The chances of observing human rights in an illiberal state: Diagnosis of Hungary

Can human rights survive the democratic decay and the attacks against the rule of law in Hungary? The conclusion of the chapter is that the answer is time and instance bound: earlier in the decade even the Hungarian Constitutional Court (HCC) was willing to attribute a - limited supremacy - to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence and the government rarely resisted the implementation of an ECtHR judgement finding a breach. At the same time, lower courts largely ignored the ECtHR and were unwilling to rely on its jurisprudence. More recently the HCC turned more sovereigntist and the government became reluctant to implement critical judgments whereas some of the lower courts seem to be more open to the “external” influence. The NGO sector was and is instrumental in conducting domestic and international strategic litigation, with important successes. The government’s response is increasing pressure on the sector in the form of criminalizing pro human rights activities in the migration context, levying special taxes and stigmatising the NGOs that receive foreign funding, not to speak about the creation of government sponsored ‘NGOs’ that aim at undermining the human rights discourse.