Access versus Shield: Navigating International Organisations’ Immunities and the Right of Access to a Court : A Case in Hungary

Varga, Réka (2025) Access versus Shield: Navigating International Organisations’ Immunities and the Right of Access to a Court : A Case in Hungary. PRO PUBLICO BONO: MAGYAR KÖZIGAZGATÁS; A NEMZETI KÖZSZOLGÁLATI EGYETEM KÖZIGAZGATÁS-TUDOMÁNYI SZAKMAI FOLYÓIRATA, 13 (3). pp. 3-18. ISSN 2063-9058

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Abstract

This article examines how Hungary addresses the tension between the functional immunity of international organisations and the fundamental right of access to a court. While international organisations traditionally enjoy broad, often absolute, immunity grounded in functionality rather than sovereignty, recent constitutional court and ECtHR case law has introduced human-rights based limits, particularly in labour disputes. Focusing on Hungarian headquarters agreements, the study shows how international obligations interact with domestic constitutional requirements. The Constitutional Court of Hungary, following ECtHR jurisprudence (e.g. Waite and Kennedy; Beer and Regan), accepts functional immunity only where “reasonable alternative” dispute-settlement mechanisms exist, ensuring that access to justice is not illusory. Hungary has therefore systematically included clauses making immunity in labour disputes conditional on the availability of such procedures.

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