Today, the Capital Court of Appeals has reached its verdict in the 2nd degree proceedings of the Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement vs. Viktor Orbán. Read on for the details!
The HCLU represented dr. Viktor Orbán, President of Fidesz in the lawsuit regarding personality rights. With this lawsuit, the goal of the HCLU is to have the court declare, that the protection of public authority institution’s reputation cannot restrict the freedom of political debate.
The President of Fidesz has already won this case in a first instance decision, and today’s ruling reconfirmed it.
Lajos Gubcsi, former Director of Zrínyi Media Ltd. – a background institution of the Ministry of National Defense – initiated a defamation lawsuit against József Spirk, journalist of Index.hu, the leading online news provider in Hungary. The HCLU’s Legal Aid Service provided legal representation. The court ruled that facts written in the article were well-founded and as a result ruled in favor of the journalist. The ruling is final.
Leading Hungarian NGOs, Transparency International Hungary and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union besides expressing their criticism about the new Hungarian Constitution and the Constitution-writing process, wish to express their deep concern regarding the recent initiatives of the parliamentary majority to radically encroach upon the independence of the judiciary system.
In their current, third analysis on the legislative work of the Hungarian Parliament, the Eötvös Károly Policy Institute, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) examine whether the constitution-making process in Hungary meets the requirements deriving from the principle of the rule of law and compares the draft “Fundamental Law” (i.e. the draft of the new Constitution) submitted to the Parliament on 14 March 2011 with the present constitutional system.