Hungarian Civil Liberties Union

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union is a human rights NGO. Since our foundation in 1994, we have been working for everybody being informed about their fundamental human rights and empowered to enforce it against the undue interference by those in position of public power.

our focus areas & news

OPERATION STARVE & STRANGLE: How the government uses the law to repress Hungary's civic spirit

On 13 February 2018, the Hungarian government introduced in Parliament the ‘Stop Soros’ package, a legislative proposal of three bills that target civil society organisations working on migration.

● Bill T/1976 on the licensing of organisations supporting migration;

● Bill T/19775 on the immigration financing duty;

● Bill T/19774 on the immigration restraint order.

Operation starve and strangle: How the government uses the law to repress Hungary's civic spirit

On 18 January 2018, the Hungarian government launched the ‘Stop Soros’ package, a proposal of three laws that target civil society organisations.

Resisting ill democracies in Europe

From emerging democracies in transition, illiberal governments have rapidly transformed Hungary and Poland into ill democracies, have attempted to do so in Croatia, and are slowly and carefully entertaining an illiberal platform in Serbia, according to the new case study Resisting Ill Democracies in Europe. The findings, published in English, Croatian, Hungarian, Polish, and Russian by a group of human rights organisations, are based on their study of ill democracy in Croatia, Hungary, Poland, and Serbia.

Hungarian Authorities' Cover Up of Brutal Police Interrogation Violated ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights has determined that the Hungarian authorities violated the fundamental human rights of a Roma man by covering up a coercive police interrogation.

What Is The Problem With The Hungarian Law On Foreign Funded NGOs?

On 13 June 2017, the Hungarian National Assembly (Parliament) adopted the Act LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations Supported from Abroad (hereinafter: the Law). It obliges associations and foundations that receives at least 7.2 million HUF annually from foreign source to register with the court as an organization receiving foreign funding, to annually report about their foreign funding, and to indicate the label “organization receiving foreign funding” on their website and publications. The list of foreign funded NGOs is also published on a government website.

An illiberal state in the heart of Europe

Between 2010 and 2014, an 'illiberal state' was being built in Hungary. In line with prime minister's announcement on the subject, from 2014 we have been offered a perspective on how an actual, consolidated illiberal democracy operates.