Helsinki File: Alternatives to imprisonment

The Hungarian government’s current attempt to reduce prison overcrowding is absurd. After boasting about its increasingly strict penal policy and communicating about the fight against migration, it has released hundreds of foreign human smugglers from prison, which is damaging and dangerous. We point out the main issues.

Hungarian prisons are overcrowded again, with the highest prison population in 33 years. The steady increase is worrying: on 31 December 2022, there were more than 19 thousand incarcerated people in Hungary, leaving the prison … Read more

For the purpose of promoting the Council conclusions on alternative measures to detention: the use of non-custodial sanctions and measures in the field of criminal justice (2019/C 422/06) the Hungarian Helsinki Committee takes part in … Read more

The HHC submitted a communication to the Committee of Ministers on the execution of a 2015 pilot judgment on inadequate detention conditions in Hungarian prisons and the remaining issues of the related compensation system. The … Read more

As part of an international comparative research funded by the European Union, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee conducted a study on the Hungarian legal framework and the practical application of alternative sanctions (penalties and measures), which … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee took part in an international comparative study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regulation and application of penalties and measures as alternatives to imprisonment in Hungary. In the research, … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is taking part in an international comparative study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regulation and application of penalties and measures as alternatives to imprisonment in Hungary. In … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee in partnership with the University of Coimbra is taking part in the EU-funded, Penal Reform International-led project for promoting non-discriminatory alternatives to imprisonment across Europe (PRI ALT EUR – Promoting non-discriminatory … Read more