• Home
• Channel: Current Affairs
• Helsinki Committee Turns To Top Court, Strasbourg

Helsinki Committee Turns To Top Court, Strasbourg

• 20 Sep 2018 7:10 AM
• Hungary Matters

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has turned to the Constitutional Court and the human rights court in Strasbourg over a new law in Hungary that could lead to a prison sentence for anyone who helps asylum seekers.

“The government is increasingly angrily attacking independent civil society organisations, leaving aside the norms of the rule of law,” the NGO said.

The NGO is challenging criminal laws that threaten people who help asylum seekers with jail time. Not only are staff at the Helsinki Committee in danger, but so is any well-intentioned citizen who tries to help a migrant, the statement said.

The new provisions in the criminal code are vague, giving the authorities wide scope to apply them arbitrarily, the NGO said.

Regarding the special tax on organisations that help migrants, it is only possible to challenge the tax in the Strasbourg court since the government has stripped Hungary’s top court of the powers to consider the matter, the statement said.

The Helsinki Committee also claims the 25% tax complicates the work of civilians and the rules governing it “are deliberately vague” so as to put off potential financial backers.

• How does this content make you feel?
• I love it
• I like it
• I dislike it

• Strasbourg Constitutional Court Hungarian Helsinki Committee

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

Explore More Reports

LGBTQ+ Law Reform in Hungary Faces Calls for More Changes

• 16 Sep 2026 6:13 AM

The government's recent proposal to scrap "unlawful stipulations in the 2021 homophobic and transphobic propaganda law" is an important measure, civil rights groups said on Tuesday, adding however that the proposal was "deficient on several points".



ECtHR Rules Against Hungary in Police Brutality Case

• 3 Jul 2026 11:08 AM

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled against Hungary and awarded 5,500 euros in damages to a teen who was assaulted by police in 2019, after prosecutors failed to properly investigate the case, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said on Thursday.



NGOs Call for Repeal of Laws that Prevent Pride Parades in Hungary

• 19 Jun 2026 9:31 AM

Several civil society organisations have called for the repeal of laws that prevent holding Pride parades and other gatherings supporting equal rights for sexual and gender minorities.



Helsinki Committee: 'Orbán Regime's Legacy' on Migration Still Costing Hungary Dearly

• 17 Jun 2026 8:11 AM

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee said on Tuesday that the legacy of the migration policy under the former Orban government was costing Hungary dearly, adding that refugee policy was not about political slogans but practical problems and human lives, which required real, rule-of-law responses from a functioning and humane state.