In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, Commissioner O’Flaherty asks parliamentarians to refrain from adopting the Draft Law on Transparency of Public Life unless it is amended to comply with international human rights law, notably freedom of expression and association, the right to respect for private life, the right to a fair trial and the prohibition of discrimination.
The draft law would allow the government to categorise organisations as threatening the sovereignty of Hungary because they carry out activities aimed at influencing public life with foreign support. Such organisations would no longer be able to receive foreign donations without permission and would be subjected to the national anti-money laundering framework of scrutiny and sanctions.
The Commissioner raises concerns as to the compatibility of certain provisions of the draft law with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. It is so vaguely phrased that it could encompass a wide range of legitimate activities of legal entities, precluding them from accessing any form of funding and possibly forcing them into bankruptcy. If adopted, the law would allow for severe interferences in the functioning of civil society organisations, without providing any procedural safeguards and without a clear, evidence-based risk analysis to demonstrate a pressing social need.