About the office

View the detailed organisational structure of the Office

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and his Office:

The work and mandate of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and his Office are determined by Article 30 of the Fundamental Law of Hungary adopted in 2011 and are based on Act CXI of 2011 on the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, both of which entered into force on 1 January 2012. In compliance with the relevant regulations, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights is the legal successor of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights, who ensures the effective, coherent and comprehensive protection of fundamental rights and the implementation of the Fundamental Law of Hungary.

 The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights…

• pays special attention to the protection of
• the rights of children,
• the rights of nationalities living in Hungary,
• the rights of the most vulnerable social groups, as well as
• the values defined as ‘the interests of future generations'.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights comments on the draft  laws affecting his/her tasks and competences; long-term development and land management plans and concepts, as well as plans and concepts otherwise directly affecting the quality of life of future generations; and he/she may make proposals for the amendment or creation of laws affecting fundamental rights and/or the recognition of the binding nature of an international treaty.

The Commissioner assesses and analyses the situation of fundamental rights in Hungary, and prepares statistics on those violations of rights which are related to fundamental rights in Hungary. Therefore, the Commissioner submits his/her annual report to the Parliament, in which he/she gives information on his/her fundamental rights activities and makes recommendations and proposals for regulations or any amendments. The Parliament shall debate the report during the year of its submission.

In the course of his/her activities, the Commissioner cooperates with organisations aiming at the promotion of the protection fundamental rights.

As a new mandate, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may initiate the review of  laws at the Constitutional Court as to their conformity with the Fundamental Law.

Furthermore, the Commissioner participates in the preparation of national reports based on international treaties relating to his/her tasks and competences, and monitors and evaluates the enforcement of these treaties in Hungary.

The Deputy-Commissioners for Fundamental Rights…

The provisions of the Act strongly affect the organizational structure of the ombudsman system. Since the Parliament elects only one ombudsman, this person is assigned to choose his/her own deputies, who are also elected by the Hungarian Parliament. There is one Deputy-Commissioner who is responsible for the protection of the interests of future generations and there is another one who is responsible for the protection of the interests of nationalities living in Hungary.

The Deputy-Commissioners

• monitor the enforcement of the interests of future generations,
• regularly inform the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights on their experience regarding the enforcement of the interests of future generations or minorities living in Hungary,
• draw the attention of the Commissioner to any threats of violations of rights of a larger group of natural persons,
• participate in the inquiries of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights,
• may propose the Commissioner that he institute proceedings ex officio,
• may propose the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights that he turn to the Constitutional Court.

The mandate of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and the Deputies

The Parliament elects the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights (based on the proposal of the President of the Republic) and his/her Deputies for a 6-year term. Any Hungarian citizen can be elected Commissioner for Fundamental Rights or Deputy-Commissioner if he/she holds a law degree, has the right to stand as a candidate in elections of Members of Parliament and who also has outstanding theoretical knowledge or at least ten years of professional experience; furthermore, he/she has reached the age of thirty-five years and has considerable experience in conducting or supervising proceedings concerning fundamental rights.

The mandate of the Commissioner and his/her Deputies is incompatible with any other state, local government, social or political office or mandate or any other gainful occupation, with the exception of scientific, educational, or artistic activities.

The Commissioner and his/her Deputies have a  right to immunity equal to that of Members of Parliament.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may be re-elected once.

The mandate of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and his/her Deputies' terminates

• upon expiry of his or her mandate,
• upon his/her death,
• upon his/her resignation,
• if the conditions necessary for his/her election no longer exist,
• upon the declaration of a conflict of interests,
• upon his/her dismissal, or
• upon removal from office.

Proceedings of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights

Anyone may turn to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, if in his/her judgement, the activity or omission of public and/or other organ performing public duties (see the exhaustive list below) infringes a fundamental right of the person submitting the petition or presents an imminent danger thereto, provided that the complainant has exhausted the available administrative legal remedies, not including the judicial review of an administrative decision, or if no legal remedy is available to him or her.

The list of organs concerned:

• a public administration organ,
• a local government,
• a nationality self-government,
• a public body with mandatory membership,
• the Hungarian Defence Forces,
• a law-enforcement organ,
• any other organ acting in its public administration competence, in this competence,
• an investigation authority or an investigative  organ of the Prosecution Service,
• a notary public,
• a bailiff at a county court,
• an independent bailiff, or
• an organ performing public services.

Inquiries into an organ performing public services may be carried out only in connection with its public service activities. Irrespective  of their form of organisation, organs performing public services shall be the following:

• organs performing state or local government tasks and/or participating in the performance thereof,
• public utilities providers,
• universal providers,
• organisations participating in the granting or intermediation of state or European Union subsidies,
• organisations performing activities described in a  law as public service, and
• organisations performing a public service which is prescribed in a law and the use of which is mandatory.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has other powers as well

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may initiate the review of laws as to their conformity with the Fundamental Law of Hungary at the Constitutional Court.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights responsible for the protection of the interests of future generations and the Deputy Commissioner for Fundamental Rights responsible for the protection of the rights of national minorities living in Hungary shall monitor the enforcement of the interests of future generations and the rights of national minorities living in Hungary.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may not conduct inquiries into the activities of

a) the Parliament,

b) the President of the Republic,

c) the Constitutional Court,

d) the State Audit Office,

e) the courts, or

f) the Prosecution Service, with the exception of the investigative organs of the Prosecution Service.

If, on the basis of the petition, it may be presumed that, with the exception of these organs,  the activity or omission of the organisation not qualifying as authority gravely violates  the fundamental rights of a larger group of natural persons, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may proceed out of turn.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may not proceed in cases where:

• more than a year has passed since the notification of a final administrative decision,
• the proceedings began after 23 October 1989,
• court proceedings have been started for the review of the decision or where a final court decision has been rendered,
• the identity of the person who has filed the petition has not been revealed and therefore, the inquiry cannot be conducted. (No one shall suffer a disadvantage for turning to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights.)

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights shall reject the petition if 

a) it does not meet the above-mentioned requirements,

b) it is manifestly unfounded,

c) a repeatedly submitted petition does not contain any new facts or data on the substance.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may reject the petition if

a) it has been submitted anonymously, or

b) in his or her judgement, the impropriety referred to in the petition is of minor importance.

Public Interest Disclosure and Whistleblower Protection 

As of 1 January 2014, it is the duty of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights to launch inquiries into the practice of state organs regarding public interest disclosures and citizens may also directly turn to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. As one of the institutions with the highest level of public trust, the Commissioner has been authorized to establish and operate an electronic system handling and registering public interest disclosures. With a view to protecting whistleblowers, they may request that their personal data only be accessible to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. In this case, the public interest disclosure will be forwarded in an anonymous form.

Act CLXV of 2013 on Complaints and Public Interest Disclosures

New powers in connection with the review process of national security checks

As of 1 January 2015, in accordance with the stipulations of the Act on National Security Services, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has been vested with new powers: he may inquire into ordering and conducting a review of national security checks from the aspect of fundamental rights-related improprieties.
The person under review may request the Ombudsman to conduct an inquiry within six months after having learned about the review process. In addition, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may also conduct an ex officio investigation into the review process practices of the national security services. If the Commissioner discovers any fundamental rights-related improprieties in connection with ordering and conducting such reviews, he shall inform the cabinet minister supervising the national security service concerned and request him to take the necessary measures; in case the Ombudsman does not find these measures appropriate, he shall inform the Parliament’s National Security Committee of this issue.

How to submit a complaint

The petition and the Commissioner's proceeding are free of charge. The complaint can be submitted both orally and in writing (also via e-mail or through the dedicated platform on our website). It is advisable to enclose the copies of any available documents that may be relevant to the inquiry. If you want to submit a complaint via e-mail, please use

panasz@ajbh.hu,

which e-mail address is exclusively reserved for this purpose.

Please, note that complaints submitted via e-mail shall be handled in compliance with the general rules of administration. Please, indicate your permanent address and your postal address in your petition in order to help us handle your petition on the merit. In the absence of this, your complaint via e-mail shall not be handled on the merit. If the person filing the petition so requests, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights will not reveal his or her identity.

Postal address: 

Alapvető Jogok Biztosának Hivatala

1387 Budapest, PO Box 40

Should you make a complaint personally, please, make an appointment in advance.

In order to make an appointment, call number 06-1-475-71-00 or make an appointment electronically. 

Opening hours of the Commissioner's Complaints Office:

Monday:   8:00 a.m. –16:00 p.m.  (if you have an appointment: 16:00 p.m. – 18:00 p.m.)

Tuesday – Thursday:   8:00 a.m. – 16:00 p.m.

Friday:   8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Address of the Complaints Office: 1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa utca 9-11.  [map]

Phone of the Complaints Office: (06-1-) 475-7129; (06-1-) 475-7100

Important:                                  

• The 30day administrative time limit does not apply to the proceedings of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights.
• In conducting his or her proceedings, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights shall be independent, subordinated only to acts of the law. If, on the basis of an inquiry, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights comes to the conclusion that the impropriety in relation to a fundamental right does exist, in order to redress it, he or she may address a recommendation to the authority, orto the supervisory organ of the authority subject to inquiry.
• No one shall suffer a disadvantage for turning to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights.