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