Anybody may become defenceless in the face of the state’s power.
As part of an international comparative research funded by the European Union, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee conducted a study on the Hungarian legal framework and the practical application of alternative sanctions (penalties and measures), which … Read more
It is without precedent in Hungary’s penitentiary system that convicts were only allowed to have visitors in merely four months in the past two years. In the rest twenty months, no one was permitted to have any kind of visitor under any condition. Even if this unjustifiable restriction ends in May 2022, the accumulated problems of the past years caused by the unnecessarily strict criminal policy will not be solved. Today, forty thousand children are being deprived of their right to family life.
Out of 275 applicants, the Support Network for Detainees and their Families was selected as the one of the 15 best and most innovative nominees and have won a jury prize of €2,000 at SozialMarie – Prize for Social Innovation yesterday.
The HHC has long been reporting on issues related to unnecessary restrictions of detainees’ contact with the outside world to the CPT. For the past years, there has been a systemic overuse of COVID-lockdown measures … Read more
We compiled a factsheet on issues hindering good family contact of detainees in Hungary. Why is detainees’ contact with the outside world important? Contact with family members promotes the reintegration of prisoners and the prevention … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee took part in an international comparative study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regulation and application of penalties and measures as alternatives to imprisonment in Hungary. In the research, … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee released its documentary film By the Power of the Force on its YouTube channel. The subject of the film is the largely unpunished mass police violence of 2006 and its aftermath. The film by civil rights activists shows that the domestic judiciary still fails to prevent, detect and punish police violence to this day.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee participated as a partner in the international research project “Trial Waiver Systems in Europe”, which focused on the use of trial waiver systems in certain European states through which suspected or … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has carried out an exploratory study on the practice of remote hearings in Hungary with a special focus on legislative changes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our main research question was … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has carried out an exploratory study on the past few years’ militarisation tendencies and the changing constitutional role of the military in Hungary. Summary of activities and outcomes: Mapping changes and … Read more
In its communication submitted to the Committee of Ministers, the HHC warns again that Hungary has been failing to address systemic deficiencies with regard to handling ill-treatment by the police, and so has been failing to execute the respective judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
A special criminal trial has begun in the Pest Central District Court. The accused man, now 35 years old, was sexually molested by his priest several times since the age of 13. This counts as a crime, and amounts to sexual violence against a child. Yet the Catholic priest remained unpunished under secular criminal law. Meanwhile, Attila Pető, the former victim, is now being threatened by criminal sanction
After 16 months, it is finally possible to visit detainees in person again, but only under severe and unjustified restrictions. Children are still not allowed to visit their parents. According to press reports, detainees can … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is taking part in an international comparative study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the regulation and application of penalties and measures as alternatives to imprisonment in Hungary. In … Read more
The outburst of the coronavirus pandemic triggered a robust militarisation process in Hungary. As a response to the COVID-19 infection, the Hungarian government has not only vested the military forces with new, extraordinary powers during … Read more
Visits to penitentiaries have been banned for more than a year since the outbreak of the pandemic in Hungary. Consequently, no personal contact has burdened detainees and their family members. Alternative forms of communication, such … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee contributed as a project partner to the EU-funded project “Improving judicial cooperation across the EU through harmonised detention standards – The role of National Preventive Mechanisms” (2019–2021) coordinated by the Ludwig Boltzmann … Read more
On 15 April 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in a final judgment that the Hungarian State violated Zsombor Csúcs’ human rights when the Prosecutor’s Office did not investigate his abuse by the … Read more
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves the review of the human rights record of all 192 UN Member States once every four-and-half year. It was created by the UN General … Read more
In a judgment published this week, the Constitutional Court of Hungary ruled that the provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure that allows for unlimited pre-trial detention pending a first instance judgment is unconstitutional. The … Read more