Metropolitan Court Returns Decision on HCLU vs. National Police Headquarters (ORFK); The HCLU Plans to Appeal

Today, the HCLU has claimed partial victory in the lawsuit against the ORFK. The court has ordered the ORFK to make public such orders and practices which are of public interest. The HCLU will appeal the decision. Read the premise and the verdict!

Premise:
Previously the HCLU, citing public-interest data, requested from the ORFK all written orders and practices in force. The HCLU turned to the ORFK because during the autumn riots the police referred to such orders and practices which justified their professional and lawful conduct, but were not known to anyone outside of the police. Upon the request, in the past few months the police have sent the HCLU almost 200 protocals, but have denied access to a few dozen others, claiming those to be a danger to public safety. This refusal instigated the lawsuit. The ORFK orders and practices are classified as law, but are obligatory for police officers. Our goal is to make public those orders and measures which regulate the work of the police beyond the law.

Verdict:
Today, the HCLU has partially won against the ORFK. The court has ordered the ORFK to make public such orders and practices which are of public-interest. Of the requested data only two were qualified as public-interest: the orders for the district deputy and the rules for entering and exiting police buildings. According to their statement, the court was in a delicate situation, as they had to rule about data which was unknown to them and could not be requested by them either, as it is part of the lawsuit. With it's ruling the court has established precedent, but the question remains: is it possible to decide purely from the titles of the orders and practices, how those regulations affect the public?

After receiving the verdict in writing, the HCLU will appeal the decision. In the HCLU's view, the content of the orders and practices affect all citizens, therefore they are data of public interest.

 

Share

Related articles

HCLU called OGP to investigate the situation in Hungary

Last fall, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) adopted a new policy to help re-establish an environment for government and civil society collaboration, safeguarding the Open Government Declaration and to mitigate reputational risks to OGP. Today, members of Hungarian civil society, including representatives of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor, as well as Sunlight’s international policy manager, a former employee of K-Monitor, called on the OGP Steering Committee to take action under the new policy and launch a thorough investigation into the situation in Hungary, with a special attention to the deterioration of the space for civil society.

HCLU proposes Open Government Partnership commitments

The goal of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiated by American President Barack Obama is the establishment of a transparent, efficient and accountable government/administration. The HCLU and K-Monitor have prepared proposals on commitments to be undertaken by Hungary.

The Age of Innocents

Read the abridged English version of a new book written by two prominent Hungarian investigative journalists on how the Hungarian criminal justice system worked or rather failed in the most prominent white collar crime cases since 1990, the year when – following the fall of communism - democracy, democratic police, prosecution and courts were reestablished in the country.