Protect Freedom in Hungary!

Success at the courts

We have won three freedom of information cases recently at the courts.

• The Centre for Budapest Transport was ordered to release data about passenger traffic of several bus services.
• The Hungarian Medical Chamber (HMC) was ordered to release the requested information about the financial management of the organization, such as details about a purchase of property by one of HMC’s companies worth almost 150 million HUF.
• Data of public interest is often withheld from the requesting party by charging an unreasonably high price for its disclosure. The amounts in question can be shocking: the requesting party may receive an invoice of millions of forints, which is hardly legitimate. In both cases we successfully argued for the data to be released free of charge.
• MoD ARZENÁL Co. (related to the Hungarian Ministry of Defense), involved in the sales of military devices, has been ordered to reveal the conditions under which they had sold disarmed combat helicopters withdrawn from operation.

Advocacy and analysis on newly introduced laws

The Hungarian Parliament introduced recently a new bill on right to assembly. We have analysed the bill and advocated for a less restrictive regulation while welcoming the progressive amendments. The HCLU will prepare toolkits for citizens about the new regulation in order to ensure that they can exercise their right to assembly.

Along with the Seventh Amendment of the Hungarian Fundamental Law, other laws were adopted restricting the space for NGOs while claiming to combat illegal migration. These laws are unconstitutional as well as violate both European Union legislations and the European Convention of Human Rights. You can find our analysis in English on the links above

Events for an open society

Beside all the legal work, this summer we were present with our volunteers on music festivals and the Budapest Pride. We organized an international conference - Hope in the midst of Populism: A Moment of Transformation for the Human Rights Movement, because we believe that transforming communications is essential to tackle the backlash against human rights. Check out the broadcast on our Facebook Page!

Thank you for supporting us and for your help to protect freedom in Hungary!