Possible Council of Europe investigation over bias Council of Europe may investigate bias decisions of ECHR

The president of the Council of Human Dignity (Emberi Méltóság Tanács), in a letter, is requesting the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) to investigate previous convictions brought under dubious circumstances. Zoltán Lomnici Sr., former president of the Hungarian Supreme Court, turned to Marija Pejčinović Burić to clarify the decisions of the CoE where there were suspicions of conflict of interest. Meanwhile, it turned out that the panel which rejected the Hungarian case in 2013 against the Slovakian citizenship law, had a Slovakian member who later became the highest judge of our neighboring country to the north.

The suspicion of a conflict of interest emerged again when the Hungarians received an unfavorable judgement from the Strasbourg courts in the case of the Slovakian citizenship law ten years ago. This rather unforgettable bill was passed by the Slovakian legislature stating that if a person acquires an additional citizenship, they automatically lose their Slovakian citizenship. The law did not provide any form of redress for those affected. The case was brought before the ECHR—and other courts—but the Strasbourg establishment rejected the case, citing the court’s lack of jurisdiction.

Today it turned out that the judicial council deciding on this issue had Slovakians and Romanians, but no Hungarian members.

The Slovakian member of the council was Jan Sikuta who later became the president of the Slovakian Supreme Court. Perhaps, not by accident—explained Zoltán Lomnici Sr.

The former president of the Supreme Court believes they cannot get away without an investigation. –If these evidence-based suspicions are not clarified, it could be extremely damaging. The reputation of the ECHR is at stake—emphasized Zoltán Lomnici Sr.