Strasbourg court rules Hungary pension law violates ECHR

Strasbourg, December 15 (MTI) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Tuesday ruled that Hungary’s pension law violates the ban against discrimination prescribed by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECtHR).

The court ordered the state of Hungary to pay 18,000 euros in compensation and legal fees to the petitioner, Gyula Fabian, a Hungarian pensioner who also has a job in the public sector and has had his pension withheld since July 2, 2013.

Hungary’s pension law in effect since January 1, 2013 stipulates that pensioners who continue to work and receive a salary in the public sector must relinquish their pensions. The law, however, does not apply to pensioners who work in the private sector or to ministers or mayors who receive a pension while still in office.

The petitioner appealed to the National Pension Insurance Directorate after the law was implemented, but his case was dismissed and he turned to the Strasbourg court in December of 2013.

The ECtHR said that although cutting spending was a legitimate reason for the reworked pension law, the Hungarian authorities had failed to explain the reasoning behind the discrimination applied by the law.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters