Council of Europe exhorts Hungary to legislation reforms concerning migration, life sentences

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has exhorted the Hungarian authorities to bring national legislation on life sentences into line with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights, without further delay, and to set up a timeline for the necessary reforms.

Council of Europe wants legislation reforms in Hungary concerning life sentence

At its latest quarterly meeting to supervise the implementation of rulings from the Court, the Committee of Ministers adopted an Interim Resolution(*) in the László Magyar v. Hungary group of cases. This group of cases, which date back as far as 2014, concern violations of the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment due to the applicants’ life sentences, either without eligibility for parole or with eligibility for parole having served up to 48 years and one month in prison.

The Committee of Ministers underlined that the violations found by the Court did not require the applicants to be given the prospect of imminent release. What is required is that the applicants’ life sentences can be regarded as reducible, in accordance with the Court’s case-law, so that the applicants are provided with a prospect of release and a possibility of review, both of which must exist from the imposition of the sentence.

The Committee called on the authorities to align Hungarian legislation with the case-law of the European Court by reducing the waiting period for life prisoners before they are eligible for release and to address concerns raised by the Court regarding procedural safeguards.

The Committee also expressed deep regret about the continued absence of information on any relevant developments and invited the Hungarian authorities to submit an updated action plan by March 2025 at the latest.

CoE calls on Hungary to end collective expulsion of asylum-seekers

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has called on Hungary to work to ensure asylum-seekers access to means of legal entry and end its practice of collective expulsions to Serbia. The Committee of Ministers examined Hungary’s execution of three rulings issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases concerning asylum-seekers, according to a statement.

The committee determined that the Hungarian authorities had failed to assess the risks of ill-treatment before expelling the asylum-seekers in question to Serbia. It called on Hungary to thoroughly examine whether asylum applicants have access to an adequate asylum procedure in Serbia and if the principle of non-refoulement is respected, before expelling them.

In connection with another case, the Strasbourg-based body noted that the ECtHR had found that Hungary had violated the rights of an asylum-seeker on account of the applicant’s collective expulsion because the authorities had not guaranteed the individual the right to effective legal remedy. The committee called on the Hungarian authorities “to intensify their efforts in reforming the asylum system to afford effective access to means of legal entry”.

Members of the committee also expressed concern over reports on continued collective expulsions to Serbia. It called on the Hungarian authorities to end the practice of deporting asylum-seekers to Serbia without their identification or an assessment of their individual situation.

The committee also invited CoE member states to raise the issue of the implementation of the rulings in question with their Hungarian counterparts.

Read also:

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• Shocking: hundreds serve life sentences in Hungarian prisons for brutal crimes