SZABÓ AND VISSY v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT
1
In the case of Szabó and Vissy v. Hungary,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a
Chamber composed of:
Vincent A. De Gaetano, President,
András Sajó,
Boštjan M. Zupančič,
Nona Tsotsoria,
Paulo Pinto de Albuquerque,
Krzysztof Wojtyczek,
Iulia Antoanella Motoc, judges,
and Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 14 April and 15 December 2015,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the
last-mentioned date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 37138/14) against Hungary
lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection
of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by two
Hungarian nationals, Mr Máté Szabó and Ms Beatrix Vissy (“the
applicants”), on 13 May 2014.
2. The applicants were represented by Mr L. Majtényi, a lawyer
practising in Budapest. The Hungarian Government (“the Government”)
were represented Mr Z. Tallódi, Agent, Ministry of Justice.
3. The applicants complained under Article 8 of the Convention that
they could potentially be subjected to unjustified and disproportionately
intrusive measures within the framework of “section 7/E (3) surveillance”
(see paragraphs 10-12 below), in particular for want of judicial control. In
their view, the latter issue also constituted a violation of their rights under
Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention.
4. On 12 June 2014 the application was communicated to the
Government.
5. On 27 August and 1 September 2014, respectively, Privacy
International and Center for Democracy and Technology, both
non-governmental organisations, were granted leave to make written
submissions (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 3 of the Rules
of Court).