Category: Our reports and analyses

Hungary has failed to implement judgments of the European Court of Human Rights that established large-scale rights violations concerning detention conditions. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has expressed concern several times regarding the recent surge in the number of persons detained in Hungarian penitentiaries, which led to overcrowding and substandard detention conditions. Additionally, evidence is provided by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) that there is still a lack of effective remedy for prisoners against decisions taken in the prison system, along with the compensation system suffering from several shortcomings already clearly identified by the Committee of Ministers.

Less than one week before the scheduled decision on compliance with the judicial super milestones by the European Commission, the Hungarian government launched last-minute legislative amendments to cover at least part of the outstanding deficiencies … Read more

The Hungarian government had not taken adequate steps in order to fully address the rule of law, corruption and human rights concerns raised by EU institutions, and so it had not complied with most of the conditions of accessing EU funds.

Selected rule of law and human rights developments in the light of the Article 7(1) TEU procedure

Hungary’s access to EU funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and under ten operative programmes are connected to a complex set of benchmarks, amongst these, four so-called super milestones aimed at strengthening the … Read more

HHC attended the OSCE Warsaw Human Dimension Conference and submitted statements on shrinking civic space, violations of the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers, freedom of assembly, and the rule of law.

More than seven years have passed since the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered the Baka v. Hungary judgment, requiring Hungarian authorities to lift and countervail the “chilling effect” on the freedom of expression … Read more

Our updated assessment of Hungary’s compliance with the 4 super milestones aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary looks at the implementation of the judicial package adopted in May 2023 by the Hungarian Parliament. … Read more

On 1 June 2023, the judicial reform package adopted by the Parliament to comply with the super milestones set out in Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan with a view to enhancing the independence of the … Read more

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee received a request to provide information to the Hungarian member of the FRANET research network of the EU’s Fundamental Right Agency on investigations of fundamental rights violations and criminal offences at … Read more

In 2015, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concluded in its pilot judgment delivered in the case of Gazsó v. Hungary that violations of the right to a hearing within a reasonable time in … Read more

Hungary has been failing to implement judgments of the European Court of Human Rights that established rights violations with regard to applicants sentenced to whole life imprisonment and life imprisonment with the possibility of a parole. In its recent submission, the HHC demonstrates how the Hungarian authorities had not only failed to carry out the necessary legal changes, but that individual measures that would be required to bring the violations to an end with regard to the applicants are prevented as well.

Five years ago, on World Refugee Day, the Hungarian Parliament passed the infamous “Stop Soros” law, criminalizing assistance provided for asylum seekers and stigmatizing independent NGOs. Taking stock of the past five years, our new paper puts the attacks faced by Hungarian NGOs in the context of an illiberal transition.

The asylum system in Hungary has practically been suspended since May 2020. Neither the legal framework nor its practical implementation offers effective access to the asylum system, thereby emptying out the right to seek asylum.

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 Justice 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) Our submission focuses … Read more

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)