Constitutional Court of Hungary
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Constitutional Court of Hungary | |
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Magyarország Alkotmánybírósága | |
Established | October 19, 1989 |
Jurisdiction | Hungary |
Location | Budapest |
Authorized by | Constitution of Hungary |
Judge term length | 9 years, may be re-elected once |
Number of positions | 15 |
Language | Hungarian |
Website | alkotmanybirosag |
The Constitutional Court of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország Alkotmánybírósága) is a special court of Hungary, making judicial review of the acts of the Parliament of Hungary. The official seat of the Constitutional Court is Budapest. Until 2012 the seat was Esztergom.[citation needed]
The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 justices since September 1, 2011 (previously, the Court was composed of 11 justices). The members then elect the President of the Court (Chief Justice) from among its members in a secret ballot. One or two vice-presidents, appointed by the President of the Court, stand in for the President in the event of his absence for any reason. The constitutional court passes on the constitutionality of laws, and there is no right of appeal on these decisions. The Constitutional Court serves as the main body for the protection of the Constitution, its tasks being the review of the constitutionality of statutes, and the protection of constitutional order and fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The Constitutional Court performs its tasks independently. With its own budget and its justices being elected by Parliament it does not constitute a part of the ordinary judicial system.
Establishment
On 19 October 1989, the
Changes made by the 2011 Constitution
The following changes were drafted:[1]
The Constitutional Court (Article 24.)
(1) The Constitutional Court shall be the main authority for constitutional protection.
(2) The Constitutional Court shall
a) review the constitutionality of laws adopted, but not yet published,
b) review at the request of a judge the constitutionality of legislation to be applied in an individual case,
c) on the basis of a constitutional complaint, review the constitutionality of legislation or a judicial decision applied in an individual case,
d) upon the initiative of the Government or one quarter of the Members of Parliament review the constitutionality of laws,
e) review the conflict of legislation with international treaties, and
f) perform other duties and authorities defined in the Constitution and in super majority laws.
(3) Acting pursuant to its jurisdiction in its competence under section b)-d) of paragraph (2), the Constitutional Court will annul laws and other legal norms, judicial decisions that it finds to be unconstitutional, pursuant to its jurisdiction under section e) of paragraph (2) annul laws or legal norms deemed to be in conflict with international treaties and will also rule on other issues set forth in super majority laws.
(4) Acting pursuant to its jurisdiction under section c)-d) of paragraph (2), the Constitutional Court shall review the constitutionality of laws on the State Budget and its implementation, on central taxes, fees and customs duties, pension and health care contributions, as well as on the content of the statues concerning uniform requirements on local taxes only if the petition refers exclusively to the right to life and human dignity, the right to the protection of personal data, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion or the right connected to the Hungarian citizenship, if the conditions defined for adopting and promulgating the law have not been met.
(5) The Constitutional Court is a body of 15 members, elected by Parliament for a period of twelve years by a two-thirds majority of the Members of Parliament. The Parliament will elect with a two-thirds majority of the Members of Parliament a President, with a mandate that lasts until the term of the judge's mandate. Members of the Constitutional Court may not be members of a political party and may not engage in any political activities.
Chief Justices
- László Sólyom (July 1, 1990 – November 24, 1998)
- János Németh (November 24, 1998 – July 31, 2003)
- András Holló (August 1, 2003 – November 12, 2005)
- Mihály Bihari (November 12, 2005 – July 2, 2008)
- Péter Paczolay (July 3, 2008 – February 24, 2015)
- Barnabás Lenkovics (February 25, 2015 – April 21, 2016)
- Tamás Sulyok (April 21, 2016 – March 4, 2024)
- László Salamon (acting, March 4, 2024 – present)
Justices
The Hungarian Constitution declares that members of the Constitutional Court shall be elected by
The present composition of the court includes the following justices:[3]
- Elemér Balogh (1958)
- Egon Dienes-Oehm (1945)
- Imre Juhász (1963)
- László Kiss (1951)
- Barnabás Lenkovics (1950)
- Miklós Lévay (1954)
- Péter Paczolay (1956)
- Béla Pokol (1950)
- László Salamon (1947)
- István Stumpf (1957)
- Péter Szalay (1960)
- Mária Szívós (1949)
- András Zs. Varga (1968)
Controversy over new constitution
On 1 March 2013, the Princeton University international constitutional law scholar and Hungary specialist Kim Lane Scheppele reported that the Hungarian ruling party's supermajority is re-introducing in one "mega-amendment" multiple constitutional amendments which had been introduced before and nullified by the Constitutional Court or changed at the insistence of European bodies. The new constitutional mega-amendment again puts an end to the independence of the judiciary, brings universities under still more governmental control, opens the door to political prosecutions, criminalizes homelessness, makes the recognition of religious groups dependent on their cooperation with the government and weakens human rights guarantees across the board. In addition, the constitution will now buffer the government from further financial sanctions by permitting it to pass on all fines for noncompliance with the constitution or with European law to the Hungarian population as special taxes, not payable by the normal state budget. The mega-amendment annuls all of the decisions made by the Court before 1 January 2012 so that they have no legal effect. Henceforth no longer can anyone in the country – neither the Constitutional Court, nor the ordinary courts, nor human rights groups nor ordinary citizens – rely on the Court's prior string of rights-protecting decisions.[4][5][6]
On 5 March 2013, Michael Link, undersecretary in the
On 6 March 2013, Europe's main human rights watchdog,
On 7 March 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Navracsics sent a letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
On 8 March 2013, the government of the United States raised its concerns both about the content of the proposed amendments "as they could threaten the principles of institutional independence and checks and balances that are the hallmark of democratic governance" and about the process by which they were to be accepted: "[The USA] urges the Government of Hungary and the Parliament to ensure that the process of considering amendments to the constitution demonstrates respect for the rule of law and judicial review, openness to the views of other stakeholders across Hungarian society, and continuing receptiveness to the expertise of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission."[12]
On 8 March 2013, in a letter to the
On 8 March 2013, Minister of Foreign Affairs, János Martonyi sent letter to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of EU-member states, in which he gave details on the text of the amendment.[15]
On 11 March 2013, "Hungary's parliament, dominated by Prime Minister
In The New York Times column of Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman, Princeton University international constitutional scholar and Hungary specialist Professor Kim Lane Scheppele[17] writes:
- "The
Critiques have also been made in the official working documents of the European Parliament[20][21][22][23] and by the Venice Commission on Hungary.[24]
See also
- Supreme Court of Hungary
- Constitution
- Constitutionalism
- Constitutional economics
- Jurisprudence
- Judiciary
- Rule of law
- Rule According to Higher Law
References
- ^ "Constitution in English (Draft)" (PDF). Euractiv. 25 April 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
- ^ "EKINT HCLU HHC Analysing CC judges performances" (PDF). www.helsinki.hu. 2015.
- ^ "Constitutional Court - Present members". The Constitutional Court of Hungary. Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ Kim Lane Scheppele, The New York Times, March 1, 2013 [1] Constitutional Revenge
- ^ Neil Buckley & Kester Eddy Hungary revisits controversial constitution plan Financial Times March 4, 2013
- ^ Margit Feher Hungary's Government May Take Revenge on Court, Professor Says The Wall Street Journal March 5, 2013
- ^ "Facts Matter". Ferenc Kumin. Archived from the original on 2018-12-18. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "A Look at the Constitutional Amendment". Ferenc Kumin. Archived from the original on 2020-01-10. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "Ungarn muss Rechtsstaat bleiben". Auswärtiges Amt.
- ^ "European rights watchdog urges Hungary to postpone vote on disputed amendments to constitution". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Deputy Prime Minister Navracsics's letter to Secretary General Jagland". Website of the Hungarian Government. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Press Releases". United States Department of State. 2020-04-06. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "Hungarian prime minister warned over moves to increase his power". The Guardian. March 8, 2013.
- ^ "News - Latest breaking news available as free video on demand". euronews.
- ^ "Janos Martonyi sent letter to EU Foreign Ministers". Website of the Hungarian Government. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Hungary's parliament passes changes to constitution". Chicago Tribune. Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
- ^ "Kim Lane Scheppele analyzes the present situation in Hungary". Princeton University.
- ^ "Guest Post: The Fog of Amendment". March 12, 2013.
- ^ Balogh, Eva S. (March 20, 2013). "Video of the U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing on Hungary, March 19, 2013".
- ^ "Working document". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "Working document" (PDF). www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "Working document". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "Working document". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
- ^ "Documents by opinions and studies".