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Hungarian Student Bloggers Win Lawsuit Against University

Categories: Hungary, Citizen Media, Education, Governance, Law, Youth

Bloggers of Átlátszó Oktatás (Transparent Education) sued the largest Hungarian university ELTE's Law Faculty in winter 2012, in order to obtain documents on how state scholarships and bonus payments were distributed by the members of the faculty's student union. Because the university is entirely state-funded, the students demanded through a freedom of information request that the student union make its spending transparent.

The student union didn't reply to the request and the university rejected it. In response to this and with the help of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the student bloggers filed a lawsuit. In October 2013, a court of first instance in Hungary ruled in favor [1] of the student bloggers.

There have never been before any freedom of information case against any student union in Hungary. [They] spend a considerable amount of public money every year, for example the student unions of the faculties of ELTE dispose of around 680 000 euro in a year, and this amount is millions of euros countrywide.