HCLU uses Strategic Litigation as a tool in Needle Exchange Advocacy Fight

Head of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union’s (HCLU) Legal Aid Service, Andrea Pelle is representing a collegue from HCLU and the biggest Hungarian NEP in Budapest in a strategic litigation–type criminal procedure. The social worker, followed by the media reports himself with sterile and used syringes at the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office on the World AIDS Day, 12.00 Budapest time.

HCLU’s aim with the action is to address a legal statement of the Hungarian Chief Prosecutor’s Office. In the critized statement, the Office declared „any kind of activity, related to illegual drug use” as a relevant reason to start a criminal procedure. This time it is not the Police, but the other main law enforcement agency, the Prosecutor’s Office is the one that sees Needle Exchange Programs as a possible criminal investigations’ targets. The Budapest Police Headquarter actually has a valid agreement with Budapest NEP providers not to harras needle exchange services and clients. But when the service providers aimed to develop that agreement to a nationwide-one, the Chief Prosecutor of Hungary raised its voice against the agreement with the legal statement above.

HCLU uses Strategic Litigation in this case to make it clear: is a social worker who carries sterile and used syringes while working for a NEP is a criminal, or someone who should be supported for his valuable harm reduction services? Hungary’s official National Drug Strategy - together with the relevant international organizations - states the later option, but the country’s Chief Persecutor seems to go with the first one.

Questions?
dnsbali@tasz.hu
+36-209-21-88-64

Balázs Dénes
Executive Director HCLU

Share

Related articles

Prejudice Kills not HIV

There are more and more HIV and AIDS cases and most in Hungarian society have great prejudice against HIV patients, and even health professionals show obvious signs of this. Hungary has had no AIDS strategy for 3 years.

People Living with HIV Refused Medical Care

The Central Institute of Stomatology directly discriminated and violated the principle of equal treatment by refusing people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) patients’ dental care and oral surgery not related to their infection – the Equal Treatment Authority ruled in its condemning decision.

Life saving pioneer work in Bulgaria

Watch the second EDPI film from Bulgaria about the pioneering harm reduction work done by our partner, Initiative for Health Foundation