: Introduction
to Hungarian Law Research
By Zsuzsanna Antal
Published
July 2005
Zsuzsanna Antal works for the Central European University Library
in Budapest, Hungary where she is the Head of Collection Management. She
received a Master degrees in sociology and library and information science at Lajos Kossuth University,
Debrecen, Hungary. She had been a reference librarian at the University Library
of Lajos Kossuth University from 1996 to 1999.
Update to an article previously
published on LLRX.com on December 3, 2001
<http://www.llrx.com/features/hungarian.htm>
Table of Contents
Hungary is an
independent, democratic constitutional state. According to the revised Constitution that came into force on
October 23, 1989, Hungary is a parliamentary republic. Hungary has a civil law
system and the courts directly interpret the words of the legislation. The
sources of Hungarian law are the Acts of
Parliament, governmental and ministerial decrees, which are valid only if
published in the Official Gazette, and decrees of local governments. The legal system of the Republic of Hungary
accepts the universally recognized rules
and regulations of international law, and shall harmonize the internal laws and
statutes of the country with the obligations assumed under international law.
The basic and
supreme law of the Republic of Hungary is the Constitution. The Government bears the obligation of submitting
to Parliament the Bills necessary for the enactment of the Constitution. The
Constitution in its present form is a compilation and consolidation of the modifications
of the earlier constitution (Article XX of 1949) into a coherent structure. Important stages in the process of
drafting the Constitution were Act XXXI of 1989 and Act XL of 1990.
The Hungarian
Constitution regulates two classical constitutional areas: state administration
(national government, local government, and organizations for the protection of rights) and the listing of
the basic rights of citizens. The chapters of the Constitution cover the
following: general decrees, Parliament, the President of the Republic, the
Constitutional Court, the parliamentary Ombudsman, the State Auditing Office,
the National Bank of Hungary, the
Government, local governments, the court system, the Public Prosecutor's
Office, basic rights and obligations of citizens, electoral principles, the
nation's capital, national symbols of the Republic of Hungary, and the decrees
for implementation (in Hungarian, in English and in German, in English, only Chapters I-IX)
The Hungarian
Parliament (National Assembly) is a legislative body whose range of law-making
activity is extensive and whose structure is unicameral consisting of 386
members. MPs are elected for four-year terms by popular vote. Of the 386 total seats,
176 are decided in individual constituency elections, 152 on the basis of 20
district lists (county and municipal), and 58 seats on the basis of national
lists. Every Hungarian citizen at the age of 18 and over has the right to vote,
and is at the same time eligible to be a
candidate for elective office.
In the Parliament
the legislative supervision is exercised during plenary sessions through
questions and
interpellations. In addition to the plenary sessions, the parliamentary committees also play a
significant role in the supervision of the executive branch of government.
There are also individual parliamentary control bodies, like the State Audit Office
and the institution of the Ombudsman.
Within its
competence, Parliament enacts the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary; it
also frames laws; ratifies the international treaties that are of outstanding
significance for the external relations of the Republic of Hungary; and elects
the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the members
of the
Constitutional Court, the ombudsman to deal with the observation of civil
rights and the rights of national and ethnic minorities, the President and Vice
Presidents of the State Audit Office, the President of the Supreme Court and
the Chief Prosecutor.
Parliament passes
a decision with the affirmative votes of over half of the MPs present. For the
amendment of the Constitution, or for passing certain decisions defined in the
Constitution, the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the Members of Parliament
are required.
The President of
the Republic, the Government, any parliamentary committee and any Member of
Parliament may initiate legislation. The right of legislation is vested in
Parliament. Within fifteen days -- or, if the Speaker of Parliament so
requests, within five days -- of receipt of the law framed, the President of
the Republic endorses it and sees to its promulgation. Ratified Acts of
Parliament have to be published in the Official Gazette (Magyar Közlöny).
The President of the Republic is Hungary's head of
state, and is elected by Parliament by secret ballot for a term of five years. The
President of the Republic may be
re-elected for this office for no more
than one additional term.
The traditional
rights of the head of state, also set down in the Hungarian Constitution, have
been defined in relation to legislative, executive, and judicial authority, according to a system of
separation of powers. His sphere of authority as regards judicial power
includes the appointment of judges and the granting of individual pardons.
The President of
the Republic concludes international treaties and agreements on behalf of the Republic of Hungary. If the
subject of the agreement belongs under the competence of the legislation, the
prior agreement of Parliament is required for concluding the agreement.
The Constitutional Court has existed as an institution in Hungary
since 1989, established by Act I of the Constitution. Actually it has been
functioning since January 1, 1990.
The Constitutional
Court oversees the constitutionality of legal provisions. Any law or legal measure found
unconstitutional is annulled by the Constitutional
Court. In the cases defined by the law,
anyone may initiate proceedings at the
Constitutional Court. The eleven members of the Constitutional Court are
elected by Parliament. Two-thirds of the affirmative votes of the Members of
Parliament are necessary for election to the Constitutional Court. The law
defines the main tasks of the Constitutional Court as follows: it interprets the Constitution; it provides
normative standards and supervision over the constitutionality of laws; it
reconciles the differences between international and domestic law; it renders
decisions on constitutional challenges; it determines negligence in violations
of constitutionality; it renders decisions on debates of authority; it
establishes the public responsibilities of the head of state and other public
officials; and it determines the spheres of authority of municipalities and
local authorities, and interprets limitations on public referendums.
The Constitutional
Court is the only forum in Hungary whose decisions are binding on everyone.
There is no domestic recourse of appeal to them. The rulings of the
Constitutional Court are published in the Official Gazette.
It is the duty of the
Parliamentary Commissioner (Ombudsman) for Civil Rights and
Ombudsman for the protection of national and minority rights to investigate any
abuse of constitutional rights or that of nationality or ethnic minority rights
that has come to their attention, and to initiate general or particular
measures for redress.In cases defined by law, anyone may propose that the
Ombudsman take action.The Ombudsmen for civil rights and for national and
minority rights are elected, on the nomination of the President of the
Republic, by Parliament - with two-thirds of the affirmative votes of all MPs
necessary. For the protection of certain constitutional rights, Parliament may
elect separate Ombudsmen. Each Ombudsman reports on his activities and
experiences annually to Parliament. Annual reports can be read on the web at http://www.obh.hu.
The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the government ministers.
The Prime Minister is elected by a simple majority vote of the Members of
Parliament. Parliament decides on the election of the Prime Minister and on
acceptance of the Government program at the same time. The ministers are
proposed by the Prime Minister, and appointed and relieved of their duties by
the President of the Republic.The Government can issue decrees and also conclude
international agreements in the name of the Republic of Hungary.The
establishment of ministries falls within the competence of Parliament and law
defines their status. Heading each ministry is a single responsible minister
who is also a member of the cabinet. The leading officials of the ministries
are the political and administrative state secretaries. The office of the
political state secretary, who have to be an elected MP and is authorized to
represent the minister in Parliament, is a characteristic institution of a
coalition government. The administrative state secretary is the professional
head of the apparatus and his appointment is for an unlimited period of time.
The Government
takes the necessary measures to ensure public law and order and public
security, participates in the determination of foreign policy, as well as
concludes international agreements on behalf of the Government of the Republic
of Hungary. In its own sphere of functions the Government issues decrees and
passes resolutions, which are signed by the Prime Minister. In the performance
of their functions, the Prime Minister and the members of the Government may
issue decrees. No decree and resolution of the Government may be contrary to
the law and any decree of the Prime Minister and the members of the Government
must not be contrary to any law or any Government decree and resolution.
Decrees issued by
the Government, the Prime Minister or the members of the Government must be
promulgated in the Official Gazette.
The territory of
the Republic of Hungary consists of administrative units including the capital
and 19 counties. Local self-government means autonomous and democratic management
of local affairs by the communities concerned and exercise of local public
authority. The members of the representative body are elected for a term of
four years. More information on this issue could be found at these URLs:
A local
representative body may frame decrees within its competence, which,
however, must not
be in conflict with legal provisions of higher level.
In the Republic of
Hungary there is a three-tier judicial system; the Supreme Court of the Republic
of Hungary, the Court of the Capital City and the county (municipal)
courts, and local (municipal district) courts administer justice.
The areas of
jurisdiction indulge criminal, civil and administrative law. Administrative
judgments prevail within the framework of normal courts, which according to
existing regulations must review the legality of administrative actions. Their
jurisdiction is related to the application of the law; that is, judges do not
make the law.
The Supreme
Court of the Republic of Hungary sets guidelines based on principles
for the judicial work of every court. The directives and decisions in questions
of principle of the Supreme Court are binding on all courts of the country.
They are accessible on the web in Hungarian.The President of the Republic
elects the President of the Supreme Court, after nomination, by Parliament.
Professional judges are appointed by the President of the Republic.
The legal
profession is generally organized as sole practices and small firms. A
significant number of international law firms are represented in Hungary, and
specialization is developing in a variety of areas.
The Library of the Hungarian Parliament is the national special
library and information center of legal literature. Its holding is over 800,000
library items.
The databases,
which are accessible exclusively in the Parliamentary Library, contain
bibliographical information of selected literature of Hungarian law covering
book reviews, periodical articles and essays.
i. 1867-1944
Supplemented with
some earlier items. It is accessible only for the librarians of the Library of
the Hungarian Parliament. (8600 articles March 2001)
ii. 1945-1979
Presently
accessible: selected materials from1962-1963, 1967-1979 (19,990 items)
iii. 1980-1989
15,531 items
iv. 1990-
It covers
bibliographical information of interdisciplinary areas and Hungarian and
foreign language legal monographs, essays, articles of legal periodicals and
social sciences periodicals published in Hungary since January 1, 1990. It
contains the laws and collection of laws as well. It does not cover articles
published in dailies or weeklies. Updated weekly. (50,882 items)
Selected Bibliography of Hungarian Legal
Literature, 1990-1994 on
CD-ROM
Old Hungarian Statutes (Corpus Iuris)
The database is
accessible only in the Parliamentary Library. It contains the titles of
Hungarian statutes enacted before 1949 and some statutes with full text from
the period 1001-1361. (8,399 items)
CD-ROMs of valid
laws and decrees are available as well, updated monthly and published by
private companies e.g. CompLEX CD jogtár, CD Jogász. Both companies offer
fee-based online services for subscribers.
Statutes enacted by the Hungarian
Parliament since 1990 can be found on the web arranged
in chronological order, without any search options.
Hungarian
legislation and public administration related information can be found at the
site http://www.ekormanyzat.hu/ and a collection of
links on the site of the publisher.
The Minister of
Justice and the state secretary of the Prime Minister's Office are responsible
for the publication of the official codes of laws.