Statement by the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, published on Helsinki.hu on 02/03/2023- accessible here https://helsinki.hu/en/the-freedom-of-expression-of-judges-at-stake/
As a result of six years of continuous inertia to implement the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the Baka v. Hungary case, the Hungarian government has failed to carry out adequate legislative actions necessary for the satisfactory implementation of the judgement.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has been supervising the implementation of the judgement in the Baka case since 2016. Next week, the execution of the decision will be on the agenda of the Human Rights meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies for the sixth time.
In our urgent communication, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee calls for continuing the supervision of the execution of the judgement by highlighting that conscious attempts to exert a chilling effect on those judges who are critical of governmental and legislative measures aimed at undermining the independence of the judiciary continue to pose a threat to the judiciary in Hungary.
The Committee of Ministers shall continue supervising the execution of the ECtHR’s judgement until the Hungarian government provides real institutional protection against undue interference with respect to the removal of a judge and refrains from conducting smear campaigns targeting judges and amplifying the chilling effect on the judiciary.
The HHC’s urgent communication of 2 March 2023 is available here: https://helsinki.hu/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/State_of_implementation_of_the_Baka_v_Hungary_judgment.pdf.
A more detailed elaboration of the issues presented below can be found in our latest Rule 9 submission, available here: https://hudoc.exec.coe.int/eng?i=DH-DD(2023)157E .