Persistent systemic challenges continue to affect Hungary’s compliance with OSCE commitments related to democratic elections. Numerous long-standing OSCE/ODIHR recommendations remain unaddressed. The most pressing issues cumulatively contribute to an electoral environment that questions the overall fairness of the process.
Háttér Society, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) have jointly submitted input to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association for her 2026 thematic report … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has submitted its response to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders for her forthcoming and final report to the 61st session of the Human Rights Council. The call for … Read more
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
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee participated at the 2025 OSCE Human Dimension Conference. This 11-day conference was dedicated to discussions on the condition of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the OSCE area. The conference provided … Read more
Two new resources developed under the Horizon Europe–funded RED-SPINEL project provide practical guidance for civil society and legal professionals on how to anticipate, detect, and respond to rule of law backsliding and fundamental rights violations across Europe.
The Article 7(1) TEU procedure against Hungary was launched by the European Parliament in 2018 to assess whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the Union’s fundamental values. Since then, the … Read more
Seven Hungarian civil society organisations submitted a third-party intervention to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and Others v. Georgia (Application no. 31069/24). The case was filed on behalf of 140 complainants following the adoption of Georgia’s Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence which infringes the rights of independent civil society organisations and private individuals.
The Hungarian Government uses its power arbitrarily to discourage people from attending the Pécs Pride in 2025. According to an amendment adopted by the Parliament, attending Pride will be considered a petty offence. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) and the Streetlawyer Association (Utcajogász) teamed up to answer your questions. Most importantly, the more people attend Pride, the less risky it becomes for everyone. Our Q&A will help you prepare for possible outcomes, and if proceedings are initiated against you, you can count on us!
Civil society organisations warn that the functioning of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the country’s national human rights institution, continues to fall short of international standards, failing to protect human rights and vulnerable communities. They remind that the new Commissioner, who will have to be nominated shortly, should be selected in a transparent and merit-based procedure.
In a stark display of authoritarian overreach and discriminatory intent, the Budapest police have banned this year’s LGBTQI march scheduled for June 1 – marking the first known use of Hungary’s newly expanded “anti-Pride” law to block a peaceful demonstration. Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International Hungary, Háttér Society, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Rainbow Mission Foundation, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, condemn the move as a politically motivated violation of the fundamental right to peaceful assembly, calling out the government’s hollow denials of Pride bans as falsehoods.
A new proposal for a law would allow the Hungarian government to blacklist a broad range of for-profit and non-profit entities, severely limiting their ability to operate. Hungarian civil society organisations explain the details and how the law would silence watchdogs and shield government abuse.
A new legislative proposal marks a dark turn in Hungary’s erosion of democratic norms. Disguised as a transparency measure to prevent sovereignty threats, the Bill on the Transparency of Public Life aims to starve and strangle civil society, independent media and any legal entity that the government decides to target.
Amendments aimed at “banning” the Budapest Pride event infringe a number of fundamental rights, such as the right to the protection of personal data, the freedom of peaceful assembly and the principle of non-discrimination. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee will provide help to protect your rights.
Recent legislative proposals threaten with the “suspension” of Hungarian citizenship, violate freedom of assembly, and effectively ban Pride. These changes represent a significant escalation in the Government’s efforts to suppress dissent and weaken human rights protection, and elevate exclusion and the threatening of dissenters to a constitutional level.
According to the judgment rendered by the CJEU, the GDPR obliges Hungarian authorities to correct personal data on gender identity where it is inaccurate, i.e. in all cases where the social reality and gender identity … Read more
The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression are working on reports on elections for the Human Rights Council in June … Read more
How the Ombudsperson’s weak independence and concentrated mandates weaken fundamental rights protection – Human rights defenders assess the performance of Hungary’s national human rights institution
Hungary continues to deny equal voting rights to members of national minorities, despite the European Court of Human Rights’ final ruling in the Bakirdzi and E.C. v. Hungary case in April 2023.
The European Parliament’s LIBE Committee invited the HHC to an exchange of views on Hungary’s backsliding on democracy and the rule of law, on 27 January 2025.
Watch the full exchange of views on the European Parliament’s website here.