| For a summary of Hungary’s review at the second cycle please click here. |
11th UPR session
Date of review: 11 May 2011
Date of report adoption: 23 September 2011
Working Group report: A/HRC/18/17
| Summary
Recommendations made: Ensure the cardinal laws, resulting from the new Fundamental Law, do not contain provisions that discriminate against people with disabilities, women and LGBT people; strengthen hate crimes laws to protect against violence motivated by gender identity, sexual orientation and intolerance, and to implement public awareness campaigns, to include law enforcement officials, to combat intolerance; Introduce the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the rights of persons with disabilities and women, as well as persons with a different sexual orientation; Adopt measures to combat discrimination and promote equal economic and social opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups; Confirm its commitment to equality and non-discrimination by explicitly prohibiting any discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Status of recommendations: Accepted. |
I. Key issues/recommendations identified by NGOs
- Apply the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a guide to assist in policy-making.
II. Excerpts from input reports
National Report
II. Normative and institutional framework
C. Equal Treatment Authority
14. ETA can initiate proceedings upon individual complaints or actio popularis submitted by NGOs and other stakeholders or ex officio. ETA deals with unequal treatment (direct/ indirect discrimination, segregation, harassment, victimization) involving gender; racial origin; colour; nationality; national or ethnic origin; mother tongue; disability; state of health; religious or ideological conviction; political or other opinion; family status; maternity or paternity; sexual orientation; sexual identity; age; social origin; financial status; part-time, temporary and other types of employment contract; the membership of an organisation representing employees’ interests and any other status, attribute or characteristic. Should the right to equal treatment have been violated, ETA may order the elimination of the situation concerned, prohibit further continuation of the conduct concerned; publish its decision or impose a fine.
Compilation of Stakeholder Information
II. Promotion and protection of human rights on the ground
Implementation of international human rights obligations
1. Equality and non-discrimination
11. AI stated that the Criminal Code criminalized assaults committed because of a victim’s actual or perceived belonging to a national, racial, ethnic or religious group. However, it referred to a concern expressed by CoE ECRI that Hungarian law did not include general provisions under which, for all ordinary criminal offenses, racist motivation constituted an express aggravating circumstances. Furthermore, AI referred to the documented cases, which illustrated that officials often failed to recognize racially motivated crimes as such, despite the fact that it was highly likely that the perpetrators attacked the victims because of their ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. HRF, HHC and JS1 expressed similar concerns. CoE ECRI recommended, inter alia, that Hungary make specific provisions in the criminal law for racist motivation for ordinary offences to constitute aggravating circumstances.
III. References to SOGI during the Working Group review
A. Presentation by the State under review
7. The delegation noted that the adoption of a new constitution by the Parliament in April 2011 represented a milestone for the development of the rule of law and marked the end of the transitional period from dictatorship to democracy. The new Constitution strengthened the protection of human rights inspired by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and contained a more extensive list of rights than before. The new Constitution stipulated that a marriage was an institution between a man and a woman, however the rights of same sex couples in a registered partnership were protected to the same extent as those of heterosexual couples. The new Constitution also strengthened and widened the function of the Constitutional Court by introducing the constitutional right to launch a complaint before it by individuals.
B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review
31. France noted that Hungary is party to most core human rights instruments. France observed that the new constitution did not explicitly prohibit death penalty and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and inquired whether legislation protecting against such discrimination was envisaged. France noted Roma had been victims of racist acts and intimidation by extremists and inquired on measures envisaged to protect them. France made recommendations.
32. Switzerland, observing that victims of racist attacks often belonged to ethnic minorities or vulnerable groups, underlined that recent violence against Roma committed by right-wing militia was unacceptable. Switzerland emphasized the prohibition of all forms of discrimination, the respect for the principle of non-refoulement and for the freedom of expression, thus of the press, to be guaranteed by national legislation. Switzerland made recommendations.
57.Norway recognized Hungary’s efforts to improve the situation for the Roma minority but remained concerned about the persistence of xenophobic attitudes and increased hate crimes against the Roma community. Norway took note of concerns raised about the new Constitution’s compatibility with Hungary’s human rights obligations. On Hungary’s new media legislation, Norway was concerned about possible restrictions in the freedom of the press by mandatory content requirements and “public morality” standards. Norway made recommendations.
63.The United States of America encouraged Hungary to continue its support for democratic principles and institutions. It expressed concern at continuing harsh conditions for Roma across the country and encouraged Hungary to continue engaging directly with local NGOs and civil society leaders to address persisting challenges. It also noted inequities in the treatment of women and discrimination and violence against persons on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. It further noted the recent passage of media laws and expressed concern over strict regulation and limitations on freedom of expression. The United States made recommendations.
64. Belgium commended the annual Budapest Human Rights Forum and Hungary’s National Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality. Concerned at patriarchal attitudes and prevailing stereotypes regarding women, Belgium inquired about measures to reduce gender disparity and ensure domestic violence is prosecuted. It also inquired about envisaged amendments of the media law or measures to strengthen independence of media. Belgium noted concerns of discrimination of LGBT. Belgium made a recommendation.
79.[The delegation informed that w]hile the new Constitution contained a non-exhaustive list of grounds for discrimination, the case-law of the Constitutional Court prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.
IV. Conclusions and/or recommendations
94. The recommendations formulated during the interactive dialogue and listed below have been examined by Hungary and enjoy the support of Hungary:
94.12. Ensure the cardinal laws, resulting from the new Fundamental Law, do not contain provisions that discriminate against people with disabilities, women and LGBT people (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
94.13. Strengthen hate crimes laws to protect against violence motivated by gender identity, sexual orientation and intolerance, and to implement public awareness campaigns, to include law enforcement officials, to combat intolerance (United States of America);
94.30. Introduce the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the rights of persons with disabilities and women, as well as persons with a different sexual orientation (Switzerland);
94.40. Adopt measures to combat discrimination and promote equal economic and social opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups (Islamic Republic of Iran);
94.52. Confirm its commitment to equality and non-discrimination by explicitly prohibiting any discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity (France);
94.62. Ensure members of the Roma community, and members of other vulnerable groups, are protected from violence and attack, including when these groups wish to assembly, hold events or organize demonstrations (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
94.83. Ensure that victims of hate crimes have access to assistance and protection, including counselling and legal assistance (Austria);
94.84. Ensure adequate training for the police and judiciary to promptly and effectively deal with hate crimes (Austria);
94.85. Ensure training for police officers, prosecutors and judges in order to ensure that they can recognize, investigate and prosecute hate crimes (Canada).
The following recommendation did not enjoy the support of Hungary:
95.14. Reconsider the relevant provisions of the new Constitution in order to ensure keeping access to abortion as a safe and legal option, and to ensure that the same protection and rights apply to every person regardless of their sexual orientation (Norway).
V. Adoption of the Report
Comments by States and other stakeholders
ILGA-Europe, COC Netherlands and Háttér
Madam President,
We would like to commend Hungary for its commitment to equality and non-discrimination as expressed during the UPR process. We appreciate that the government of Hungary has accepted various recommendations in relation to the protection of human rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, including 1) measures to raise awareness including training for the police and the judiciary; 2) the strengthening of hate-crime legislation including providing victim assistance; and 3) the explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Madam President, may we ask the government of Hungary what timeframe it envisages for the implementation of these recommendations?
Whilst Hungary has made significant progress in the past decades in expanding the rights and protections enjoyed by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, discriminatory laws -especially in the field of family law- are still in place. Sexual orientation and gender identity are not explicitly included as grounds for discrimination in Hungary’s constitution. Prejudice, discrimination and even violence on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are widespread. Unlike in the case of other vulnerable groups, the Hungarian state has no specific programs on promoting equal opportunities for LGBT people, including a lack of social dialogue with LGBT NGOs.
In this context, we call on the government of Hungary:
- To explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as grounds of discrimination in its constitution, which would be in line with the government’s acceptance of the recommendation to explicitly prohibit discrimination on these grounds;
- To expand the current law on partnership registration to include adoption rights and assisted reproduction to ensure equality for same-sex couples;
- To ensure that no ban on same-sex marriage is introduced to the constitution. Such a negative legislative change would send the message that discrimination of same-sex couples is tolerated and would foster further prejudice and discrimination;
- To reflect in legislation the possibility for trans people to change their gender in order to end the current ambiguity around existing procedures;
- To reconfirm its commitment to freedom of assembly by providing all necessary safeguards for pride marches to take place;
- To engage systematically with civil society organisations working on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, as well as with other civil society organisations, to ensure that UPR recommendations are being implemented.
Finally, we urge Hungary to consider using the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a tool in such policy development.
Thank you Madam President.
- ILGA-Europe, COC Netherlands and Háttér intervened with a statement expressing concerns about the absence of explicit reference to sexual orientation and gender identity in Hungary’s constitution, asking for the envisaged timeframe for the implementation of the accepted recommendations and made several other recommendations (see annex 11).
- In its feedback the delegation of Hungary repeated that the current law protects against discrimination on all grounds, including sexual orientation and gender identity. In closing, the delegation mentioned it would engage with civil society to work on the follow-up of the UPR process, as well it would consider sending a mid-term report on the implementation of accepted recommendations to the Human Rights Council.
VI. Further information
UPR Documentation
National report 1 : A | C | E | F | R | S
Compilation of UN information 2 : A | C | E | F | R | S
Summary of stakeholders’ information 3 : A | C | E | F | R | S
Questions submitted in advance : E only
Addendum 1: E only
Addendum 2: E only
Outcome of the review
Report of the Working group: A | C | E | F | R | S
Addendum: E
Decision of the outcome: A | C | E | F | R | S
Related webcast archives