Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz

Constitutional Justice under Populism

The Transformation of Constitutional Jurisprudence in Hungary since 2010


The history of fundamental rights protection in Hungary

A human rights standard similar to the one contained in the Constitution after the 1989 democratic transition of the country from socialism to constitutional democracy first appeared in Hungary in the preamble of Act I of 1946 on the Form of the Hungarian State (Small Constitution).1 The text of this norm of the first democratic constitution after the Second World War, which never became fully effective and which was fast overruled by the 1949 Stalinist constitution, stipulated that the state shall guarantee the natural and inalienable rights of man to the citizens of the Republic of Hungary. An exemplary list of rights was drawn up and a general equality clause was introduced, ensuring that rights are exercised equally and without discrimination. In addition, there was a guarantee that a citizen could only be deprived of his rights through legal proceedings. The period from 1946 to 1949 (the liquidation of democratic parties, electoral fraud, elections brought forward by force, etc.) destroyed democratic aspirations. In 1949, Act XX of 1949 on the Constitution of the Hungarian People’s Republic was adopted, which formally remained the constitution (but with significant amendments after 1989) until 31 December 2011. At the time of its creation, this act did not provide for the protection of fundamental rights.2 The constitutional rules on rights were introduced into the Constitution at the level of declaration with the 1972 constitutional amendment,3 but this did not represent a significant change in the content of the protection of fundamental rights compared to the previous period, as the party-state’s attention was not focused on the protection of rights. That turn had to wait until the 1989 democratic revolution under the rule of law. It was then that the current system of fundamental rights protection was established, which is not just a declaration, but a real state guarantee, backed by guarantees and an institutional basis, to ensure that people can exercise their fundamental rights in the way in which they are entitled to under the constitution.4

Constitutional Justice under Populism

Tartalomjegyzék


Kiadó: Akadémiai Kiadó

Online megjelenés éve: 2024

ISBN: 978 963 454 971 0

In Hungary’s 2010 parliamentary elections, Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance and its coalition partner, the Christian Democratic Party won a landslide victory and the newly formed populist Orbán-government gained a two-thirds constitution-making parliamentary majority, which it has kept for four consecutive terms (so far). In the spring of 2011, the National Assembly adopted Hungary’s new Fundamental Law, which has since been amended twelve times. The transformation of the Hungarian Constitutional Court and constitutional jurisprudence has played a significant role in cementing the new regime. The changes can be followed in a chronological order in this book. The author starts with the explanation of the concept of constitutional adjudication, she then reviews the procedural-institutional developments and the critical doctrinal junctures of the past thirteen years with regard to the general assessment of the change in constitutional justice. Finally, the volume offers a reading of how the scholarly experiences and factual results of the thirteen years spent under populism compare to the ideal of constitutional-court-made constitutional justice.

Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz is research professor at the Institute for Legal Studies, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences and professor of constitutional law at ELTE Law School, Budapest. She worked as law clerk at the Hungarian Constitutional Court in different positions between 2003 and 2013. She has published extensively on different aspects of constitutional law, including the practice of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, the impact of different contemporary challenges to constitutional adjudication, as well as the rule of law resilience of Hungarian legal system.

Hivatkozás: https://mersz.hu/gardos-orosz-constitutional-justice-under-populism//

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