Topic: Rule of law

The new Bill amending rules on courts, submitted on 12 November to the Hungarian Parliament, should not be adopted in its current form.

The project aims to defend democracy in Hungary more effectively and prevent a domino effect of democratic decline currently threatening Europe. Activities: Opening new channels to uncover human rights violations and anti-rule of law measures and … Read more

The Kúria (Supreme Court of Hungary) upheld the Budapest Court of Appeal’s (Fővárosi Ítélőtábla) previous final judgment in all aspects: The Hungarian Government’s 2017 National Consultation Questionnaire contained false allegations and ruined the Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s reputation. The … Read more

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negative impact on judicial independence, however, in a much more covert and technical way than the earlier, withdrawn plan to put administrative courts under the Minister of Justice.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 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

A description of the “starve and strangle” policies used by the Hungarian governing party to shrink space for free civil society in the country, applied behind the smoke screen of hate propaganda

The project, which is carried out with the inputs of an expert from the US, aims to foster the new generation of Hungarian youth activists and to promote the culture of peaceful dialogue among Hungarian … 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

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

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

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

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary organised an international conference titled “The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Hungary and in Europe – trends, concerns, ways ahead” on 25 … Read more

On Monday, the Hungarian Parliament finalised the laws on the country’s new administrative courts. In its current form, even after amendments, the laws do not comply with international standards and do not follow the recommendations … Read more