Strasbourg's European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that the removal of the President of the Hungarian Supreme Court, Andras Baka before the end of his six-year term violated the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ECtHR held that the removal of the judge before the end of his term violated the judge’s right to due process and his right to freedom of expression. The former of these was violated as the judge “had no available remedies" against the decision eliminating his assignment. The latter was violated as the judge’s “mandate was cut short really because he had criticised certain legislative steps and not due to the reconfiguration of the Supreme Court”.
Eötvös Károly Institute (EKI), the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) had already noted that there were no convincing arguments in support of the judge’s dismissal.
These three organisations mentioned above were involved as third party interveners in the ECtHR proceedings. They argued that the judge's elimination was a typical example of legislative acts in Hungary which violate the rule of law and fundamental rights, and weaken independent institutions.
Click here to read the full judgment.
Click here to read a report aboutthe judgment on the European Liberties Platform.