Name of the act/s*

Judgment in Case 66/18 Commission v Hungary

Subject area

academic freedom, freedom of establishment, GATS, national treatment

Brief description of the contents of the act

Summary of the Court of Justice of the European Union:

“In its judgment in Commission v Hungary (Higher education) (C-66/18), delivered on 6 October2020, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice upheld the action for failure to fulfil obligations brought against Hungary by the European Commission. The Court held, first, that, by making the exercise, in Hungary, of teaching activities leading to a qualification by higher education institutions situated outside the European Economic Area (EEA) subject to the existence of an international treaty between Hungary and the third country in which the institution concerned has its seat, Hungary has failed to comply with the commitments in relation to national treatment given under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), concluded within the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). That requirement is also contrary to the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) relating to academic freedom, the freedom to found higher education institutions and the freedom to conduct a business.

Second, the Court held that, by making the exercise, in Hungary, of the activities of foreign higher education institutions, including institutions having their seat in another Member State of the EEA, subject to the condition that they offer higher education in the country in which they have their seat, Hungary has failed to comply with its national treatment commitments under the GATS and with its obligations in respect of the freedom of establishment,3 the free movement of services and the abovementioned provisions of the Charter.”

Comment

See the previous contribution on Opinion of AG Kokott of 5 March 2020 in the Case C-66/18, European Commission v Hungary.

Secondary sources/ doctrinal works (if any)

Renáta Uitz: Finally. The CJEU Defends Academic Freedom, Verfassungsblog, 8 October 2020, available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/finally-the-cjeu-defends-academic-freedom/

See also the previous contribution on Opinion of AG Kokott of 5 March 2020 in the Case C-66/18, European Commission v Hungary.

*Act citation /year and number

Judgment in Case 66/18, Commission v Hungary, EU:C:2020:792

Enacted by

Court of Justice of the European Union

Official link to the text of the act

http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=232082&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=12489778

AUTHOR (name and surname)

Viktor Zoltán Kazai

COUNTRY

Hungary

YEAR

2021

Name of the act/s*

2021. évi I. törvény a koronavírus-világjárvány elleni védekezésről / Act no. I of 2021 on the defense against the coronavirus pandemic

Subject area

coronavirus, pandemic, emergency powers, exceptional legal order

Brief description of the contents of the act

By Government Decree no. 27/2021. (I. 29.) The Hungarian government declared once again a state of danger on the basis of Article 53 (1) of the Fundamental Law. The legislation entered into force in the beginning of February. Article 53 of the Fundamental Law allows the Hungarian government to rule by decree without parliamentary approval only for two weeks.

In order to create a more durable legal basis for the government’s extraordinary regulatory power in the state of danger, the National Assembly adopted Act no. I of 2021 on the defense against the coronavirus pandemic. Originally, this act delegated extraordinary regulatory power on the government for 90 days. However, in May the National Assembly adopted Act no. XL of 2021 which prolonged the authorization until the 15th day after the first day of the parliament’s autumn session.

Comment

The Hungarian government has been constantly criticized for using the pandemic as a pretext for power grab. With a qualified two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, the Hungarian government’s legislative power is already unlimited in practice. However, ruling by decree in an emergency situation has the advantage of hiding opportunistic legislative measures in a very large number of (seemingly) rather technical regulations.

Secondary sources/ doctrinal works (if any)

Gábor Mészáros: Carl Schmitt in Hungary: Constitutional Crisis in the Shadow of Covid-19, Review of Central and East European Law, 24 February 2020, https://brill.com/view/journals/rela/46/1/article-p69_69.xml

Nicole Bolleyer – Orsolya Salát : Parliaments in times of crisis: COVID-19, populism and executive dominance, West European Politics, Vol. 44, Issue 5-6 (2021), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01402382.2021.1930733

*Act citation /year and number

Government Decree no. 27/2021. (I. 29.) on the declaration of the state of danger and the entry into force of the extraordinary measures

Act no. I of 2021 on the defense against the coronavirus pandemic

Act no. XL of 2021 on the amendment to Act no. I of 2021 on the defense against the coronavirus pandemic

Enacted by

National Assembly

Official link to the text of the act

https://njt.hu/jogszabaly/2021-27-20-22

https://njt.hu/jogszabaly/2021-1-00-00

https://njt.hu/jogszabaly/2021-40-00-00.0

Name of the act/s*

2020. évi LVII. törvény a veszélyhelyzet megszüntetéséről / Act no. LVII of 2020 on the termination of the state of danger

282/2020. (VI. 17.) Korm. rendelet a 2020. március 11-én kihirdetett veszélyhelyzet megszüntetéséről / Government Decree no. 282/2020 (VI. 17.) on the termination of the state of danger declared on 1 March 2020

2020. évi LVIII. törvény a veszélyhelyzet megszűnésével összefüggő átmeneti szabályokról és a járványügyi készültségről / Act no. LVIII of 2020 on the transitional provisions related to the termination of the state of danger and the on the state of medical emergency

283/2020. (VI. 17.) Korm. rendelet a járványügyi készültség bevezetéséről / Government Decree no. 283/2020 (VI. 17) on the introduction of the medical state of emergency

478/2020. (XI. 3.) Korm. rendelet a veszélyhelyzet kihirdetéséről / Government Decree no 478/2020 (XI. 3.) on the introduction of the state of danger

T/13571. számú törvényjavaslat a koronavírus világjárvány második hulláma elleni védekezésről /Bill no. T/13571 on the defense against the second wave of the pandemic

Subject area

state of danger, special legal order, pandemic, COVID-19

Brief description of the contents of the act

Upon the request of the National Assembly, the Government termination the state of danger – a form of special legal order – which had been in force since 11 March (see the previous contribution on the Act no. XII of 2020 on the containment of coronavirus). The National Assembly also adopted another act to clarify the legal consequences of all the decrees adopted by the Government during the state of danger. In addition, the act introduced another form of quasi special legal order, namely the medical state of emergency, delegating a very broad legislative power to the Government to regulate a great variety of issues related to the pandemic. The Government immediately took this opportunity and introduced a state of medical state of emergency in June.

Despite the broad competences enjoyed by the Government ever since the introduction of the medial state of emergency, in the beginning of November the Government decided to have recourse of Article 53(1) of the Fundamental Law of Hungary and declare a state of danger again. During the state of danger, the government is authorized to temporarily suspend the enforcement of certain laws (including parliamentary acts), depart from statutory regulations and implement additional extraordinary measures by decree.

In order to extend the competences of the Government, the National Assembly adopted an act of authorization on 10 November. The authorization act will remain in force for 90 days. During this period the Government has the right to extend the force of its own decrees adopted on the basis of the special legal order provision of the constitution.

Comment

The Government is heavily criticized for making the text of emergency decrees publicly available only in the very last minute, very often just a couple of hours before their entry into force. This style of hasty of lawmaking seriously endangers legal security and legal certainty.

In addition, the Government used the declaration of the state of emergency as an opportunity to introduce very controversial legislative measures in parliament, including:

-        the Ninth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary,

-        the amendment to the electoral law, and

-        the amendment to the regulation on adoption.

Secondary sources/ doctrinal works (if any)

Gábor Halmai, Gábor Mészáros, Kim Lane Scheppele: From Emergency to Disaster. How Hungary’s Second Pandemic Emergency will Further Destroy the Rule of Law, Verfassungsblog, 30 May 2020, available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/from-emergency-to-disaster/

Csaba Győry, Nyasha Weinberg: Emergency powers in a hybrid regime: the case of Hungary, The Theory and Practice of Legislation, published online on 2 November 2020, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20508840.2020.1838755

András Kádár: In its Nature—How Stealth Authoritarianism Keeps Stealing Along During the Pandemic, and How Can it be Stopped?, Journal of Human Rights Practice, published online on 10 October 2020, available at: https://academic.oup.com/jhrp/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jhuman/huaa034/5920410

Kriszta Kovács: Democracy in Lockdown, Social Research: An International Quarterly, Vol. 87, No. 2 (2020), available at: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/764866

See also the previous contribution on the Act no. XII of 2020 on the containment of coronavirus.

*Act citation /year and number

Act no. LVII of 2020 on the termination of the state of danger

Government Decree no. 282/2020 (VI. 17.) on the termination of the state of danger declared on 1 March 2020

Act no. LVIII of 2020 on the transitional provisions related to the termination of the state of danger and the on the state of medical emergency

Government Decree no. 283/2020 (VI. 17) on the introduction of the medical state of emergency

Government Decree no 478/2020 (XI. 3.) on the introduction of the state of danger

Bill no. T/13571 on the defense against the second wave of the pandemic

Enacted by

National Assembly, Government of Hungary

Official link to the text of the act

http://njt.hu/cgi_bin/njt_doc.cgi?docid=220119.384678, in English: http://njt.hu/translated/doc/J2020T0057P_20200618_FIN.pdf  

http://njt.hu/cgi_bin/njt_doc.cgi?docid=220123.384684, in English: http://njt.hu/translated/doc/J2020R0282K_20200618_FIN.pdf

http://njt.hu/cgi_bin/njt_doc.cgi?docid=220120.390527

http://njt.hu/cgi_bin/njt_doc.cgi?docid=220124.384686, in English: http://njt.hu/translated/doc/J2020R0283K_20200618_FIN.pdf

http://njt.hu/cgi_bin/njt_doc.cgi?docid=222556.391006, in English: http://njt.hu/translated/doc/J2020R0478K_20201104_FIN.pdf

https://www.parlament.hu/irom41/13571/13571.pdf

Name of the act/s*

2020. évi LXXII. törvény a Színház- és Filmművészetért Alapítványról, a Színház- és Filmművészetért Alapítvány és a Színház- és Filmművészeti Egyetem részére történő vagyonjuttatásról / Act no. LXXII. of 2020 on the Foundation for the University for Theater and Film Arts and on the endowment to the University for Theater and Film Arts and the Foundation for the University for Theater and Film Arts

Subject area

academic freedom

Brief description of the contents of the act

On 3 July 2020 the National Assembly adopted Act no. LXXII. of 2020 on the Foundation for the University for Theater and Film Arts which entered into force five days later. The act set up a foundation to which the most important rights of control over the operation of the university, of the management of its wealth and of the appointment of its faculty were delegated. The foundation operates under the supervision of the Minister of Innovation and Technology. The board of the foundation was authorized – among others – to adopt the budget of the university, to approve its internal regulation and to exercise influence on the selection of the rector (president).

Comment

In practice, this development is part of a broader process, i.e. the “privatization” of certain state universities. Most of the institutions put under the control of a “private” foundation, such as the University for Theater and Film Arts, continue to be financed by the state. In theory, this new system could even enhance the autonomy of universities. However, the circumstances of the adoption and the implementation of this reform raise serious concerns.

Upon the request of the Ministry, the senate of the university prepared a proposal for the new international regulations necessary for the implementation of the reform. The board of the foundation however completely ignored the senate’s proposal and issued the new internal regulations without the senate’s consent. The board authorized itself to appoint the most prominent members of the university’s leadership.

The reason why these decisions are particularly concerning is that the members of the board were appointed by the ministry on the basis of their political worldview. This reform is strongly associated with the culture war waged by the government against the cultural sphere allegedly dominated by the “leftist-liberal” elite ever since the fall of the socialist dictatorship. It is very often argued by the government and artists closely affiliated with the government that such and similar reforms are necessary to remedy the repression of Christian-conservative artists and values.

As a response to these decisions of the foundation’s board, the leadership of the university and several members of the faculty resigned, the remaining professors went on strike and the students blockaded the university. After more than two months of resistance, the students announced on 9 November 2020 the end of the blockade due to the restrictions introduced by the government because of the pandemic.

Secondary sources/ doctrinal works (if any)

Viktor Z. Kazai: Aux armes, comédiens!: The freedom of the arts and sciences under siege, Verfassungsblog, 7 September 2020, available at: https://verfassungsblog.de/aux-armes-comediens/

Luca Kristóf : Cultural policy in an illiberal state. The case study of Hungary after 2010. Intersections East European Journal of Society and Politics, 3 (3) (2017), http://real.mtak.hu/63433/

Iván Bajomi et al.: Hungary Turns its Back on Europe. Dismantling Culture, Education, Science and the Media in Hungary 2010-2019 (Budapest: Hungarian Network of Academics, 2020), available at: http://mek.oszk.hu/20200/20273/20273.pdf

*Act citation /year and number

Act no. LXXII. of 2020 on the Foundation for the University for Theater and Film Arts and on the endowment to the University for Theater and Film Arts and the Foundation for the University for Theater and Film Arts

Enacted by

National Assembly

Official link to the text of the act

http://njt.hu/cgi_bin/njt_doc.cgi?docid=220656.386066