Daniel Karsai and Colleagues Win Lawsuit Over 2015 "Lost Its Public Money Nature" Case
Nine years after initiating the lawsuit, the court declared that attempts to conceal the recipients of funds from the foundations of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) were illegal.
The lawsuit concerning the data request related to the foundations of the MNB concluded with a victory for the journalists at the European Court of Human Rights. The process was not quick: it began in early 2015, and was the first among several hundred cases in which Daniel Karsai worked together with Transparency International Hungary. The constitutional lawyer, who ceased his legal practices in March this year due to a terminal illness, and his colleagues have since made significant efforts to publicize governmental bonds, sports funding (TAO funds), and state concessions distributed over 35 years, culminating last week with the first such case reaching its verdict.
Transparency International Hungary summarized the events of the past years on HVG's blog. It is noteworthy that in 2014, the Hungarian National Bank injected 267 billion forints into its foundations, leading Lajos Kósa to remark that it "lost its nature as public money." In early 2015, Blanka Zöldi, currently the editor-in-chief of _Lakmusz.hu_ and formerly a staff member at _Direkt36_, filed a public data request to disclose whom the bank's foundations had paid and how much, under titles such as PhD scholarships, research mobility, conference participation, and curriculum development, but the foundations did not release any information.
The journalist, represented by Transparency International Hungary, filed a lawsuit which reached a verdict in 2016, but it was only a partial success. The court ruled that personal data could be kept confidential. Therefore, the plaintiff turned to the Constitutional Court. Two years later, the Constitutional Court mandated the parliament to legislate the transparency of private individuals receiving public funds. However, it rejected the data request in this specific case. As a result, Transparency International appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which, after an additional five and a half years, declared that the Hungarian government violated the European Convention on Human Rights by not disclosing the recipients of the foundation funds.
Transparency International Hungary also noted that in the meantime, the parliament passed the law on publicly beneficial asset management foundations, transferring shares, buildings, and agricultural lands worth several thousand billion forints to the 33 such foundations, without the possibility to influence what is done with these assets.
Transparency International Hungary summarized the events of the past years on HVG's blog. It is noteworthy that in 2014, the Hungarian National Bank injected 267 billion forints into its foundations, leading Lajos Kósa to remark that it "lost its nature as public money." In early 2015, Blanka Zöldi, currently the editor-in-chief of _Lakmusz.hu_ and formerly a staff member at _Direkt36_, filed a public data request to disclose whom the bank's foundations had paid and how much, under titles such as PhD scholarships, research mobility, conference participation, and curriculum development, but the foundations did not release any information.
The journalist, represented by Transparency International Hungary, filed a lawsuit which reached a verdict in 2016, but it was only a partial success. The court ruled that personal data could be kept confidential. Therefore, the plaintiff turned to the Constitutional Court. Two years later, the Constitutional Court mandated the parliament to legislate the transparency of private individuals receiving public funds. However, it rejected the data request in this specific case. As a result, Transparency International appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which, after an additional five and a half years, declared that the Hungarian government violated the European Convention on Human Rights by not disclosing the recipients of the foundation funds.
Transparency International Hungary also noted that in the meantime, the parliament passed the law on publicly beneficial asset management foundations, transferring shares, buildings, and agricultural lands worth several thousand billion forints to the 33 such foundations, without the possibility to influence what is done with these assets.
Translation:
Translated by AI
