Caption: AdoptedRejectedWithdrawnNo electronic votes
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Votes: 75 in favor 54 against 6 abstentions
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.1, first sentence, delete the words "and there are no restrictions on Hungarian citizens following their chosen faith".
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.1, first sentence, delete the words: "and there are no restrictions on Hungarian citizens following their chosen faith".
23 June 2015
Tabled by Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Mr Attila MESTERHÁZY, Mr Andreas GROSS, Mr Andreas SCHIEDER, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Mr Frank SCHWABE, Mr Frithjof SCHMIDT, Ms Doris BARNETT, Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Ms Carina OHLSSON
Votes: 49 in favor 82 against 9 abstentions
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.1, replace the sentence "On 15 May 2015, the Hungarian authorities informed the Council of Europe that six churches were about to sign an agreement, while four others were about to sign a partial agreement, but this fact does not ensure compliance with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights;" with the following sentence: "Despite the Court's judgment the Hungarian authorities have still not complied with point 12.1 of the Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1941 (2013), and the Hungarian Government negotiates merely about financial compensation with the churches deprived of their church status;"
Explanatory note
The draft decision highlights the agreement of the Government with six churches concerned. However the point is that the Hungarian authorities have still not implemented the requirements as enshrined in paragraph 12.1 of Resolution 1941 (2013), despite the fact that in the meantime the ECHR's judgment turned the Assembly's recommendation into a legal obligation.
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Votes: 79 in favor 54 against 7 abstentions
In the draft resolution, after paragraph 2.1, insert the following paragraph:
“The right to decide to recognise a religious denomination as a church remains within the competencies of the parliament, rather than of an independent authority as requested by the Assembly. There is still no provision for the possibility to appeal against any decision to grant, or reject, a request to be recognized as a church.”
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
Votes: 77 in favor 57 against 6 abstentions
In the draft resolution, after paragraph 2.1, insert the following paragraph:
"referring to the report on Hungary published on 16 December 2014 by the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Assembly notes with concern that the report found widespread presence of racist and extremist organisations and movements in Hungary and extremism in the country’s political arena. These findings are also reflected by the report on Hungary adopted by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) on 19 March 2015. Therefore, the Assembly urges Hungary to implement the recommendations by the Commissioner and ECRI;"
23 June 2015
Tabled by Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Mr Attila MESTERHÁZY, Mr Andreas GROSS, Mr Andreas SCHIEDER, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Mr Frank SCHWABE, Mr Frithjof SCHMIDT, Ms Doris BARNETT, Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Ms Carina OHLSSON, Ms Eva-Lena JANSSON, Ms Monica HAIDER
Votes: 52 in favor 85 against 5 abstentions
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.2, replace the sentence "The opposition parties, however, claim that the situation is still not fair." with the following sentences: "However, in practice, the OSCE/ODIHR Limited Election Observation Mission established in 2014 that a number of key amendments negatively affected the electoral process, including the removal of important checks and balances. Despite the question marks raised by the Venice Commission and the ODIHR, the so-called "compensation formula" has also been kept, which has resulted in an additional six seats being allocated to the government parties, ensuring a two-thirds majority in the parliament."
Explanatory note
The Assembly should primarily stick to the facts by highlighting the main findings of the OSCE/ODIHR's election observers. Provision of the Election Act that increases considerably the disproportionality in results, remained unchanged and resulted in an extra 6 seats in the Parliament for the government parties, ensuring a two-thirds qualified majority with much less than 50% of the vote.
23 June 2015
Tabled by Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Mr Attila MESTERHÁZY, Mr Andreas GROSS, Mr Andreas SCHIEDER, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Mr Frank SCHWABE, Mr Frithjof SCHMIDT, Ms Doris BARNETT, Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Ms Carina OHLSSON, Ms Eva-Lena JANSSON, Ms Monica HAIDER
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.3.2, delete the following words: "Communist era".
Explanatory note
It is extremely misleading to qualify the previous constitution as a Communist constitution. Practically all its provisions were altered in 1989 with the mere exception of those referring to the national flag and the capital of the country. The institutional setup as created in 1989-1990 was considered one of the most successful ones in the region.
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
In the draft resolution, at the end of paragraph 2.3.3, after the words “should be introduced”, insert the following words: ", as recommended by the Assembly in Resolution 1941 (2013)".
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Votes: 54 in favor 81 against 5 abstentions
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.4, replace the sentence “Generally, the position of the Chairperson of the National Judicial Office – a quite unique institution in Europe – has changed and his powers are now limited;” with the following sentences: “The Chairperson of the National Judicial Office still has the power to annul the outcome of a competition for the appointment of a judge, but this power has been somewhat limited by the statutory imposition of certain conditions that must be met for the Chairperson to exercise this power. There is still no guaranteed appeals process relating to the decisions of the Chairperson;”
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
In the draft resolution, paragraph 2.5, replace the second and third sentences with the following sentences: "For its part, the Assembly urged the Hungarian Parliament in its Resolution 2035 (2015) to pursue further reforms of its legislation in order to improve the independence of the media regulatory authorities, the State news agency and the public service broadcasters, to increase transparency and pluralism in the private media, as well as to combat racist expressions against ethnic minorities. In accordance with Opinion 798/2015 of the Venice Commission on Hungarian media legislation, the Assembly calls on Hungary to implement those recommendations."
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
In the draft resolution, after paragraph 2.6, insert the following paragraph:
"the Assembly recalls that certain constitutional and democracy issues, such as the wide scope of the "cardinal laws" and the requirement of qualified majorities for future changes pointed out by the Venice Commission, still need to be addressed."
23 June 2015
Tabled by Mr Gábor HARANGOZÓ, Mr Attila MESTERHÁZY, Mr Andreas GROSS, Mr Andreas SCHIEDER, Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Mr Frank SCHWABE, Mr Frithjof SCHMIDT, Ms Doris BARNETT, Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Ms Carina OHLSSON, Ms Eva-Lena JANSSON, Ms Monica HAIDER
If adopted, amendment 13 falls.
Votes: 55 in favor 80 against 5 abstentions
In the draft resolution, paragraph 3, replace the words "but that special examination of these matters by the Assembly should now be concluded." with the following sentences: ". However the Assembly regrets to note that with regard to the provisions of its Resolution 1941 (2013) insufficient progress has been made by the Hungarian authorities. The Assembly also takes due note of the European Parliament's resolution of 10 June 2015 on the situation in Hungary stating that "recent developments have led to concerns regarding the principles of the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in Hungary over the past year, which, taken together, could represent an emerging systemic threat to the rule of law in this Member State". The Assembly therefore concludes that it will continue to follow closely the situation in Hungary."
Explanatory note
Progress has only been observed in the functioning of the judicial system. Regarding the Law on Churches, the electioral system, the composition and powers of the Constitutional Court, and media freedom little if any positive developments have been achieved. The issue of the death penalty and the xenophobic campaign against refugees increase concerns.
23 June 2015
Tabled by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
Falls if amendment 7 is adopted.
Votes: 89 in favor 31 against 20 abstentions
In the draft resolution, paragraph 3, replace the last sentence with the following sentences: "The Assembly remains seized of the media situation in Hungary in the framework of its future reports on attacks against journalists and media freedom in Europe as well as on new methods of political influence over independent journalism. The situation of racism and intolerance also requires special attention."