Category: News

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee organized a on-week course on refugee law in Budapest on 2-6 December 2013.

New laws adopted by the Hungarian Parliament raise concerns again in terms of human rights and the rule of law, while most of the previous objections raised by international bodies regarding Hungarian developments remain unanswered. The AEDH and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee call on the Hungarian Government to respect the values appearing in Articles 2 and 6 of the Treaty on the European Union and urge the European Union and international stakeholders to remain vigilant in following-up whether Hungary complies with their recommendations, and to closely monitor and assess new developments.

Reflections on the Current Application of the EU Asylum Acquis, European conference on asylum will be held in Dublin between 17 and 18 January 2014 at Hilton Charlemont Hotel.

The Eötvös Károly Institute, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union criticize the abolishing of the upper age limit of 70 years in case of elected Constitutional Court judges, including current serving judges.

Opinion of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Eötvös Károly Institute

The opinion of the HHC regarding the suggestion of governing party politicians on rules of pre-trial detention

According to the media and a short video tape policemen applied coercive measures on individuals at savaria festival in szombathely. Based on publicly accessible information, infringement of individuals’ rights may have taken place. It is possible to provide an assessment of the measures adopted by the police force based on facts revealed in a legal procedure.

Asylum seekers in Europe are often faced with EU rules that hinder their ability to seek asylum in an EU country
where they would feel most protected. This is according to a new JRS Europe report, Protection Interrupted, based on
interviews with 257 asylum seekers and migrants in nine EU countries.

The strategy, which is in the making now, will cover the period between 2014-2020 related to the use of the EU’s new Refugee and Migration Fund.

NGOs welcome the court decision according to which the series of attacks against Hungarian Roma in 2008-2008 were racially motivated, but underline that the government still needs to take steps to counter hate crimes.

On 13 February 2013 the HHC talked to foreigners about hate crime in Balassagyarmat.

The HHC requested the Ombudsman of Hungary to initiate the constitutional review of the “three strikes” rule of the new Criminal Code of Hungary.

Border monitoring activities have been carried out at three extra-Schengen border sections in Hungary since 2006 under a tripartite cooperation agreement between the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the UNHCR Regional Representation and the National Police Headquarters.

The Hungarian government provided detailed comments on the so-called Tavares Report regarding the situation of fundamental rights in Hungary, which will soon be discussed by Members of the European Parliament. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), and the Standards (Mérték) Media Monitor responded to the government’s inaccurate and unfounded comments in an analysis submitted to the factions of the European Parliament.

UNHCR report on EU state practices of credibility assessment in asylum claims (publication realised in the framework of the CREDO project)

Credibility Assessment in Asylum Procedures – a Multidisciplinary Training Manual
(A publication of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee as part of the CREDO project)

The police failed to consider that the assault on the Chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Association bears an anti-Semitic bias and failed to investigate the incident as hate crime despite the fact that the law provides greater protection for the victims of hate crime. Apparently, the judicial practice presents deficiencies in this area.

According to the Eötvös Károly Institute, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Constitutional Court’s decision to hear the President of the National Judicial Office behind closed doors undermines the transparency of decision-making by a public office, the right to freedom of information and the right to a fair trial.

HHC met members of the CPT delegation to Hungary in April 2013.

Analyses and summaries in English on the problems arising in connection with the Fourth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary in terms of the rule of law and the protection of human rights.