Category: News

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.

On 17 September, a juvenile client of the HHC was set free after 13 months of pre-trial detention imposed for the alleged robbery of a T-shirt. The HHC turned to Strasbourg in the case earlier on.

The launch of the report ‘Mind the Gap: An NGO perspective on Challenges to Accessing Protection in the Common European Asylum System’

Current on 30 June 2016

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the National Police Headquarters and the UNHCR Regional Representation in Central Europe present their annual report on border monitoring activities carried out in 2013.

Summary of HHC main human rights concerns

As an implementing partner organization of Fair Trials International the HHC is launching its new project to provide a unique evidence-base about the practice of pre-trial detention.

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.

A four-day seminar based on the Refugee Law Reader will be held in Tbilisi on 7-10 July 2014.

The Information Note gives a summary overview about recent developments regarding the Hungarian asylum system, with special emphasis on asylum detention and the situation of asylum-seekers under the Dublin III Regulation.

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.

The European Court of Human Rights hold in its decision issued today that actual life-long imprisonment as existing in Hungary constitutes inhuman and degrading punishment, thus it violates the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision confirms the concerns of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee expressed earlier, and may result in a change in the law.

The HHC within the framework of the project ‘Access to Protection’ coordinated by the Italian Council of Refugees (CIR) has published a mapping paper on human rights trainings to border guards.

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.

A training course for legal representatives, lawyers specialized on asylum cases and NGO practitioners, Madrid 5-7 May 2014

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.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee with the support of the Global Learning Centre of UNHCR has published a guide on establishing a Refugee Law Clinic.

HHC REPORT REVEALS SIGNIFICANT GAPS IN THE HUNGARIAN FRAMEWORK FOR THE PREVENTION OF STATELESSNESS AT BIRTH

The Detention of Asylum Seekers in Hungary: Exploring the Impact of Three Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights