1990 and 1994.

His father participated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, as a result he was fired from his job and forced to work as a manual worker until his death.

He was appointed Minister of Justice in the first democratic Hungarian government led by József Antall.

[2] Balsai was re-elected MP from the MDF national list in the 1994 parliamentary election, when his party lost majority of the seats.

[2] Balsai was an observer then full member of the European Parliament from 2003 to 2004, delegated by the Hungarian Democratic Forum.

[2] He was commissioned to investigate the unlawful measures during the 2006 protests in Hungary by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in 2010.

Balsai said in the report dated 15 March 2011 that the investigation had also uncovered possible grounds for raising the charge of the perpetration of an act of terror.

The author said that it is necessary to investigate whether former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány should take political and legal responsibility for the police's behavior.