Hungary

Despite a chorus of international criticism, the Hungarian government has been in no hurry to act on a June 2020 EU Court decision that states a 2017 law forcing civil society organizations receiving more than 20.000 EUR per year in…

Ensure Access to Adequate, Quality Health Care, Provide Sufficient Resources Longstanding neglect by the government has left the Hungarian public healthcare system under-prepared to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch found poor conditions in…

Responses in the field ‘sex at birth’ on new ID documents will be unchangeable Being a transgender person in Hungary is about to become even harder, after the government passed a law that will demand all citizens write their “sex…

On June 7, 2020, about one thousand people gathered on Szabadság tér (Liberty Square) in Budapest to express their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in front of the US Embassy. The event was organized by Gregory G Ras and…

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee made a movie about the Russian asylum-seeker, Alexei Torubarov. His eventful and touching story illustrates how unfairly refugees are demonized. The case of our client persecuted for his political views had to be brought before the Court of Justice…

By G. M. Tamás[1] As was to be expected, authoritarian governments in Eastern Europe have used the coronavirus epidemic as a pretext to enlarge, to extend, to harden their power and, in the case of Hungary, to finally put the…

A law that holds a prison sentence of up to five years for spreading “false information” is part of new measures against COVID-19. As Fanny Facsar reports, journalists fear it could make it even harder to report news. These are…

The Hungarian Parliament adopted the so-called “Authorization Act”,  allowing indefinite government rule by decree. The role of free media and a strong civil society is now more vital than ever to ensure government accountability. Fully aware of its increased responsibility,…

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 Commission also decided to launch…

The Constitutional Court (CC) held today that the Criminal Code amendment by the “Stop Soros” package is constitutional. Although the CC concluded that it would be unacceptable if those who selflessly assist asylum seekers were penalised, it is still not…