On 30 May, there will be yet another hearing in the General Affairs Council in relation to Hungary in the framework of the procedure under Article 7(1) TEU that is aimed at determining whether there … Read more
On 3 May 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted Act X of 2023 on the Amendment of Certain Laws on Justice related to the Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Hungarian government now claims to have met all four of the so-called super milestones aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary set by the Council of the European Union as a precondition for accessing frozen EU funds under Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).
Due to the legislative changes made in 2019, the right to family life of Hungarian citizens and their third-country national family members is less protected than the right to family life of Hungarian citizens and … Read more
On 12 December 2022, the European Council adopted Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan after the European Commission finally approved it. Compared to the original plan, the adopted version includes a new set of benchmarks on governance and public administration, totaling 38 measures with 111 milestones and targets. 27 of these milestones are ‘super milestones’; if not met, no payment under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will be allowed. Four of the 27 super milestones concern the Hungarian judiciary.
One benchmark requires the Hungarian government to remove all obstacles to the preliminary reference procedure set out in Article 267 TFEU. This is Super Milestone 215.
The Refugee Programme of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee prepared the following submission for the upcoming periodic visit of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has been providing legal information and direct legal assistance in protection-related matters to those having to flee due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We regularly monitor reception facilities where Ukrainian refugees are accommodated throughout Hungary. We summarize our findings in short, thematic reports.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, the Hungarian government is yet to comply with most of the conditions established by European Union institutions to access EU funds. According to Hungarian civil society organisations, the Government had not yet taken adequate steps in order to fully address the rule of law and human rights concerns raised by the EU, and so numerous issues related to the anti-corruption framework, judicial independence, law-making, the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers, academic freedom and the rights of LGBTQI+ persons remain unresolved. Swift measures are necessary in all of these areas to ensure that the country and its citizens are granted access to EU funds.
On 12 December 2022, the Council adopted Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan based on the Commission’s positive evaluation. Compared to the original plan, a new set of measures were added on governance and public administration, … Read more
Severely deteriorating conditions in the public education system in Hungary have led teachers, students and parents to make increasingly louder demands for change. However, instead of listening to their fact-based concerns, the Hungarian government has … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has been providing legal information and direct legal assistance in protection-related matters to those having to flee due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We regularly monitor reception facilities where Ukrainian refugees are accommodated throughout Hungary. We summarize our findings in short, thematic reports.
Since 27 May 2020, it is almost impossible to access the asylum procedure in Hungary. Our new information note summarises the litigation struggle of clients represented by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), who lawfully entered … Read more
Hungarian prisons are overcrowded again, with the highest prison population in 33 years. The steady increase is worrying: on 31 December 2022, there were more than 19 thousand incarcerated people in Hungary, leaving the prison … Read more
As a result of six years of continuous inertia to implement the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the Baka v. Hungary case, in which the Court concluded that the premature removal of the … Read more
The Hungarian government first acquired excessive emergency powers with a view to the pandemic in the spring of 2020: it declared a “state of danger” (veszélyhelyzet), a special legal order regime, while the governing majority … Read more
On 18 January, the Hungarian government published and submitted for public consultation a draft law on the judiciary. The amendments are essential to fulfil the so-called super milestones set by the EU, linked to the … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) submitted a third party intervention to the European Court of Human Rights on 17 February 2023 in Trapitsyna and Isaeva v. Hungary, app. no. 5488/22 that concerns the interference with … Read more
The reduction of the overcrowding of Hungarian prisons is a legitimate aim, however it is yet to be seen how the necessary guarantees, such as access to quality legal aid, and interpretation, and the assessment of non-refoulement are secured for foreign detainees.
The legal changes proposed by the Hungarian government about the country’s judicial system do not meet the requirements set out in the respective super milestones by EU institutions in relation to Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience … Read more
Safeguards against abuses when it comes to the restriction of the freedom of expression of Hungarian judges are still missing. This is also evidenced by new, intense smear campaigns launched in 2022 against critical judges, with government politicians joining the propaganda media. In their submission to the Council of Europe, Amnesty International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee argue that this goes against the judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights over six years ago in the Baka v. Hungary case.
For the fourth 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. This year, Amnesty … Read more