Office of the commissioner for fundamental rights of hungary

According to the commissioner for fundamental rights the amended law on arbitration constitutes a violation of international treaties signed by Hungary and it is an infringement of the requirement of legal certainty. The ombudsman therefore asked the Constitutional Court to review the provisions of said law.

While investigating an event that took place, simultaneously with a hunger strike, back in September, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights stumbled upon a problem which is not covered by the Act on the Freedom of Assembly and which may even lead to conflicts.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights deems exemplary the way the police handled the sometimes hardly followable student demonstrations, helping the students to exercise their right of peaceful assembly. The Ombudsman's co-workers, present at the venues, did not experience any irregularities in police actions, the police followed and secured the demonstrations in a proportionate way, being observant of the right of assembly.

The rights of the disabled students are not enforced in a uniform practice by the higher education institutions, moreover, in certain cases, by the faculties within the institutions. The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has concluded from this that the legislation is inadequate or ambiguous. Máté Szabó asked the Minister of Human Resources to establish a clear legal context.

It infringes upon the principle of legal security if the child welfare service acting on a reported child abuse requests the action of another authority having similar legal competence in the matter simultaneously with its own proceedings. Investigating a complaint, Ombudsman Máté Szabó established that it runs contrary to the requirements of a fair procedure when the authorities impose restrictions, with no legal authorization, on the decisions of a parent exercising his/her supervision right.

A nine-month inquiry of the commissioner for fundamental rights has revealed improprieties constituting an infringement of the requirement of legal certainty and violating basic rights of persons in community employment. In his report Máté Szabó has urged the competent ministries to the early implementation of several measures to eliminate problems and improprieties concerning the regulation on community employment and its application.

The number of complaints filed to the Office increased by 25% during the first year of the transformed, reorganized ombudsman system. The Office managed to accomplish its legally defined, partly new tasks in 2012 with a uniform approach, flexible organization of work and considerable surplus labor.

Ombudsman Máté Szabó deems it exemplary and significant from the point of view of defending the rights of helpless average people that the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the regulation precluding the disbursement of rehabilitation allowances to people engaging in activities earning minimal income. According to the Ombudsman, the Court confirmed that the basic requirements of legal security and equal opportunity should prevail during the transformation of the disability provision system. The Ministry of Human Resources has already submitted to the Government the draft amendment of the relevant legal regulation.

According to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the affected entrepreneurs' right to property is violated by the manner in which the law-maker prohibited the operation of the slot machines; in addition, it is contrary to the principle of protection of legitimate expectations and the requirement to ensure sufficient time for preparation in order to adapt to the legal environment. Consequently, Máté Szabó requested the annulment of certain amendments of the Act on Gambling Operations that have been in force since 10 October 2012.

The Constitutional Court (hereinafter as : "CC") annulled certain provisions of the Family Protection Law affecting rules of inheritance and the definition of family. Upon the initiative of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the CC had carried out the inquiry of certain sections of the law and it announced its decision yesterday. The CC shared Máté Szabó, ombudsman's view according to which the Clauses of the law affecting rules of inheritance and the definition of family are discriminatory. The Court ruled the provisions contrary to the Fundamental Law, as a consequence of which it annulled them.

The Constitutional Court, approving the petition filed by Ombudsman Máté Szabó, in its decision of 18 December 2012 declared as contrary to the Basic Law and annulled the provision of the Act on Legal Aid which excluded that persons in precarious social situation submitting a constitutional complaint receive legal advice and legal representation financed from state budget.

The State Motorway Management Co., Ltd. (SMMC) fines the unlucky owners if car thieves fleeing in their vehicles fail to pay for using the nation's motorways. It is harassment and it infringes the requirement of legal certainty, stated Ombudsman Máté Szabó commenting on complaints.