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Hungary Constitutional Law Council
In 1989 the Constitutional Law Council had the power to
monitor constitutional life in Hungary, note possible
violations
of the Constitution, and initiate procedures to eliminate
laws,
decrees, and regulations that failed to conform to the
Constitution. The National Assembly elected the fifteen
members
of the Constitutional Law Council, which included National
Assembly delegates, the minister of justice, the president
of the
Supreme Court, the prosecutor general, and the chairman of
the
People's Control Committee
(see State Apparatus
, this
ch.). The
council was subordinate to the National Assembly and,
unlike the
United States Supreme Court, was not an independent body
for
judicial review.
In amending the Constitution to establish the
Constitutional
Law Council in 1983, the regime responded to demands of
the
public to promote the rule of law and to requests of
constitutional lawyers to systematize laws, decrees, and
regulations promulgated by the ministries. The council
used
reports of violations from "reliable entities," which
included
government agencies, the National Assembly, and the county
and
district councils. If the Constitutional Law Council found
that a
law, decree, or regulation violated the Constitution, the
council
mediated between the body that lodged the complaint and
the
government organ that issued the law, decree, or
regulation. The
council could suspend acts it deemed unconstitutional, but
it
could not repeal them.
Individual citizens lacked direct access to the
Constitutional Law Council. In fact, only government
organs in a
position to violate the Constitution--the National
Assembly, the
Presidential Council, the ministries, and the county and
district
councils--had the right to initiate inquiries by this
body. If a
person submitted a case to the Constitutional Law Council,
the
council referred that person to the government organ best
able to
represent the case. However, authorized organs represented
only
their own viewpoints, not those of individuals.
Furthermore, no
religious body had access to the council; therefore,
issues
concerning church-state relations never appeared for
review. In
effect, the Constitutional Law Council was answerable only
to
governing organs, not to the Hungarian people.
Data as of September 1989
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