Our Ukrainian neighbours celebrated Independence Day in the shadow of the losses of the Russian invasion that started six months ago. We help the best we can to ease the pain of war: providing 24/7 legal assistance & info to those fleeing.
Hungary held its general elections and a national referendum on 3 April 2022. The Parliament adopted an omnibus bill after the elections based on a package of proposals of the National Election Office. Some of … Read more
Non-execution of domestic court judgments by state authorities in freedom of information cases is a severe problem in Hungary. This violates the European Convention on Human Rights. In our submission with the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union to the Council of Europe, we show the systemic causes of non-compliance with judgments, and propose recommendations to ensure access to public interest data.
According to civil society organisations, the bill submitted by the Government which would amend the rules of public consultation “in the interest of reaching an agreement with the European Commission” offers only pretend solutions. Strengthening public participation in lawmaking is an important goal, but it would require, first and foremost, real governmental will, meaningful implementation of existing laws, and much more effective guarantees than those included in the draft law.
The European Commission’s 2022 Rule of Law Report, released on 13 July 2022, repeated the stark findings of previous years and found no progress as regards judicial independence in Hungary. Two out of the Commission’s … Read more
After the President of the Kúria, Hungary’s highest court, challenged the new Code of Ethics of the National Judicial Council before the Constitutional Court, four NGOs submitted a joint amicus curiae brief to the Constitutional Court to point out that the arguments of the President of the Kúria are unfounded, and to support the independence of Hungarian judges.
On 8 June 2022, the governing majority in the Hungarian Parliament adopted the Fourth Authorization Act, which completes the Hungarian Government’s efforts to keep its excessive regulatory powers acquired first with a view to the … Read more
Another judgment has been delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg due to unlawful detentions in the transit zone. The asylum seeking family from Iraq, four children and their parents were arbitrarily held by the Hungarian authorities for 136 days. The family was represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
This leaflet has useful information for you if you legally arrived in Hungary before 24 February 2022 and now you cannot return to Ukraine for the war AND you are a Ukrainian citizen or a family member (wife or husband, partner, children under 18, parents of a Ukrainian children and other relatives, who lived in the same household, even if not Ukrainian citizens) of a Ukrainian citizen, or if you have been recognized as a refugee or stateless person in Ukraine or are a family member of such person.
Another judgment has been delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against Hungary due to unlawful detention of an asylum seeking family in the transit zone. Four Iraqi children and their parents were held by the Hungarian authorities for nearly five months. What is more, the mother was pregnant with their fifth child during their detention in the container camp at Tompa, Hungary. And yet, Hungarian authorities couldn’t care less. The family has been represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
On 23 May 2022, the Council will hold its fourth hearing in the procedure initiated under Article 7(1) TEU in relation to Hungary in 2018, with the aim to determine whether there is a clear … Read more
On 18 June 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union declared that Act LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations Supported from Abroad (“LexNGO 2017”), which stigmatised certain civil society organisations (CSOs) … Read more
As part of the Protecting Rights at Borders initiative funded by the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), the third quarterly report on unlawful push-backs was published. Since our previous report the world has changed, … Read more
Two new Bills proposed by the Minister of Justice this week show that the Hungarian Government would use the war in Ukraine as a pretext to keep its excessive regulatory powers, while amending the constitution the 10th time.
On the reception of Ukrainian refugees in Hungary
It is without precedent in Hungary’s penitentiary system that convicts were only allowed to have visitors in merely four months in the past two years. In the rest twenty months, no one was permitted to have any kind of visitor under any condition. Even if this unjustifiable restriction ends in May 2022, the accumulated problems of the past years caused by the unnecessarily strict criminal policy will not be solved. Today, forty thousand children are being deprived of their right to family life.
Out of 275 applicants, the Support Network for Detainees and their Families was selected as the one of the 15 best and most innovative nominees and have won a jury prize of €2,000 at SozialMarie – Prize for Social Innovation yesterday.
The Asylum Information Database (AIDA) contains information on asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention and international protection based on data from 23 countries, including Hungary. The report on Hungary for 2021 issued by the Hungarian Helsinki … Read more
Civil society organisations who challenged the National Election Committee’s decision in the Curia (Supreme Court) have achieved an important victory, not only for themselves but also for the 1.7 million people who decided to cast an invalid vote in the referendum.
The HHC has long been reporting on issues related to unnecessary restrictions of detainees’ contact with the outside world to the CPT. For the past years, there has been a systemic overuse of COVID-lockdown measures … Read more