The freedom of expression of judges at stake

As a result of six years of continuous inertia to implement the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the Baka v. Hungary case, in which the Court concluded that the premature removal of the president of Hungary’s apex court exerted a chilling effect on all other judges potentially discouraging them from participating in public debate on issues concerning the independence of the judiciary, the Hungarian government has failed to carry out adequate legislative actions necessary for the satisfactory implementation of the judgment.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has been supervising the implementation of the judgment in the Baka case since 2016. Next week, the execution of the decision will be on the agenda of the Human Rights meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies for the sixth time.

In its urgent communication, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee calls for continuing the supervision of the execution of the judgment by highlighting that conscious attempts to exert a chilling effect on those judges who are critical of governmental and legislative measures aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary continue to pose a threat to the judiciary in Hungary.

The execution of the ECtHR’s judgment shall be continued until the Hungarian government provides real institutional protection against undue interference with respect to the removal of a judge and refrains from conducting smear campaigns targeting judges and amplifying the chilling effect on the judiciary.

The HHC’s urgent communication of 2 March 2023 is available here:
The implementation of the Baka v. Hungary judgment: the freedom of expression of judges is at stake

A more detailed elaboration of the issues presented in the above paper can be found in the joint Rule 9 submission by Amnesty International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, submitted to the Committee of Ministers in January 2023.