Constitution

The Eötvös Károly Public Policy Institute, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union analysed the draft of the new Constitutional Court Act, to be adopted under the new Hungarian Constitution. The three NGOs found that under the proposed new rules, the Constitutional Court would only be able to ensure respect for constitutional provisions to a limited extent. In turn, the powers of Parliament would increase and fundamental rights protection would weaken.

Leading Hungarian NGOs, Transparency International Hungary and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union besides expressing their criticism about the new Hungarian Constitution and the Constitution-writing process, wish to express their deep concern regarding the recent initiatives of the parliamentary majority to radically encroach upon the independence of the judiciary system.

 Last year one of the first news about the text of the new Constitution was about the extension of right to life to the fetus. The bill submitted to the Parliament is about the protection of the right to life of the fetus. The nontransparent framing process of the Constitution and the lack of real public debate make it impossible to have a clear view on this issue. On March 31 HCLU and Patent Association gave out a joint press release.

In their current, third analysis on the legislative work of the Hungarian Parliament,  the Eötvös Károly Policy Institute, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) examine whether the constitution-making process in Hungary meets the requirements deriving from the principle of the rule of law and compares the draft “Fundamental Law” (i.e. the draft of the new Constitution) submitted to the Parliament on 14 March 2011 with the present constitutional system.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) - OPINION ON THREE LEGAL QUESTIONS ARISING IN THE PROCESS OF DRAFTING THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF HUNGARY - PDF

 Three Hungarian NGOs, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Eotvos Karoly Institute and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee sent a public letter to the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe and the leaders of European Parliament groups to draw their attention to the fallacious translation of the draft Constitution. Moreover, we informed them about our analysis of the Constitution framing process and some dangerous points of the draft.

 The adoption of the new Hungarian Constitution will be, in all likelihood, the most influential domestic legislative act in the field of public law in the first half of 2011. The constitution writing process would be deemed a success if it would result in a substantial fundamental law providing a solid basis for the political community. However, when one takes into consideration the manner in which the new Constitution is being framed, it becomes increasingly difficult to conclude that it will be a success. The minimum requirement for creating a stable Constitution is that the fundamental law is adopted in a process which entails the possibility of the law being accepted by the overwhelming majority of society.

The current,  highly unusual way of designing the Constitution makes one doubt whether this document  will be worthy of being called the Constitution of Hungary. You can download our critical assessment (from here pdf) regarding the process of framing the new Constitution of Hungary. 

The Eötvös Károly Institute, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee focus on the elements of the system of checks and balances which were eliminated or significantly weakened by the decisions of the Government. Unconstitutional legislative changes, adopted since September, are also addressed.

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The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary, K-Monitor, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and the Eötvös Károly Institute turned to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe to obtain its position regarding the amendment of the Constitution which would rectrict the Constitutional Court’s power.

The Constitutional Court stroke down the law on 98% extra tax in its resolution of October 26. The body declared the law unconstitutional on its face, among other reasons, due to the violation of the prohibition of ex post facto legislation.

János Lázár, the leader of the governing party’s fraction, as a reaction in a couple of hours after the Court decision, presented motions as MP to the parliament, which on one hand would revoke the competency of the Constitutional Court in the above issue, on the other hand would guarantee that the constitutional objection would be resolved and the law on 98% extra tax could pass.