Hungary still fails to comply with ECtHR judgments on life sentences

The European Court of Human Rights established a violation of the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in a series of Hungarian cases both with regard to life sentence without the possibility of parole (whole life sentence), and, in certain cases, life imprisonment with parole, in the case of which the minimum term to be served before being eligible for parole can be set as high as 40 years, in violation of European Court of Human Rights standards.

The HHC has been monitoring the execution of these judgments for years. Ahead of the upcoming review of the group of cases by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (in charge of supervising the execution of European Court of Human Rights judgments) in June 2026, the HHC submitted a new communication to Committee of Ministers, the outlining the continuing shortcomings of the Hungarian system, and demonstrating that the judgments remain unimplemented.

In particular, the now previous Hungarian government (in office until early May 2026) have not complied with the Committee of Ministers’ previous decisions (including an interim resolution in 2024), and have taken no legislative steps to align the Hungarian legislation with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of either type of life sentences. Thus, Hungary has still not introduced meaningful reforms to ensure that life sentences are reducible in practice. Crucially, the lack of implementation also means that the situation of the individual applicants concerned remains unresolved due to the combined effect of the lack of changes in the legal framework and the practice of Hungary’s top court, leaving applicants without any hope of release.

The HHC’s submission is available here:
Rule 9(2) communication in the László Magyar v. Hungary group of cases (15 April 2026)