The court’s first instance decision favored index.hu (leading Hungarian internet news provider) journalist Zoltán Bogád and the public in the lawsuit which has become known as the Hankook-trial. The lawsuit became necessary, because the ministry denied public access to the state-subsidized contract between the State and Hankook Tire.
The HCLU will hold a press conference on findings of police practices during September and October 23rd, 2006
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!
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) has taken the Government Control Office to court to make public their report analyzing the failure on the reform of the public administration. The Metropolitan Court has dismissed the HCLU’s action on the liberty to appeal.
In its judgement, the Metropolitan Court has ordered the HPSHC to release the requested contracts and related documentation on power plants privatization in it’s first instance decision today. Ákos Moskovits, journalist for Manager Magazine, with HCLU’s attorney András Schiffer has filed suit last November.
The important lesson in this case is that even though hundreds of cameras are monitoring our lives day and night, the police still do not have any evidence backing up the effectiveness of the CCTV in crime prevention. At least the Supreme Court, in it’s decision, has given back a piece of our right to personal privacy by making public when and where CCTVs are watching, thus we will be less at the mercy of those watching us. On the basis of public interest data, it will be easier to judge the price we have to pay for the promise of public safety.
The Ministry of Finance has sent the HCLU the drafts for disclaimer of opinion, which would form the legal confines of how personal data registered in state databases, after anonimization can be used for research.
On Friday the HCLU have called upon the APEH to make public the cooperation agreement with BSA on the grounds of public interest data. The document was made accessible on the internet, even though previously the APEH stated that ’by unwritten law, such documents contain an obligation of secrecy, thus the original text will not be made public on the APEH’s webpage’.
In the repeated first instance proceedings, the Metropolitan Court has ruled in favor of the Energy Club (green NGO) and has obligated the Nuclear Safety Directorate of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Agency (OAH) to make public the application submitted by Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd. to OAH for damage-recovery. The almost 2 year long legal battle is not yet over, since the defendant will probably appeal the decision. The Energy Club was represented by HCLU attorney, András Schiffer.
In September, 2006 the HCLU has sued the Ministry of Finance for denying to make public the information relating to the 100 billion forint deficit in the 2006 budget. Last October the Metropolitan Court has ruled in favor of the HCLU and in it's first instance decision has declared the requested data to be of public-interest.
A letter from Health Minister, Dr. Lajos Molnár, has been made public. In it, he asks that the Pschyciatric and Neurological Professional Board revoke its previous opinion and issue a new, quality report.
The European Union spends 43.5 billion Euros yearly on farm subsidies, which is 40% of the budget. From this amount 100 Euros per year could be alluded to each European Union citizen. Would you like to know who receives this money?