The Hungarian government has filled the Constitutional Court with loyal judges to create a judicial rubber stamp for government interests, according to a study by Hungarian NGOs of recent Constitutional Court decisions.

The Hungarian Supreme Court has once again nullified certain sections of a regulation issued by the municipality of Budapest that marks the illicit zones where sleeping on the street may be punished.

The European Union (EU) is premised on the respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights— including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. EU Member States share these values: they are societies committed to pluralism, the prohibition of discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity, and gender equality. Lately, these fundamental values have been systematically disrespected in Hungary.

A comprehensive analysis titled Disrespect for European Values in Hungary, 2010-2014 summarises how measures taken by the Hungarian government in the past four years have eroded respect for the fundamental values of the European Union in Hungary.

Presented by Máté Dániel Szabó (Director of Programs, HCLU) at the international conference "No country for civil society – What strategies can human rights organizations follow under increasingly authoritarian regimes?" on 30 May, 2014, Budapest

Today the European Court of Human Rights concluded Hungary was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights due to the premature termination of the Hungarian Supreme Court’s President’s mandate in early 2012. The judgment confirms concerns of the HHC, the HCLU and the Eötvös Károly Institute that Mr Baka’s dismissal violated the independence of the judiciary, and was a further step in weakening the rule of law in Hungary.

Today constitutional democracy is shrinking in Hungary. Rule of law institutions, which normally should protect the rights of the individual against the state are less and less able to fulfill this objective. Using its two-third majority in Parliament, the government has dismantled, weakened or conquered these institutions to protect its power instead of the rights of the citizens.

As the Fidesz government dismantles Hungary's political and constitutional system Gábor Attila Tóth, the Head of the HCLU considers the influence of international institutions and the efficacy of domestic, democratic resources far from exhausted. On the contrary, the role played by both will likely be decisive. See the article in German on the Eurozine.

The Hungarian government provided detailed comments on the so-called Tavares Report regarding the situation of fundamental rights in Hungary, which will soon be discussed by Members of the European Parliament. The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) and the Standards (Mérték) Media Monitor responded to the government’s inaccurate and unfounded comments in an analysis submitted to the factions of the European Parliament.

According to the Eötvös Károly Institute, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Constitutional Court’s decision to hear the President of the National Judicial Office behind closed doors undermines the transparency of decision-making by a public office, the right to freedom of information and the principle of fair trial.

The delegation of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), the Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional matters, has visited Hungary with the mandate to reexamine and reevaluate the Fourth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary and its potential consequences.

It is a further proof that the governing majority views the Fundamental Law as subservient to the raw force of power and not as a limit on exercising government power.It adds provisions to the Fundamental Law that the Constitutional Court had previously declared unconstitutional.It violates the right to free speech because it enables the oppression of opposing political views and artistic expression.It contradicts the right to human dignity because it opens the door for the State and local governments to criminalize homelessness instead of guaranteeing the right to adequate housing. It discriminates against same sex couples, couples without children and other non-marital forms of familial relationships by leaving them without constitutional protection.It curtails the right to freedom of information and the fundamental principles of free election because it enforces undue restrictions on the publication of campaign materials and other forms of political advertising.It sanctifies the autocratic differentiation between religious groups because Parliament can decide, according to its own will, on whether or not to recognize a church.It violates the principles of fair trial because it allows the head of the judiciary’s administrative body to designate a case to any court arbitrarily.It ends the autonomy of universities and colleges because it subordinates these institutions to the Government in matters pertaining to organization and financial management.By conditioning student aid on post-graduation domestic employment, it imposes disproportionate burdens on university and college students’ right to self-determination and their right to freely choose their occupation.

Instead of the law of rule we want rule of law!