Hungarian Civil Liberties Union

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) is a non-profit human rights watchdog NGO established in Budapest, Hungary in 1994. HCLU operates independently of political parties, the state or any of its institutions. Its aim is to promote the case of fundamental rights and principles laid down by the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary and by international conventions. Generally it has the goal of building and strengthening the civil society and rule of law in Hungary and the CEE region. HCLU strives to educate citizens about their basic human rights and freedoms, and takes stand against undue interference and misuse of power by those in positions of authority. Its main activities are: Lega... read more Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) is a non-profit human rights watchdog NGO established in Budapest, Hungary in 1994. HCLU operates independently of political parties, the state or any of its institutions. Its aim is to promote the case of fundamental rights and principles laid down by the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary and by international conventions. Generally it has the goal of building and strengthening the civil society and rule of law in Hungary and the CEE region. HCLU strives to educate citizens about their basic human rights and freedoms, and takes stand against undue interference and misuse of power by those in positions of authority. Its main activities are: Legal advocacy: HCLU initiates the formulation of new legislation that falls within its competence, as well as the modification of existing legislation and the changing of law enforcement practices. Strategic litigation and legal aid: HCLU provides pro bono legal aid to citizens who suffer human rights abuses. HCLU is also the most prominent litigator in the field of freedom of information and freedom of expression, helping journalists with legal advice and representation on a daily basis. Public education: HCLU informs the general public of important legal cases on its website, its blogs and through the media, as well as in specifically designed informational brochures. HCLU also organizes conferences and public debates, as well as trainings for different stakeholders. HCLU helps patients to freely exercise their legal rights related to medical treatment: the right to informed consent, the right to refuse treatment, the right to have access to their medical files, and the right to confidentiality in the patients' relationship with their physicians. The organization is governed by the principle that citizens have a right to control the use of their personal data and that they should have access to documents of public interest. HCLU rejects the policy of subjecting drug dependent people and occasional drug users to criminal sanctions. We believe that increasing police rigor is not the right way of addressing the drug issue. Instead, support is needed for propagating information, and for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. The organization monitors cases where the rights of individuals held in closed institutions are restricted (those detained by police, the arrested, the imprisoned, and the inmates of psychiatric institutions) as well as the powers of authorities to restrict the liberty of citizens, and the manner in which these powers are used in daily practice. HCLU consistently monitors the formulation of new pieces of legislation that fall within its competence; right from the initial conception of a draft law down to its enactment. Before preparing a statement, the organization seeks counsel of eminent experts of the topic concerned: jurists, lawyers and physicians. HCLU times the production of each of our statements to the day when parliamentary discussion of the concerned topic opens; and our statements are sent directly and especially to politicians, journalists and experts concerned. In the annex attached to our statements, we acquaint the Members of Parliament involved in the topic with our commentaries on, and recommended alternative wording of several articles of that bill. HCLU published a Policy Paper Series. Each issue sums up the liberal position on a legal policy issue involving a fundamental right. It surveys the Hungarian scene, and outlines the main policy aim of the HCLU in that field. The Policy Papers are issued in Hungarian and in English as well. The organization systematically observes the activities of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the WHO, the UN and the World Medical Association. We collect recommendations and norms that such organizations issue concerning patient/provider relationship and medical interventions. We make these documents accessible in Hungarian. (For example, we have arranged the Hungarian translation and publishing of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine of the Council of Europe and the Amsterdam Declaration of the WHO.) It is our aim to achieve adjustment of the Hungarian legal system to the most recent international legal norms, which means that laws and other legal instruments need adjustment. It is our policy to recommend to the competent authorities that Hungary should join the relevant international conventions.