On 28 January, the Director of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Christophe Poirel, addressed a letter to the Minister of Justice of Hungary, with respect to the Hungarian Government’s announced plans to review the domestic remedies available to persons detained in inhuman or degrading conditions.
In his letter, the Director recalled the progress so far achieved by Hungary, notably by introducing in 2017 a combination of preventive and compensatory remedies that were welcomed by the Committee of Ministers (Varga/ Istvan Kabor Kovacs cases) and allowed the European Court to send back pending applications, in line with the principle of subsidiarity. He found crucial to maintain these remedies at national level.
The Minister of Justice was invited to keep the Council of Europe informed about any relevant developments and was informed of the readiness of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court to assist the authorities in the envisaged review procedure.
