Between 2010 and 2014, an ‘illiberal state’ was being built in Hungary. In line with the prime minister’s announcement on the subject, from 2014 we have been offered a perspective on how an actual, consolidated illiberal democracy operates. Hungary remains … Read more
Statement by Hungarian NGOs OSCE HDIM 2017 Working session 2: Fundamental freedoms I. Freedom of peaceful assembly and association – National human rights institutions and the role of civil society in the protection of human … Read more
Hungarian NGOs and Liberties recently asked the Commission to take three measures to protect the rule of law and the freedom of NGOs in Hungary and across the EU. Here’s our assessment of the Commission’s … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and Liberties call on the European Parliament to follow up on its resolution of 17 May 2017 on the situation in Hungary with a view to triggering Article 7(1) as expeditiously as possible.
Budapest, 13 June 2017 The Law on the Transparency of Organisations Receiving Foreign Funds, the NGO Law was adopted today by the governing majority of the Hungarian Parliament, despite repeated domestic and international objections. … Read more
On Tuesday, 13 June, after two postponed votes, the Hungarian Parliament adopted the Law on the Transparency of Foreign Funded Organisations. The community of civil society organisations united in the Civilizáció campaign continue to believe … Read more
A bill targeting nongovernmental organizations would force some groups that receive funding from outside Hungary to register as “foreign funded” and subject them to excessive sanctions and obligations, Human Rights Watch and the Hungarian Helsinki … Read more
Since the elections in 2010, the current governing party has systematically undermined the rule of law in Hungary, seriously disrupting the system of checks and balances. On 7 April 2017, governing party MPs submitted to … Read more
On 7 April 2017, a Bill on NGOs receiving foreign funds was submitted to the Hungarian Parliament, setting out that NGOs receiving foreign funds over a certain yearly threshold will have to register themselves and will have to label themselves as organizations receiving foreign funds on their website and in their publications.
RESOLUTION The work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is essential to Hungarian society. We conduct diverse and irreplaceable work while striving for the common good and the achievement of democracy: the self-organisation of citizens provides shared … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, together with other 14 Hungarian human rights NGOs have urged the respective committee to recommend that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe rejects the candidates nominated by the Hungarian Government to … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee – together with 10 other NGOs – sent an open letter to the Minister of Justice requiring him to withdraw the list of candidates to the post of judge at the … Read more
The Hungarian government has filled the Constitutional Court with loyal judges to create a judicial rubber stamp for government interests, according to a study by the Eötvös Károly Institute, the HHC and the HCLU of recent Constitutional Court decisions.
An assessment of the current deficiencies of the rule of law, democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights in Hungary.
NGO factsheets on the rule of law developments in Hungary, September 2014
Hungarian NGOs and international organisations voiced concerns about the Hungarian government’s fierce crackdown on NGOs at the international human rights event of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw.
The modification of the municipal representation of the Hungarian capital, enacted on 10 June 2014, violates the basic principles of constitutionality and flies in the face of international norms and good practices on electoral rights.
Today the European Court of Human Rights concluded Hungary was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights due to the premature termination of the Hungarian Supreme Court’s President’s mandate in early 2012. The judgment confirms concerns of the HHC, the HCLU and the Eötvös Károly Institute that Mr Baka’s dismissal violated the independence of the judiciary, and was a further step in weakening the rule of law in Hungary.
In a judgment issued today, the Court of Justice of the European Union concluded that the Data Protection Commissioner of Hungary was replaced by a new authority in an unlawful way. The judgment makes it clear that having two-thirds majority in Parliament means no exemption from complying with European norms.
Last week’s dismal decisions of the Hungarian Constitutional Court (CC), the National Electoral Commission and the Data Protection Authority (DPA) have proved former concerns of human rights NGOs correct: institutions, which ought to be independent and have the duty to guard constitutionalism have failed. They serve the interest of the government, instead of limiting its power. However, we do not gloat over this failure, since we believe that all of our fundamental rights are being jeopardized by their misconduct, as it is affecting the key public matter of democracy, the elections.