The investigation into the misdemeanor crime against Hungarian rapper Dopeman was closed, after it was found that a misdemeanor crime against a national symbol, namely the Hungarian National Anthem, was not committed.

On January 25th, the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly requested that the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters review five further Acts, including the Act on the Hungarian Constitutional Court. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the HCLU and the Eötvös Károly Institute sent their opinion of the new Act on the Constitutional Court to the Venice Committee.

Definite uneasiness can be felt on the third day of the trial on whether or not to disband the Militiamen Association for a Better Future (MABF), a group responsible for marching and causing fear during the spring of 2011, in the small Hungarian village of Gyöngyöspata. The presiding judge, Erika Mucsi is uncertain of the difference between the MABF and the Roma Civil Rights Movement (RCRM), but this isn’t the greatest cause for alarm. Instead of disbanding the group responsible for systematic racial misconduct, she studies the correlation between structural unemployment and crime committed in order to provide food and heating. The HCLU reports on the trial - the mood and the spirit of the trial was completely absurd, as if it had nothing to do with the events in Gyöngyöspata.

“Gyöngyöspata is a frightening example of „law and order”. Do we really want to set this as an example?” – the first sentence of the report already suggests the essence of Ernő Kállai’s observations. In December, the minority ombudsman published his report on public employment, the procedural practice of minor offense authorities, and the state of education in Gyöngyöspata. In his report, Ernő Kállai demonstrates the effects of measures taken on the public morale and the cohabitation of Roma and non-Roma since his investigation in the spring.

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.

Hungarian Europe Society, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Eötvös Károly Public Policy Institute, Standard (Mérték) Media Monitor put forward a joint position paper to the High Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism created by the European Commission on the Hungarian Media Law and its Application.