There are legislative preparations under way regarding a number of laws ahead of the autumn session of Parliament to begin shortly. Among these, the Justice Minister mentioned the tightening of release on parole and the amendments planned with a view to helping victims in an interview published in the Saturday edition of the newspaper Magyar Nemzet. Judit Varga also highlighted that she will soon share some international examples regarding the state of the rule of law in order to make it clear that in Hungary the rule of law is fully enforced.
In answer to the newspaper’s question about when Parliament could adopt the rules that are designed to put an end to the “prison business,” the Minister said in the spring Parliament called upon the government to develop regulations that better enforce the interests of the victims of crimes by 31 October, and Parliament could adopt the legislation before the end of this year. Regarding the amendments designed to help victims, she said they would like to have a victim assistance centre at every county seat. The rules regarding domestic violence and abuse will be further tightened; at the same time, in this respect the Minister observed that in the interest of protecting families they have not only legislative tasks because “it has transpired that it is often necessary to change the practice of the application of the law, or in some cases it is enough to improve the attitudes of officials”.
In response to a question concerning the Committee on Digital Freedom, she explained that the Committee does not wish to censor Facebook; they investigate what happens when Facebook censors Hungarian citizens and on what grounds they do so. She said it is important that when someone’s data is deleted from their account they should have access to legal remedy in a clear and transparent system.
Regarding the fact that the European Commission will shortly publish its rule of law report, Ms. Varga indicated that in the next few days she will publish some interesting rule of law facts and comparisons because she would like to demonstrate on the basis of specific examples how double standards work.
“Our experience is that the reports that attack Hungary are not compiled on the basis of objective criteria, by relying on balanced sources. The position of the Hungarian government is seen as a far less important source than the biased, politically motivated, cross-referenced studies of certain NGOs,” the Minister pointed out.
In response to the fact that the European Commission will shortly publish its rule of law report on each Member State, Ms. Varga stressed that questions related to the rule of law must be scrutinised through the spectacles of the law, not politics.
“Now, however, quite evidently, they want to use political and ideological expectations presented in the guise of the rule of law for blackmail. This is not rule of law, it’s a sheer demonstration of force and budgetary blackmail. This sad chapter in the history of the European Union should finally be closed because it has only led to a lack of trust and division. We should be building the Europe of the future which can only be strong if it is comprised of strong nations,” the Justice Minister told Magyar Nemzet.