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CRPD/C/10/D/4/2011 Annex Views of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under article 5 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (tenth session) concerning Communication No. 4/2011 * Submitted by: Zsolt Bujdosó, Jánosné Ildikó Márkus, Viktória Márton, Sándor Mészáros, Gergely Polk and János Szabó (represented by counsel, János Fiala, Disability Rights Center) Alleged victims: The authors State party: Hungary Date of communication: 14 September 2011 (initial submission) The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, established under article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Meeting on 9 September 2013, Having concluded its consideration of communication No. 4/2011, submitted to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by Zsolt Bujdosó, Jánosné Ildikó Márkus, Viktória Márton, Sándor Mészáros, Gergely Polk and János Szabó under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Having taken into account all written information made available to it by the authors of the communication, and the State party, Adopts the following: Views under article 5 of the Optional Protocol 1. The authors of the communication are Zsolt Bujdosó, born on 22 July 1976, Jánosné Ildikó Márkus, born on 29 August 1967, Viktória Márton, born on 20 October 1982, Sándor Mészáros, born on 11 January 1955, Gergely Polk, born on 18 June 1985, and János Szabó, * 2 The following members of the Committee participated in the examination of the present communication: Mr. Mohammed Al-Tarawneh, Mr. Martin Mwesigwa Babu, Mr. Monthian Buntan, Ms. María Soledad Cisternas Reyes, Ms. Theresia Degener, Mr. Hyung Shik Kim, Mr. Lofti Ben Lallahom, Mr. Stig Langvad, Ms. Edah Wangechi Maina, Mr. Ronald McCallum, Ms. Diane Mulligan, Ms. Safak Pavey, Ms. Ana Peláez Narváez, Ms. Silvia Judith Quan-Chang, Mr. Carlos Ríos Espinosa, Mr. Damjan Tatić and Mr. Germán Xavier Torres Correa. Pursuant to rule 60 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, Committee member Mr. László Gábor Lovászy did not participate in the adoption of the present Views.

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Bujdoso v. Hungary

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether Hungary's automatic disenfranchisement of persons with disabilities placed under guardianship—without individualized assessment of their capacity to vote and based solely on their disability status—violates articles 2, 12, and 29 of the CRPD.

Alleged Acts: Authors—Zsolt Bujdosó, Jánosné Ildikó Márkus, Viktória Márton, Sándor Mészáros, Gergely Polk, and János Szabó—were Hungarian citizens with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities who had been placed under partial or full guardianship by Hungarian courts. Under article 70(5) of the Hungarian Constitution (as applicable at the time), persons placed under total or partial guardianship were automatically deprived of the right to vote. Consequently, the authors' names were automatically removed from the electoral register without any individualized judicial inquiry into whether they understood the nature or effect of voting. They were thus prevented from voting in the 2010 Hungarian parliamentary and municipal elections.

Procedural history: The communication was submitted to the CRPD Committee in 2011 under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee found the communication admissible and considered it on the merits at its 10th session in Geneva, adopting its Views on September 9, 2013.

Summary: The Bujdóso v. Hungary case concerns the right of persons with intellectual disabilities to vote in national and local elections, and whether Hungary’s legal framework discriminates against them.

Conclusion: Hungary violated the CRPD by maintaining a legal framework that automatically disenfranchised the authors; Hungary was required to repeal Article 23 of the Fundamental Law; and Hungary must provide authors with an effective remedy.

Legal Issue(s)

Accessibility
Voters' Rights

Applicable Law(s): Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Region: Europe and Eurasia

Country: Hungary

Language of Decision

English

Court: Human Rights Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Oct 16, 2013

Geolocation

Latitude: 46.2041

Longitude: 6.144

: Geolocation

Link: https://juris.ohchr.org/casedetails/1988/en-US

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Bujdoso v. Hungary.pdf
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Bujdoso v. Hungary

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