The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) utilised all human rights CSO tools (research, advocacy, empowerment, strategic litigation, public- and professional awareness raising) to eliminate mandatory glass partitioning between inmates and their family members in Hungarian prisons during visits for seven years. The seven-year-long status quo is currently changing.
Breaches of the freedom of expression of judges 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 … 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.
In December 2022, European Union institutions suspended and tied to conditions Hungary’s access to EU funds under various procedures due to severe breaches of the rule of law and human rights. Ahead of the upcoming re-assessment by the Commission and the Council in the framework of the conditionality mechanism in December 2024, Hungarian civil society organisations looked at the steps the Hungarian government has taken to date to address the deficiencies identified by the Commission and the representatives of Member States in the Council.
Six years have passed since the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Council of the European Union to determine, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty of the European Union, the existence of … Read more
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.
A comprehensive research study on how the issue of applicants’ right to know and to access classified information is regulated in immigration-related proceedings in the Member States of the European Union, and whether national frameworks are in line with European standards was published earlier in 2024 by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. The study identified a number of breaches of these standards, which are now specifically highlighted in a policy brief, primarily with the purpose of drawing the European Committee’s attention to these breaches and the need to monitor compliance issues in this area.
The aim of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s project is to improve the quality of contact in prisons. The preservation of family ties is fundamental to the reintegration of prisoners, so it is not only in … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee participated at the 2024 OSCE Human Dimension Conference and took the floor and provided written submissions on the situation of human rights defenders and civic space, on the rights of asylum-seekers … Read more
We received this year’s Paul Weis Prize for our commitment to human rights, the rule of law, and refugees. This recognition gives us further encouragement, not only in the field of asylum but also in other areas of civil rights advocacy.
The Hungarian state violated the human rights of an asylum-seeking boy when it unlawfully detained him for 86 days in prison conditions in the Röszke and Tompa transit zones, the European Court of Human Rights … Read more
The Hungarian state violated a 15-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker boy’s human rights when it unlawfully detained him in a prison-like transit zone in Röszke, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled. The Hungarian Helsinki … Read more
The Hungarian state violated A.P.’s human rights when it unlawfully detained him for more than a year and even starved him in the Röszke transit zone, ruled the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) today. … Read more
Hungarian police forced a family of six asylum seekers into Serbia unlawfully. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Hungarian state had violated the prohibition of collective expulsion. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee represented … Read more
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Hungary in another transit zone case. The asylum-seeking mother and her four children were unlawfully detained under inhuman conditions for 17 months. The Hungarian Helsinki … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is organising a webinar from 9 AM to 3 PM on 17 October 2024 on ‘Access to Classified Data in National Security Related Immigration Cases’ together with the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR).
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee coordinated a coalition of three civil society organisations (CSOs) working in Hungary to contribute to General Comment 27 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), which focuses on children’s rights to access to justice and effective remedies. In its draft General Comment, the CRC aims to clarify the terms, approaches and actions that States should take to implement the right of all children to access to justice and effective remedies when their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child fail to be respected.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hertie School are holding a closing webinar for the STARLIGHT programme on Thursday, 12 September 2024 at 10:00-11:30 CET on Zoom. Registration is now open!
The two-year novel capacity-building programme by the Hertie School Executive Education and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, concludes in Berlin.