Helsinki File: Independence of the judiciary

Nearly ten years after the European Court of Human Rights’ landmark judgment in the Baka v. Hungary case, Hungary still has not implemented key safeguards for judicial independence and judges’ freedom of expression. In a new submission to the Council of Europe, we highlight ongoing deficiencies, retaliation against outspoken judges, and concerns about the latest reform plans.

Breaches of judges’ freedom of expression have been a long-standing problem in Hungary. The individual instances may not be as blatant as in the case of Poland, however, the issue is persistent. For a long … Read more

More than eight years have passed since the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the Baka v. Hungary case. The implementation of the judgment would require Hungary to pass legislative measures … Read more

Sweeping public protest of Hungarian judges against a political deal undermining judicial independence

The Hungarian judges speaking up for judicial independence in the form of statements published on the homepage of two judicial associations use words like “treason”, “humiliation”, “abuse”, “bribery”, “blackmail”, “starving the judiciary out”, “leashing”, a “slap in the face”, “bleeding out”, and even a “sneaky political game”. The judges felt compelled to speak up publicly against the “Agreement” concluded recently by judicial leaders, the National Judicial Council and the government. As the judges point out, the document is not the result of the fair negotiations of equal parties: the “discussion was unilateral”, and only the government’s will prevailed.

Over the past years, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary as human rights watchdog organisations have been closely monitoring the situation of the Hungarian judiciary as part of their activity aimed at defending human rights and the rule of law. Besides keeping track of legislative changes affecting the courts, we also examine and evaluate the organisation of the judiciary, the activities and statements of court administration actors and judicial bodies. In line with our former practice, we will continue to monitor the activities of the National Judicial Council (NJC), the highest judicial self-governing body mandated to supervise the central administration of courts.

In June 2024, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee provided input to the call of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers for the forthcoming report on the undue influence of economic actors … Read more

Less than a year after taking remarkable steps to strengthen the independence of courts to gain access to frozen union funds, the Hungarian government is back again on its decade-long agenda to dismantle the system … Read more

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervising the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights will put the case of former Chief Justice András Baka on the agenda in June 2024 again to examine the steps taken by Hungary to remedy the systemic problems that also concern Hungarian judges’ freedom of expression.

Less than one week before the scheduled decision on compliance with the judicial super milestones by the European Commission, the Hungarian government launched last-minute legislative amendments to cover at least part of the outstanding deficiencies … Read more

Hungary’s access to EU funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and under ten operative programmes are connected to a complex set of benchmarks, amongst these, four so-called super milestones aimed at strengthening the … Read more

More than seven years have passed since the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered the Baka v. Hungary judgment, requiring Hungarian authorities to lift and countervail the “chilling effect” on the freedom of expression … Read more

Our updated assessment of Hungary’s compliance with the 4 super milestones aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary looks at the implementation of the judicial package adopted in May 2023 by the Hungarian Parliament. … Read more

On 1 June 2023, the judicial reform package adopted by the Parliament to comply with the super milestones set out in Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan with a view to enhancing the independence of the … Read more

On 3 May 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted Act X of 2023 on the Amendment of Certain Laws on Justice related to the Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Hungarian government now claims to have met all four of the so-called super milestones aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary set by the Council of the European Union as a precondition for accessing frozen EU funds under Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).

On 12 December 2022, the European Council adopted Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan after the European Commission finally approved it. Compared to the original plan, the adopted version includes a new set of benchmarks on governance and public administration, totaling 38 measures with 111 milestones and targets. 27 of these milestones are ‘super milestones’; if not met, no payment under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will be allowed. Four of the 27 super milestones concern the Hungarian judiciary.
One benchmark requires the Hungarian government to remove all obstacles to the preliminary reference procedure set out in Article 267 TFEU. This is Super Milestone 215.

Today Amnesty International Hungary, the Eötvös Károly Institute and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee turned to the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, regarding concerns about the ongoing law-making process aimed at ensuring Hungary’s compliance with … Read more

As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, the Hungarian government is yet to comply with most of the conditions established by European Union institutions to access EU funds. According to Hungarian civil society organisations, the Government had not yet taken adequate steps in order to fully address the rule of law and human rights concerns raised by the EU, and so numerous issues related to the anti-corruption framework, judicial independence, law-making, the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers, academic freedom and the rights of LGBTQI+ persons remain unresolved. Swift measures are necessary in all of these areas to ensure that the country and its citizens are granted access to EU funds.

On 12 December 2022, the Council adopted Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan based on the Commission’s positive evaluation. Compared to the original plan, a new set of measures were added on governance and public administration, … Read more

The Council of Europe has been waiting for Hungary to take steps to execute the Baka case that also concerns the freedom of expression of judges. The inactivity and the telling silence of the Hungarian government is becoming all the more embarrassing, especially because Hungary is expected to give account of important guarantees of the judicial system. During the latest supervision effected in March, the Committee of Ministers also took note of the fact that the President of the Kúria requested the annulment of the Code of Ethics of Judges before the Constitutional Court.