Hungary: Legislative changes threaten democracy and human rights
Strasbourg, 12/01/12 –
"Major legislative changes have been adopted in Hungary after minimal
public consultation and without sufficient consideration of crucial
human rights principles. Recent decisions affecting the independence of
the judiciary, freedom of expression and freedom of religion raise
serious concerns", said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human
Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, publishing today a
letter
addressed to the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs about the new
Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, which deprives a
great number of religious denominations of their church status.
The non-recognised religious communities are denied rights and
privileges which they previously enjoyed in Hungary and now face severe
legal and procedural obstacles when trying to regain church status.
Though the letter received a
reply from the
Government, the Commissioner is still concerned. “The Parliament will in
future decide on the recognition of an applicant denomination. Such a
procedure, which tasks a political body to assess the legitimacy of
religious beliefs, is not compatible with the State’s duty of neutrality
and impartiality", says the Commissioner.
The letter follows previous concerns expressed by the Commissioner about
the adoption of a set of laws, introduced by the Hungarian authorities
between June and December 2010, affecting media freedom and pluralism.
In an Opinion
published in February 2011, Commissioner Hammarberg drew attention to
the wide range of problematic provisions in Hungary’s media legislation,
including content prescriptions; the imposition of sanctions on the
media; the establishment of a politically unbalanced regulatory
machinery with disproportionate powers and lack of full judicial
supervision; threats to the independence of public-service broadcast
media; and erosion of the protection of journalists’ sources. Despite
amendments to the laws adopted in March 2011, the Commissioner notes
with regret that these concerns remain.
The Commissioner is also deeply worried about decisions taken to limit
the powers of the Constitutional Court and reduce the independence of
the Ombudsmen offices. “Every democracy needs a system of checks and
balances and institutions which provide effective control on executive
powers.”
Furthermore, the Commissioner has noted steps taken in Hungary which
might undermine the independence of the judiciary. As a consequence of
the lowering of the retirement age for judges, more than 200 new judges
will now have to be appointed. This measure has been accompanied by a
change in the procedure for such appointments, which now rests on the
decision of a single politically appointed individual. Moreover, the
Commissioner considers it unfortunate that, as a consequence of the new
law on the judiciary, the mandate of the President of the Supreme Court
has been terminated before the end of the regular term. “The approach
whereby judges are appointed by the President of the National Judicial
Office, who is nominated by the government for nine years, gives rise to
serious reservations. The judiciary must be protected from undue
political interference.”
The Commissioner therefore calls upon the Hungarian authorities to take
resolute measures to uphold the independence of the judiciary, as well
as to fully respect the freedoms of expression and religion, which are
among the pillars of a democratic society. As demonstrated by Secretary
General Thorbjørn Jagland in a
letter published today, the Council of Europe is ready to continue
providing expert advice on these matters.
Read the letter addressed to the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Read the
reply from the Government
Press contact in the Commissioner’s Office:
Stefano Montanari, +33 (0)6 61 14 70 37;
stefano.montanari@coe.int Keep up to date with the Commissioner on
Twitter |
