Hungary: Constitutional (R)evolution or Regression?

Since 2010, Hungarian constitutionalism has turned in a direction that has widely been regarded as illiberal and has attracted criticism from European and international organisations and other Member States. Central to the change was the adoption of the new Fundamental Law in 2011. The Hungarian report explores the post-2010 period in the context of EU and international law. Whilst the Hungarian Constitutional Court in 2012 affirmed the ‘constitutional continuity’, in that the interpretations that had been used prior to the new Fundamental Law would be applied, this was overruled by a subsequent constitutional amendment, which has reinforced concern that the governing majority is ignoring the constitutional traditions of the last two decades. Since this amendment, the Constitutional Court adds reasoning if it refers to the former case law. In the rulings related to international law and EU law, the constitutional practice did not change significantly, although it became somewhat ambiguous until 2015. An Editorial Note has been added to the country chapter to explain that before the illiberal turn in 2010 and in the aftermath of the post-communist constitutional reforms, the Hungarian constitutional system had in fact been widely acclaimed in Europe for the particularly extensive safeguards for the rule of law and human dignity established by the Constitutional Court. For instance, the Hungarian Constitutional Court during that period represented a robust approach to the principles of legal certainty and non-retroactivity as part of the doctrine of the rule of law, which was invoked frequently as the basis for annulment of legislation.