Hungarian justice minister calls for dialogue on powers of ECtHR

Budapest, January 19 (MTI) – Hungarian Justice Minister László Trócsányi called for dialogue on the powers of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in an article he authored in business weekly Figyelő’s Thursday edition.

Only dialogue based on mutuality can lead to progress, Trocsányi wrote, adding that reforming the treaty on the court’s powers would “take a long time and its results would be uncertain”.

Today, a reinterpretation of dialogue among judges and the strengthening of comparative law appear to be a more realistic option, the minister wrote, arguing that these steps could result in the Strasbourg court exercising more “self-restraint”.

Trocsanyi said decisions made by the ECtHR were only legitimate if they could be accepted by European countries.

The court has a duty and responsibility to consider the criticisms received from Britain, France and other countries, the minister said, adding that it would be wrong to dismiss the criticisms aimed at the court’s operation without any debate. Having minimum standards regarding human rights norms in CoE member states is “useful”, and failure to appreciate such results would be “a step back”, Trócsányi said.

But the minister argued against the imposition of excessive uniformity, saying that in codification related to migration “it appears as if the court had failed to consider the migration pressure faced by the individual countries”.

Source: MTI