An illiberal Chief Justice
A compilation prepared by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee of public statements, academic quotes, and decisions taken by the freshly appointed Chief Justice of Hungary mirror a person, who is perceivably loyal towards the ruling majority and an advocate of building an illiberal state in Hungary. As of 1 January 2021 a new Chief Justice, Mr. András Zs.
Recommendations to the Commission to enforce CJEU judgment on the NGO Law
Six months ago, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that Hungary’s NGO law violates the EU law. To date, however, no steps have been taken by Hungary to comply with the judgment. In the face of this, NGOs recommend 3 steps for the European Commission.
New Bills undermine the rights of LGBTQI people, freedom of information and fair elections
The same night when the Government ordered measures to counter COVID-19, it also submitted three Bills to the Parliament, the 9th Amendment to the Fundamental Law among them, that have nothing to do with the fight against the pandemic. Instead, the Bills curtail the rights of the LGBTQI community, undermine the state’s transparency, and shrink the possibilities of opposition parties in future elections.
New Chief Judge: Potential Transmission Belt of the Executive
The new chief judge in Hungary: a potential transmission belt of the executive within the judiciary The election of the new President of the Kúria (the Supreme Court of Hungary) is the next stage in the series of attacks of the governing majority against the judiciary.
The looming shadow of the Baka v. Hungary case – the Government is still failing to guarantee the freedom of expression of judges
The Hungarian Government has failed to address in a satisfactory manner the concerns around the right to freedom of expression of Hungarian judges. Therefore, in its decision published today, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has not closed the supervision of the judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights in the Baka v. Hungary case, and requested the Hungarian authorities to submit an updated action plan.
Substantial rule of law problems in Hungary confirmed by the Commission’s report
The European Commission’s Rule of Law Report has identified substantial problems severely threatening the rule of law in Hungary in all four areas examined by the report. Civil society organisations have raised attention to several of these problems many times over the past years.
Courageous civilian defies scaremongering accusation during COVID-19
In the early morning hours of 13 May 2020 in the town of Gyula, located in the southeast corner of Hungary, the police raided the home of Mr János Csóka-Szűcs, a local NGO activist.
Hungary de facto removes itself from the Common European Asylum System
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on 14 May 2020 that Hungary’s practice of automatically placing the quasi-totality of asylum-seekers in closed land-border transit zones during the entire asylum procedure constitutes unlawful detention. As a reaction, the Hungarian government announced the introduction of a new asylum system.
Chilling effect on the freedom of expression of Hungarian judges remains
A communication by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International shows that due to the legal and institutional structures created by the governing majority, the chilling effect on the freedom of expression of judges is encoded in the Hungarian court system, and Hungary has failed to adopt guarantees to avoid retaliation against judges voicing criticism in relation to the independence of the judiciary.
A victory for civil society: EU Court finds foreign-funded NGO law is against EU law
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled yesterday that the 2017 Hungarian law requiring non-governmental organizations receiving at least HUF 9 million in grants from outside Hungary to register in a special registry and label themselves as a “foreign-funded organization” on their website and publications are stigmatizing, harmful and in breach of EU law.