Category: Our reports and analyses

Mapping paper on the public consultation on draft laws, parliamentary law-making, and the perpetuated states of exception

Civil society organisations warn that the functioning of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the country’s national human rights institution, continues to fall short of international standards, failing to protect human rights and vulnerable communities. They remind that the new Commissioner, who will have to be nominated shortly, should be selected in a transparent and merit-based procedure.

A new proposal for a law would allow the Hungarian government to blacklist a broad range of for-profit and non-profit entities, severely limiting their ability to operate. Hungarian civil society organisations explain the details and how the law would silence watchdogs and shield government abuse.

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

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

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)

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.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee participated at the 2024 OSCE Human Dimension Conference and took the floor and provided written submissions on the situation of human rights defenders and civic space, on the rights of asylum-seekers … Read more

In February 2024, the Civilisation coalition conducted a survey among its partner organisations to understand the threats posed by the recently enacted Sovereignty Protection Act for civil society organisations in Hungary and to assess how … Read more

In June 2024, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee provided input to the call of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers for the forthcoming report on the undue influence of economic actors … Read more