Topház Social Care Institution became widely known after Validity revealed the inhumane and horrific treatment of its residents in a 2017 report. 220 residents were subject to torture and ill-treatment in Topház. Children as well as adult residents were put in metal cage beds, routinely chemically and/or physically restrained, were underweight, and physically, mentally and emotionally neglected.  

Topház is a closed institution and almost all residents are placed under guardianship. Validity made several attempts to get access to victims in order to offer assistance or help, but we were denied entry into the institution or permission to speak to or contact residents in any way. We therefore sought to contact the residents through their guardians. Even though this information is in the public interest and should not be confidential, we were denied access to the guardians’ names or contact details as the Government has insisted that, despite their public role, their identities and contact details are personal data that cannot be made available.   

The Government’s data protection arguments and its continuous attempts to block information concerning the residents’ well-being served solely the purpose of hiding serious human rights violations in the institution and covering up the torture committed against people with disabilities. Currently, residents are going through a deinstitutionalisation process which does not respect their rights. Despite the clear and public evidence of these violations, the Government not only fails to act, but actively renders it impossible for the victims to gain protection and redress.  

However, on 5 October 2021, after over four years of litigation, the Hungarian courts finally upheld Validity’s demands to access the residents’ guardians. The Budapest Environs Regional Court has ordered the Guardianship Authority to release the names and contact details of the residents’ public guardians employed by the Authority. The Court, in its judgment, made it clear that public guardians’ names and other personal information connected to their public service constitutes public data of public interest, therefore the Guardianship Authority must release them. After contacting the guardians concerned, we strongly hope that they will cooperate with us in ensuring access to justice and redress of residents.  

This decision is a victory for transparency and accountability: whenever there is concern that a person under guardianship is being ill-treated, it is now possible to identify the public guardian tasked with ensuring respect for their rights and to hold them responsible directly. Guardians can no longer hide behind a shroud of anonymity and impunity if they are not upholding their duties.