On 12 November 2019, the Hungarian Government submitted a Bill to the Parliament which, if adopted, will have a significant negative impact on judicial independence, however, in a much more covert and technical way than the earlier, withdrawn plan to put administrative courts under the Minister of Justice.
The Acting President of the Budapest-Capital Regional Court (Fővárosi Törvényszék) initiated disciplinary proceedings against Judge Csaba Vasvári for referring questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) under Article 267 of the … Read more
Hungarian absurdity: Homeless people in handcuffs vs. human rights In Hungary, the practices established by the Police and the courts against homeless people seem to be humiliating and strongly discriminative. Since the criminalization of homelessness, … Read more
Hungarian NGOs rebut the Hungarian Government’s false or misleading statements and point out its lack of adequate reaction to EP concerns in the Article 7 procedure against Hungary
On 9 October 1989 our association is registered by court. Let’s celebrate our birthday together! The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is an outstanding non-governmental watchdog organization with a globally recognised reputation. For 30 years we have been … Read more
Last week a desperate “ping-pong game” between the Hungarian asylum authority and a court in Pécs, Hungary came to an end on behalf of a man who suffered so much over years. Alexei Torubarov, who … Read more
Following a judgment concluding that the removal of the Supreme Court President in 2012 was prompted by the criticism he voiced, the CoE called on Hungary to protect the freedom of expression of judges, but to no avail: today, judges are facing retaliatory measures and media attacks once again for voicing professional criticism.
The HHC assessed the activities and independence of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary with a view to its upcoming re-accreditation as a “national human rights institution”. The analysis shows that even though the Ombudsperson was active in a number of areas, he repeatedly failed to address adequately pressing human rights issues that are politically sensitive and high-profile.
Slowly, Steadily, Stealthily How Rule of Law Is Further Undermined in Hungary January – September 2019 On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament voted to trigger proceedings against Hungary under Article 7 of the Treaty … Read more
Thank you in advance for understanding that we will not be able to receive our clients in the office during the week of August 19th.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee welcomes the decision of the European Commission to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for what the Hungarian government calls the ’Stop Soros’ act. The … Read more
New briefing paper by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary on the constitutional crisis in the Hungarian judiciary. The paper outlines key developments since January 2018, both regarding the ordinary court system and … Read more
Exactly one year ago, amendments to the Hungarian asylum system came into force that drastically reduced the chances of genuine asylum-seekers to receive protection by fundamentally altering the asylum procedure. This past year saw threats … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee published a new study on case allocation in Hungarian courts. According to the findings of the study, the rules regulating which case will be decided by which judge (the case allocation … Read more
The general prohibition of residing on public premises for habitation was placed on constitutional level after the amendment of the Fundamental Law in 2018. The Act on Misdemeanors was also amended in October 2018. After … Read more
We, the undersigned civil society organisations working in the Civilisation Coalition, stand up for the freedom of research guaranteed by the Fundamental Law, and express our solidarity with researchers and organisations opposing the Government’s plans … Read more
Thirty-five non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and two former Ombudspersons, Jenő Kaltenbach and László Majtényi turned to the President of the Republic, Janos Áder in an open letter yesterday. In the letter, the President is called to … Read more
This June the Parliament will elect the President of the new Supreme Administrative Court, who will have extremely wide powers over judges and cases concerning a range of issues from taxation to human rights. But … Read more
Defending the flame of threatened civil society in Russia, Poland and Hungary
Hungary started to deprive of food some third-country nationals detained in the transit zones started in August 2018. After 5 such cases successfully challenged by the HHC with obtaining interim measures from the European Court … Read more