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REPORT (2024/2002(IMM))

On the request for waiver of the immunity of Anna Júlia Donáth

A-9-2024-0168

Committee on Legal Affairs · Rapporteur: Gilles Lebreton

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Parliament's decision on the request by the Prosecutor General of Hungary to waive the immunity of Anna Júlia Donáth, a Member elected for Hungary. Parliament decides not to waive her immunity, finding concrete evidence that the proceedings aim to undermine her political activity.

Committee position. The Committee on Legal Affairs proposes that Parliament decide not to waive the immunity of Anna Júlia Donáth, finding that fumus persecutionis can be assumed.

Key points

  1. The Prosecutor General of Hungary asked Parliament to waive the immunity of Anna Júlia Donáth in criminal case No 2.Nyom.397/2022 at the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Budapest.
  2. The alleged offence is violation of Article 310(1)(a) of Hungarian Law C of 2012 on the Hungarian Criminal Code, for events on 21 February 2022 during a search of premises belonging to a religious figure.
  3. Parliament cannot act as a court, and a Member cannot be regarded as a defendant in a waiver of immunity procedure.
  4. The alleged offence is not an opinion expressed or a vote cast in the performance of Anna Júlia Donáth's duties as a Member of the European Parliament under Article 8 of Protocol No 7.
  5. Under Article 9 of Protocol No 7, Members enjoy in their own state the immunities accorded to members of their parliament; Hungarian law gives Members of the European Parliament the same immunity as members of the National Assembly.
  6. Parliament has broad discretion when deciding whether to grant or refuse a request for waiver of immunity, owing to the political nature of such a decision.
  7. The request was made almost two years after the events and in the run-up to the 2024 European elections; of the Members present and implicated, only two, including Anna Júlia Donáth, face national proceedings, and both are candidates in 2024.
  8. The concordance of this evidence raises a serious doubt that the intention may have been to undermine Anna Júlia Donáth's political activity, including her activity as a Member of the European Parliament.
  9. Parliament finds that fumus persecutionis can be assumed: concrete evidence that the intention underlying the legal proceedings is to undermine her political activity, including her candidacy in the 2024 European elections as head of list.
  10. Parliament decides not to waive the immunity of Anna Júlia Donáth.

Who is affected

  • Anna Júlia Donáth, Member of the European Parliament elected for Hungary: her immunity is not waived.
  • The Prosecutor General of Hungary and the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Budapest: their request for waiver is refused.

Figures and deadlines

  • 19 December 2023: date of the request for waiver of immunity.
  • 21 February 2022: date of the events during a search.
  • 2019: year Anna Júlia Donáth was elected to the European Parliament.
  • 2024: European elections in the run-up to which the request was made.

Legal basis: Articles 8 and 9 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, and Article 6(2) of the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage.