Helsinki File: Government attacks against civil society

The Kúria (Supreme Court of Hungary) upheld the Budapest Court of Appeal’s (Fővárosi Ítélőtábla) previous final judgment in all aspects: The Hungarian Government’s 2017 National Consultation Questionnaire contained false allegations and ruined the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s reputation. The … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee welcomes the decision of the European Commission to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for what the Hungarian government calls the ’Stop Soros’ act. The … Read more

Exactly one year ago, amendments to the Hungarian asylum system came into force that drastically reduced the chances of genuine asylum-seekers to receive protection by fundamentally altering the asylum procedure. This past year saw threats … Read more

Defending the flame of threatened civil society in Russia, Poland and Hungary

The Constitutional Court (CC) held today that the Criminal Code amendment by the “Stop Soros” package is constitutional. Although the CC concluded that it would be unacceptable if those who selflessly assist asylum seekers were … Read more

On 3 October 2018, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) won its third lawsuit against the ruling Fidesz party. The Budapest Court of Appeals ruled in favour of the HHC in a slander lawsuit against Fidesz and Mr János Halász, its … Read more

The summary of legal amendments adopted in the summer of 2018 to intimidate human rights defenders in Hungary.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) filed a complaint with the Hungarian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) against the new criminal provision threatening with imprisonment those assisting asylum seekers. As for … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is not involved in any activity which would fall under the scope of the new law.  As a first step the new law affects donors and our supporters are the European … Read more

19 July 2018. Budapest We welcome the European Commission’s (EC) decision to start an infringement procedure against the Hungarian criminal law which threatens to prosecute and jail people who help asylum-seekers and migrants with legitimate … Read more

Budapest, 20 June 2018 — TODAY, on World Refugee Day the Hungarian Parliament adopted Bill T/333, a new version of the 2018 Anti-NGO package, and the Seventh  Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Although … Read more

On 29 May 2018, the Hungarian Government submitted a package of bills to the Hungarian Parliament as the third version of what it refers to as the ‘Stop Soros’ package. The bill no. T/333 ‘on … Read more

77 university professors from 28 countries of various continents expressed their solidarity with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee calling for the immediate halting of envisaged measures to starve and strangle independent civil society in Hungary.   … Read more

In its final decision the Metropolitan Regional Court of Budapest ruled in favour of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) in the lawsuit the NGO initiated in October 2017. The Hungarian government must publish an apology … Read more

We will continue our activities to defend human rights as long as people in desperate situations seek our help. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is as old as Hungarian democracy itself, established in 1989. Today, as … Read more

Ten months after the scandal broke concerning the Topház social care institution the Hungarian Data Protection Authority stated: the fact that the civil organization uncovering the horrible conditions took photos and published them anonymised in … Read more

The Hungarian Government’s spokesperson published a blog post on 28 February 2018 to give “some examples of NGOs facilitating illegal migration in Hungary and Europe“. Out of the examples cited as evidence of “aiding and … Read more

Today the Metropolitan Court of Budapest in its first instance ruling found that in the ‘National Consultation’ questionnaire, the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister had violated the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s right to good reputation. … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee shared its position with the Hungarian Government regarding the so-called “Stop Soros” draft bill. According to the human rights NGO the regulation under preparation is unacceptable and only serves constitutionally indefensible political … Read more

Fourteen Hungarian civil society organisations have submitted a joint appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, asking the court to declare that the anti-civil act on “foreign funding” violates the groups’ fundamental rights. The … Read more