IFTD 2026 event: 18 June 2026, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
Ebru Timtik Award nominations deadline: 11 May 2026
International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) highlights the importance of the right to a fair trial and draws attention to systemic violations worldwide. Following careful consideration of the state of fair trial rights in the country and the potential impact of the initiative, Hungary has been selected as the IFTD focus country for 2026. The IFTD Steering Group, which includes Lawyers for Lawyers, is pleased to invite you to the event on the 18 June in Budapest to address pressing issues and concerns regarding fair trial rights. Furthermore, we hereby announce the opening of nominations for the Ebru Timtik Fair Trial Award, which recognises individuals or organisations that have demonstrated outstanding commitment to defending and promoting fair trial rights.
Background
The annual International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) is observed each year on 14 June. Established in 2021, the initiative is supported by over 100 legal associations across the world who are committed to the vital importance of the right to a fair trial and addressing the serious challenges to due process rights worldwide. The IFTD is coordinated by a Steering Group which, each year, through a nomination process selects a focus country where fair trial rights are being systemically violated, and organises an event and related activities to draw attention to the situation in that country. The event brings together national and international stakeholders to examine systemic fair trial issues and develop concrete recommendations to address them, which are shared in a public statement and report on the event. Alongside the IFTD, the Ebru Timtik Award is granted each year by an independent jury to an individual or group that has made a significant contribution to the defence and promotion of the right to a fair trial in the focus country. It honours Ebru Timtik, a lawyer from Turkey who posthumously received the first edition of the Award, having lost her life on 27 August 2020 as a result of a 238-day hunger strike protesting against the systemic violations of fair trial rights in Turkey.
2026 International Fair Trial Day Focus Country: Hungary
Following careful consideration of the state of fair trial rights in the country and the potential impact of the initiative, Hungary has been selected as the IFTD focus country for 2026. In recent years, the Hungarian government has engaged in a sustained and systematic process of undermining judicial independence, eroding fair trial guarantees, restricting media freedom, and shrinking civic space. These developments form part of a broader dismantling of democratic institutions and an ongoing consolidation of power within the executive, such that the European Parliament has acknowledged “an increasing consensus among experts that Hungary is no longer a democracy”. The pace and severity of this democratic backsliding have intensified markedly in 2024 and 2025, with successive constitutional amendments accelerating the erosion of judicial checks and balances. Fair trial guarantees have been further undermined by restrictions on the right of defence, with domestic legislation and investigative procedures violating the right to access a lawyer and structural barriers that persist within the legal aid system. [read the full announcement for further details]
Pressure by international actors and solidarity and support to the Hungarian legal community remain crucial to improve the human rights situation in Hungary. The 2026 IFTD offers a concrete opportunity for dialogue and promises to have a strong impact with strategic analysis of policy and systemic conditions.
Call for nominations for the Ebru Timtik Award
The Steering Group of the IFTD also invites nominations of one or more individuals or an organisation for the Ebru Timtik Award from amongst those who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and sacrifice in upholding fundamental values related to the right to a fair trial in Hungary. The individual(s) or organisation nominated for the award must be or have been active in defending and or promoting the right to a fair trial in Hungary through either a recent outstanding piece of work in relation to this fundamental right or their distinguished long-term involvement in fair trial issues.
The deadline for nominations is 11 May 2026. Nominations are welcomed from organisations, or groups of individuals supported by an organisation. For full details and nomination requirements, please see the announcement linked below.
For more information, access the full announcement here. or visit the IFTD website
The Steering Group for the International Fair Trial Day and Ebru Timtik Award is comprised of the following organisations:
- Avocats Européens Démocrates/European Democratic Lawyers (AED)
- Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC)
- Conseil national des barreaux/National Council of Bars (CNB)
- Consiglio Nazionale Forense/National Bar Council of Italy (CNF)
- Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği/Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD)
- Défense Sans Frontières – Avocats Solidaires (DSF-AS)
- European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH)
- Fair Trials
- Federation Barreaux d’Europe/Federation of European Bars (FBE)
- The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
- International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
- International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
- International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD)
- Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L)
- Özgürlük İçin Hukukçular Derneği/Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD)
- Republikanischer Antwaltinnen- und Anwalteverein eV/Republican Lawyers Association (RAV)
- The Law Society of England and Wales (LSEW)
- Institut pour l’État de Droit de l’Union Internationale des Avocats/The Institute for the Rule of Law of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA-IROL)
