People are free in a state where the consequences of their actions are predictable and where clean and transparent rules apply not only to them, but also to state authorities. In a state where the people know what the state expects from them, but they also know what they can expect from the state.
Our new information note provides on overview on recent key developments following the baseline information note published on 21 February 2022. These series of notes are aimed at those who would like to have up-to-date … Read more
Our communications to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe show that the independence and integrity of the judiciary in Hungary has been further weakened by the government, and Hungary has been failing to implement the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in the Baka case.
European election observers and Hungarian civil society organisations call on EU Member State governments to honour OSCE ODIHR’s recommendations and second election observers to Hungary for the parliamentary elections on April 3 To EU … Read more
Our new baseline note provides an overview of the legal framework, practical arrangements and key developments on nine key areas, from the electoral system to the regulations on election observation. The note is aimed at … Read more
In April 2022, the Hungarian parliamentary elections will be among the most important stress tests for democracy and the rule of law within the European Union. There is a considerable likelihood that they will – … Read more
Nine Hungarian NGOs submitted a joint contribution in the stakeholder consultation launched by the European Commission for its third annual Rule of Law Report. The Commission’s previous Rule of Law Report (pertaining to 2020) identified … Read more
As another sign of the country’s rule of law backsliding, Hungary has been failing to implement judgments of the Strasbourg and Luxembourg courts, and Hungarian authorities are repeatedly disregarding the judgments of the country’s own domestic courts as well. A new research paper by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee shows just how deep this phenomenon runs.
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
We prepared a number of submission on several aspects of the situation of human rights in Hungary in the framework of the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review. Below are 3 one-pagers that provide … Read more
The Hungarian government has for many years been reluctant to take any meaningful action to safeguard the freedom of expression and independence of Hungarian judges. The execution of the Baka v. Hungary judgment is going on since 2016, but the Hungarian state has not lifted a hand yet.
Today, there will be a hearing in the framework of the Article 7(1) procedure on Hungary in the General Affairs Council of the European Union. Eighteen months have passed since the last hearing, and during … Read more
18 months have passed since the last hearing was held in the Article 7 procedure. During this time qualitative changes have occurred in the nature of the Hungarian illiberal regime. We look at some of the key issues today’s Article 7 hearing in the General Affairs Council should take into account.
A recently adopted Act and a Bill being debated in the Parliament aim at transforming existing supervisory bodies and mechanisms over which currently the government has control in order to cement their new management, appointed … Read more
In an attempt to privatise immense public wealth and public universities, the governing majority adopted legislation that establishes the concept of “public trust funds performing a public function” and designated 32 entities as such. Most … Read more
No consultation, hasty changes, “reforms” that fail to address Council recommendations: our assessment of certain reforms proposed in Hungary’s national plan under the EU’s recovery and resilience facility (RFF) Hungary was allocated almost 5 900 … Read more
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee submitted its statement, including recommendations, on issues related to law-making in Hungary to the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Democratic Law-Making: Ensuring Participation. In our statement, we drew the attention … 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
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee contributed both in 2020 and this year to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report, in collaboration with other Hungarian NGOs. The annual Rule of Law Report is an important … Read more
Eight Hungarian NGOs submitted a joint contribution in the stakeholder consultation launched by the European Commission for its second annual Rule of Law Report. The Commission’s Rule of Law Report pertaining to 2019 identified substantial … Read more
The Ombudsperson’s status as a national human rights institution will be reviewed in June 2021. In its shadow report submitted ahead of the review, the HHC warns that the new Ombudsperson, who took office in September 2019, has failed to demonstrate adequate efforts in addressing all human rights issues, and has failed to speak out in a manner that promotes and protects all human rights, similar to his predecessor.