The Venice Commission found the Hungarian laws currently under review, that is, the franchise law, the law on the rights of nationalities and the legislation on the prosecution service, democratic on the whole and concluded that they serve constitutionality, Minister of State for Justice Róbert Répássy said after the plenary session of the body on Friday.

The politician representing the position of the Hungarian Government at the meeting pointed out, based on the Commission’s opinion adopted on the laws mentioned, there are no grounds with all certainty for the institution of monitoring proceedings against Hungary as the legal rules reviewed do not have deficiencies on account of which the Council of Europe should take action in Hungary in the interest of democracy and the maintenance of constitutionality.

Róbert Répássy said that there was an ongoing dialogue between the Venice Commission and the Hungarian Government; the latter assisted the Commission’s work with technical background information.

The opinions adopted by the Commission on the three laws on Friday mostly coincide with the Government’s position.

The Minister of State said that, from among the rules concerning the prosecution service, criticisms were levelled against the extension of the mandate of the chief prosecutor and the right of the chief prosecutor to press charges before a court other than the competent one. The Hungarian Government argued that the latter was permitted by the transitional provisions of the Fundamental Law as long as this was necessary for the timely assessment of cases.

As regards the extension of the mandate, the Hungarian Government stated that Hungarian public law also recognises a mandate for a period of 12 years. At the same time, the Minister of State indicated to the Commission that the Government is ready to consider that the extension should be for a maximum period of 3 years in the event of the unsuccessful election of a successor. He remarked that a mandate for an indefinite term may also be considered; however, this would require an amendment to the Constitution. The Commission finds this rule democratic on the whole, he summed up.

In the context of the franchise law, according to the information of the Minister of State, the body welcomed almost all changes, the reduction of the number of MPs, the changeover to a single-round electoral system and the solution devised for the representation of national minorities, on a positive note. At the same time, the Venice Commission drew the attention of the Government to the importance of creating the law on the electoral procedure in cooperation with the opposition in the autumn and requested the Government to take the recommendations made in the Commission’s opinion into consideration upon the creation of the legislation, Róbert Répássy said, adding that on behalf of the Hungarian Government, he pledged to do so.

The Commission finds the Act on the Constitutional Court coherent and adequately codified; the Commission welcomed, inter alia, the abolition of actio popularis and the fact that the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights may, on behalf of the citizens that turn to him/her, request the Constitutional Court to conduct a subsequent norm review. Róbert Répássy confirmed in the context of the restriction of the Constitutional Court’s powers regarding budgetary and fiscal issues that the Constitutional Court is not fully and comprehensively barred from proceeding in cases of this nature as the Constitutional Court may, for instance, quash, and indeed has already quashed, tax laws on the grounds of an injury to human dignity.

The Minister of State said that there are a number of remarks from the Venice Commission that should be considered and/or adopted. These will be duly taken into consideration in the course of the next amendments; however, the Cabinet is not facing any immediate legislative tasks in connection with the laws concerned.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)