Anna Unger using both constitutional and political requirements evaluates the democratic character of the Hungarian electoral system, and concludes that it does not fulfil the requirements of either the equal or the direct vote, and cannot be considered as fair.
In his article, Attila Mraz focuses on the politico-philosophical and legal questions of parliamentary quotas for women. First, the author critically analyses the most common arguments in favor of women's quota pointing out their weaknesses. Then he asks and answers the question, whether this type of parliamentary quota can be considered as limiting fundamental rights and constitutional principles, and if so, whether this limitation is justifiable. At last, the author provides useful reference points to assess the constitutionality of such an action.
The contributions of Gábor Győri, Kim Lane Scheppele, and Balázs M. Tóth analyse separate issues of the Hungarian electoral system. Gábor Győri argues that the only stable element of the system is permanent change. Kim Lane Scheppele discusses the reasons why the rules of the European Parliamentary elections were not subject of constitutional concerns as opposed to that of the parliamentary and the municipal elections. Balázs M. Tóth analyses the rules on campaign advertising, and finds it is a history of restrictions.
Máté Dániel Szabó and Fanny Hidvégi comment on two data protections decisions of the European Court of Justice in which Hungary infringes data protection directives of the Union. According to the decisions there is a need for legislative steps to be taken by Hungary, but the commentators argue that such steps are unlikely.
Gábor Halmai comments on the decisions of the Constitutional Court about the rules of 2014 parliamentary and municipal election, concluding that the Court declared constitutional unfair and unequal election regulation respectively.
In this column summaries of some of the recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, and the Hungarian Constitutional Court are presented.
Tamás Szigeti reviews Kai Möller' Book on The Global Model of Constitutional Rights. ■
Visszaugrás
