Rule of law backsliding from a criminal justice perspective

Rule of law backsliding affects all policy areas and all areas of life, including the performance of law enforcement agencies and the criminal justice system. With a view to the stakeholder consultation regarding the European Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law Report, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee prepared a paper that provides examples of the negative effects of rule of law backsliding in Hungary on institutions and mechanisms crucial for a well-functioning law enforcement and criminal justice system.

The paper is not our official contribution to the 2023 Rule of Law Report and does not intend to provide a full picture of the rule of law situation in Hungary. Instead, we rather wished to draw attention to how rule of law deficiencies in Hungary falling under the purview of the European Commission’s Rule of Law Report have manifested themselves in certain areas of criminal justice and law enforcement falling under the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s mandate in the past years.

The paper is available here:
Rule of law backsliding in Hungary from a criminal justice and law enforcement perspective (January 2023)