Magyar Helsinki Bizottság v. Hungary
The Hungarian authorities’ refusal to provide the HHC with information relating to ex officio defence counsels was in breach of the right of access to information
Anybody may become defenceless in the face of the state’s power.
The Hungarian authorities’ refusal to provide the HHC with information relating to ex officio defence counsels was in breach of the right of access to information
In its March 2015 judgment issued in the Varga and Others v. Hungary case, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concluded that the overcrowding of penitentiaries in Hungary constitutes a structural problem, and Hungary … Read more
In its judgment of 5 July 2016, the European Court of Human Rights established that the pre-trial detention of the HHC’s client, Mr. Bandur, violated the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2012 the HHC … Read more
In 2011, a police officer halted the car of a man in the outskirts of the city of Tatabánya. After getting into an oral dispute (the HHC’s future client refused to hand over his ID … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has been monitoring places of detention, prisons and police cells for 20 years. We believe that prison overcrowding is one of the most severe problems of the Hungarian penitentiary system, being … Read more
The HHC’s client, a young man, was placed in pre-trial detention in November 2007. In March 2008, he was transferred to the Bács-Kiskun County Penitentiary Institution for five days, where he was placed in a … Read more
In the last decade, the HHC’s attorneys have successfully litigated cases before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in relation to ill-treatment by the police. Therefore, the HHC has special interest in the execution … Read more
As of 15 September 2015 three new provisions were introduced to the Criminal Code, which violate the human rights of the refugees concerned. Short analysis of the HHC.
Fair Trials and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee organized a practitioner training on 19-21 June in Budapest attended by lawyers from Croatia, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Hungary. The training provided presentations delivered by experts of the Fair Trials on the roadmap directives and a forum for discussion about the relevant practical experiences of the participating lawyers.
In its judgment issued today, the European Court of Human Rights set out that Hungary should produce within six months a plan for reducing overcrowding in its penitentiaries. The judgment concluded that the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment was violated with regard to the applicants detained in overcrowded cells, three of them being the clients of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.
The HHC submitted a communication to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with regard to the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights related to the overcrowding in Hungarian penitentiaries.
On 17 September, a juvenile client of the HHC was set free after 13 months of pre-trial detention imposed for the alleged robbery of a T-shirt. The HHC turned to Strasbourg in the case earlier on.
Summary of HHC main human rights concerns
As an implementing partner organization of Fair Trials International the HHC is launching its new project to provide a unique evidence-base about the practice of pre-trial detention.
The European Court of Human Rights hold in its decision issued today that actual life-long imprisonment as existing in Hungary constitutes inhuman and degrading punishment, thus it violates the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision confirms the concerns of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee expressed earlier, and may result in a change in the law.
The opinion of the HHC regarding the suggestion of governing party politicians on rules of pre-trial detention
According to the media and a short video tape policemen applied coercive measures on individuals at savaria festival in szombathely. Based on publicly accessible information, infringement of individuals’ rights may have taken place. It is possible to provide an assessment of the measures adopted by the police force based on facts revealed in a legal procedure.
NGOs welcome the court decision according to which the series of attacks against Hungarian Roma in 2008-2008 were racially motivated, but underline that the government still needs to take steps to counter hate crimes.
The HHC requested the Ombudsman of Hungary to initiate the constitutional review of the “three strikes” rule of the new Criminal Code of Hungary.
The police failed to consider that the assault on the Chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Association bears an anti-Semitic bias and failed to investigate the incident as hate crime despite the fact that the law provides greater protection for the victims of hate crime. Apparently, the judicial practice presents deficiencies in this area.