Office of the commissioner for fundamental rights of hungary

On 19 March 2019, László Székely, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights received in his office the delegation of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on its monitoring visit to Hungary.

Such visits – generally repeated every five years – are a regular routine in the practice of the Congress, and involve the visiting of several local municipalities, authorities, ministries and other institutions. This time the aim of the monitoring visit is to assess the current situation of local and regional democracy in Hungary, as well as to verify whether the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified by Hungary in 1994, are properly implemented. The delegation’s focus of interest is Congress Resolution 296 (2010) REV on the role of local authorities in the implemention of human rights at local and regional level.

During the meeting, the Ombudsman, his staff and the members of the delegation exchanged ideas about the role of the Ombudsman in relation to local and regional authorities and the most common types of complaints submitted to the Office regarding local affairs, as well as about the participation of national minority communities living in Hungary in local political and public life.