Index – Domestic – Granite fragments of the granite solid Basic Grade

Amendments to the Basic Law are numbered, as are amendments to the United States Constitution. However, while only 27 amendments were added to the United States Constitution in 231 years, nine were added to the Basic Law of Hungary in 9 years. But there are also similarities.

Remuneration of former heads of state

The first correction of the Basic Law had to wait only a narrow year and a half. The first amendment (June 18, 2012) incorporated the transitional provisions into the Basic Law, extended the Remuneration Law of the President of the Republic to former heads of state just two months after the resignation of Paul Schmitt and repealed Article 30 of the transitory provisions, allowing the establishment of a new organization by merging the MNB and the body responsible for supervising the financial intermediation system.

Voter registration

The second amendment (November 9, 2012) would have introduced the institution of voter registration in the Basic Law, but the Constitutional Court did so in Decree No. 45/2012. (XII. 29.) AB. Constitutional judges assessed that

the National Assembly exceeded the legislative power contained in the Basic Law when it included rules that do not contain transitory provisions among the transitory provisions of the Basic Law.

Especially arable land

Forty days after the second, the third amendment arrived (December 21, 2012), which in addition to making the land law decisive, declared, inter alia:

Natural resources, in particular arable land, forests and water resources, biodiversity, in particular native plant and animal species, and cultural values ​​are the common heritage of the nation, the protection, maintenance and preservation of which for future generations . it is everyone’s duty.

Constitutional Court restrictions

The biggest package of amendments so far has been the fourth. The fourth amendment (March 25, 2013) modified 22 articles of the Basic Law. The main changes are:

• the basis of the family relationship is marriage (between a man and a woman) and a relationship between parents and children;
• In the case of constitutional amendments, the Head of State may only request a review from the Constitutional Court on the basis of a procedural irregularity, and may not raise a substantive exception;
• only the National Assembly can recognize a religious community as a church;
• During the campaign period, parties can advertise only in the public service media, the media cannot request money for political advertising;
• violations of national, ethnic, racial or religious communities and the Hungarian nation are prohibited;
• the law may link financial support for receiving higher education with participation in employment for a specified period of time or with the exercise of a business activity;
• living in a public place as a way of life can be declared illegal;
• the modification of the Basic Law cannot be examined by the Constitutional Court from the point of view of the content;
• the President of the OBH can transfer judgments from one court to another;
• The decisions of the Constitutional Court taken before the entry into force of the Basic Law will expire.

The package of amendments has generated heated debates, in particular, provoking the disapproval of the European Commission because it has incorporated provisions previously declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court into the Basic Law, thus preventing a new review by the constitutional judges.

The Ombudsman Máté Szabó appealed to the Constitutional Court challenging the validity of public law and constitutionality of the reform, but the body referred to the incompetence in Decree No. 12/2013. (V. 24.) AB rejected the motion.

European Commission concerns

Following the fourth amendment, the European Commission expressed concern about the imposition of extraordinary taxes, the transfer of court cases and restrictions on political advertising. The Fifth Amendment (September 26, 2013) addressed these issues.

Under the amendment, campaign ads will no longer be broadcast not only in public media, but also on commercial television and radio. Legally, all religious communities are considered churches, and the state can cooperate with “established churches” based on a decision of the National Assembly, that is, provide them with taxes and other benefits. The amendment entrusted the Magyar Nemzeti Bank with the supervision of the financial intermediation system and abolished the possibility of judicial transfers.

The Sixth Amendment (June 14, 2016) added a category of terrorist threats to the regulation of the special legal order.

Self-identity and administrative justice

The Seventh Amendment (June 18, 2018) added the following sentence to the national creed:

We believe that protecting our identity, rooted in our historic constitution, is a fundamental duty of the state.

With another amendment

• It has become the duty of all State organs to protect the constitutional identity and Christian culture of the country;
• No foreign population can settle in Hungary;
• everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, their home, their contacts and their reputation;
• freedom of expression and the exercise of the right to assembly must not be detrimental to the private, family or home life of others;
• forbidden to live in a public way of life;
• the administrative courts were included in the Basic Law and the judges were also instructed in the interpretation of the law, according to which

When determining the purpose of the legislation, in particular the preamble to the legislation or the motivation for the proposed creation or modification of the legislation shall be taken into account.

While the 7th Amendment raised the administrative courts in the Basic Law, the 8th Amendment (December 12, 2019) restored the provisions on the courts to the state prior to the 7th Amendment.

And on Tuesday, Parliament decided on the Ninth Amendment, which changed twelve articles of the Basic Law.

(Cover image: Main staircase of Parliament, in the foreground the Basic Law of May 26, 2014. Photo: László Beliczay / MTI)