The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers examined again this week the execution of the Baka judgment of the European Court of Human Rights which concerns the undue and premature termination of the applicant’s mandate as President of the former Hungarian Supreme Court.
In its decision, the Committee reiterated its utmost concern about the absence of progress in addressing the lack of effective judicial supervision over Parliament’s competence to remove the President of the highest judicial body, the Hungarian Kúria. The Committee strongly exhorted again the authorities to step up their efforts to find ways to introduce the required measures.
As regards the “chilling effect” of the violations found by the European Court in Baka on the freedom of judges to express their views on matters of public interest concerning the judiciary, the Committee reiterated its serious concern that the authorities have not produced their announced evaluation of the domestic legislation on the status of judges and the administration of courts. It strongly exhorted the authorities to proceed with such an evaluation, including an analysis of the impact of all legislative and other measures adopted and foreseen on judges’ freedom of expression.
The Committee, currently under the Lithuanian Presidency, invited its Chair to send a letter to the Hungarian authorities concerning the Baka case, conveying its deep concern about the present situation and urging them to find swift solutions to abide fully and effectively by their obligations deriving from the Court’s judgment in Baka. This is a relatively rare step taken by the Committee of Ministers in only a handful of cases to date.
The Committee also invited the Hungarian authorities to submit an updated action plan, including information on all the above issues, by 30 October 2024. It decided to resume its examination of this case by March 2025.
