European Parliament elections will be held next spring, followed by the Hungarian EU presidency, Judit Varga noted.Continue reading
The number of “prison overcrowding cases” in Hungary has been completely eliminated in recent periods, thanks to the increase in prison capacity and the change of approach in the compensation system, the Minister of Justice pointed out at the 16th Hungarian Lawyers’ Meeting in Balatonalmádi on Thursday.
Both lawmakers and law enforcers in Hungary are committed to a high level of protection of human rights, Judit Varga said. She reminded that Hungary joined the European Convention on Human Rights 30 years ago, but even before that, when Hungary finally became free from communism, legislative solutions guaranteeing the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms were in place.
As an example, she cited the abolition of the death penalty in 1991, in which the Convention was already invoked, although accession came later.
The Minister said there are two types of challenges facing Hungary in the implementation of the convention: on the one hand, the number of cases before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is to be reduced, and on the other hand, the different interpretations of the law by domestic and international legal organizations poses challenges.
As an example of the different interpretations of the law, the Justice Minister cited the Hungarian legislation on the right to vote for people with intellectual disabilities, which the Strasbourg Court agreed with, but the UN, on the other hand, asked for the law to guarantee the right to vote for all.
There were similar problems with transit zones, where the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg have ruled in stark contrast to each other on whether a stay in a transit zone constitutes detention,
she reminded.
Judit Varga concluded that “for the sake of legal unity, it would not be a bad idea for the different courts to coordinate with each other”.
Regarding the prison overcrowding and the change in the compensation system, it is important to mention that the Hungarian Parliament has passed a legislation in 2020 aimed at preventing profiteering from lawsuits by convicted criminals, lawyers and human rights NGOs. Before the law, introduced by Judit Varga, courts have ruled against the Hungarian state in the range of 10 billion forints (€2.8 million) in cases where prisoners, with help from specialized law-firms, have lodged complaints about their living conditions. These complaints included overcrowding, insufficient sunlight in the cells, and inadequate facilities on premises, among other things. The law put an end to the enormous profits gained by law firms involved in these legal actions, and at the same time, it also prioritized the financial compensation of victims of crimes instead of that of perpetrators.
Featured photo via Facebook/Judit Varga