The Hungarian government is disregarding an interim resolution by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which exhorted the government to align legislation on life sentences with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Union’s conditionality framework plays a crucial role in safeguarding the rule of law, fundamental rights, and financial integrity within Member States. The 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the Recovery and Resilience Facility … Read more
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.
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.
For the sixth year in a row, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee is contributing to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report in coordination with other Hungarian human rights and anti-corruption CSOs in the framework of the stakeholder consultation launched by the European Commission
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is participating in a European research project examining the impact of digitalisation on procedural rights in criminal proceedings in Hungary. The project aims to promote the implementation of digitalisation in criminal proceedings in a way that ensures the consistent and complete enforcement of procedural rights, providing a uniform and adequate level of protection across the EU.
Despite rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and repeated calls by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe over the past 13 years, Hungary still fails to tackle prison overcrowding and inhumane detention conditions. As a result, large-scale rights violations persist.
More than eight years have passed since the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the Baka v. Hungary case. The implementation of the judgment would require Hungary to pass legislative measures … Read more
This Template presents the relevant EU law and the relevant Court of Justice of the European Union case law, as well as the pertinent provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the applicable … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s replies to requests to provide information by the Hungarian national focal point for the FRANET research network of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) utilised all human rights CSO tools (research, advocacy, empowerment, strategic litigation, public- and professional awareness raising) to eliminate mandatory glass partitioning between inmates and their family members in Hungarian prisons during visits for seven years. The seven-year-long status quo is currently changing.
Breaches of the freedom of expression of judges 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 … Read more
Sweeping public protest of Hungarian judges against a political deal undermining judicial independence
In December 2022, European Union institutions suspended and tied to conditions Hungary’s access to EU funds under various procedures due to severe breaches of the rule of law and human rights. Ahead of the upcoming re-assessment by the Commission and the Council in the framework of the conditionality mechanism in December 2024, Hungarian civil society organisations looked at the steps the Hungarian government has taken to date to address the deficiencies identified by the Commission and the representatives of Member States in the Council.
Six years have passed since the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Council of the European Union to determine, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty of the European Union, the existence of … Read more
Over the past years, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary as human rights watchdog organisations have been closely monitoring the situation of the Hungarian judiciary as part of their activity aimed at defending human rights and the rule of law. Besides keeping track of legislative changes affecting the courts, we also examine and evaluate the organisation of the judiciary, the activities and statements of court administration actors and judicial bodies. In line with our former practice, we will continue to monitor the activities of the National Judicial Council (NJC), the highest judicial self-governing body mandated to supervise the central administration of courts.
A comprehensive research study on how the issue of applicants’ right to know and to access classified information is regulated in immigration-related proceedings in the Member States of the European Union, and whether national frameworks are in line with European standards was published earlier in 2024 by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. The study identified a number of breaches of these standards, which are now specifically highlighted in a policy brief, primarily with the purpose of drawing the European Committee’s attention to these breaches and the need to monitor compliance issues in this area.