Helsinki File: Independence of the judiciary

On 12 November 2019, the Hungarian Government submitted a Bill to the Parliament which, if adopted, will have a significant negative impact on judicial independence, however, in a much more covert and technical way than the earlier, withdrawn plan to put administrative courts under the Minister of Justice.

The Acting President of the Budapest-Capital Regional Court (Fővárosi Törvényszék) initiated disciplinary proceedings against Judge Csaba Vasvári for referring questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) under Article 267 of the … Read more

Following a judgment concluding that the removal of the Supreme Court President in 2012 was prompted by the criticism he voiced, the CoE called on Hungary to protect the freedom of expression of judges, but to no avail: today, judges are facing retaliatory measures and media attacks once again for voicing professional criticism.

New briefing paper by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary on the constitutional crisis in the Hungarian judiciary. The paper outlines key developments since January 2018, both regarding the ordinary court system and … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee published a new study on case allocation in Hungarian courts. According to the findings of the study, the rules regulating which case will be decided by which judge (the case allocation … Read more

This June the Parliament will elect the President of the new Supreme Administrative Court, who will have extremely wide powers over judges and cases concerning a range of issues from taxation to human rights. But … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary organised an international conference titled “The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Hungary and in Europe – trends, concerns, ways ahead” on 25 … Read more

On Monday, the Hungarian Parliament finalised the laws on the country’s new administrative courts. In its current form, even after amendments, the laws do not comply with international standards and do not follow the recommendations … Read more

Contrary to Government claims, the proposed amendment to the laws on administrative courts will not address all concerns. Pro-government MPs submitted a Bill on 12 March 2019 to amend the laws on administrative courts in … Read more

On Tuesday, Fidesz MPs proposed changes to the laws on administrative courts. These courts, starting from next year, will decide on important cases where the citizen is against the state. The new courts were heavily … Read more

The Venice Commission will be reviewing the Hungarian Government’s new Law on administrative courts 15-16th March and is expected to publish its opinion in the following days. The government is also preparing for this, by … Read more

Hungary’s new administrative courts from 2020 will be under full ministerial influence. While the Ministerial model of court administration is not in itself wrong, and it works well in democracies around the World, the Hungarian … Read more

Blurring the Boundaries: New Laws on Administrative Courts Undermine Judicial Independence   If you are interested in our detailed analysis of the proposed draft Bill, click HERE. *** Judicial independence is now in jeopardy in Hungary. … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee gave oral and written statements on the situation in Hungary at the 2018 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). On 12 September … Read more

The Hungarian Government proposes to establish a new administrative court system. There are no professional reasons behind setting up a new administrative court system and the government has also failed to provide any professional arguments. … Read more

A new draft legislative package that limits judicial independence and restricts the freedom of judges to interpret the law is a serious threat to the rule of law in Hungary and runs counter to values … Read more

Last year the Government introduced fundamental changes to the judicial system. Although 30 separate provisions of the relevant regulation were amended in response to the serious concerns raised by the Venice Commission (VC), the organization of the judicial system remains centralized and still endangers the independence of the judiciary and the fairness of court proceedings – according to the Eötvös Károly Institute, the HHC and the HCLU.

On 25/9/2012, NGO representatives shared their views with the delegation of the European Parliaments’s LIBE committee concerning the Hungarian legal developments relevant from the perspective of fundamental European principles and values.

The Hungarian Government failed to provide adequate legislative response to the Venice Commission’s criticism on judicial reform

Fact sheets prepared by the HHC, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Eötvös Károly Policy Institute on some of the cardinal changes related to the rule of law in Hungary