In this issue we publish the first part of John Rawls: The Basic Liberties and Their Priorities, which was originally held as Tanner lecture at the University of Michigan in April 10, 1981. The text later became part of Rawls' Political Liberalism, as the 8th lecture of Part III. published in 1993 by the Columbia University Press. In the next issue of Fundamentum we will publish the second part of the lecture with a commentary of Zsolt Krokovay, the Hungarian editor and translator of Rawls' works.
In his essay, Csaba Tordai examines whether the government's proposal passed right after the parliamentary elections regarding the maximum number of MPs can be fulfilled by keeping the current electoral system. He concludes that when implementing the reform - in addition to observing the applicable constitutional principles - a very pragmatic approach is required and it is crucial to consider the possible consequences of an election result enabling the concentration of power.
Zsolt Enyedi, professor of the Central European University assesses in historical and comparative perspectives the changes of the Hungarian party structure after the 2010 spring Parliamentary elections. He also talks about the possibilities of the emergence of new political actors in the Hungaraian political arena, as well as the changes in the party finance system and the role of referendum in the next future.
The authors of the column, Péter Hack, Gábor Juhász and Éva Vajda from their different perspectives discuss the various problems of the Hungarian system of party and campaign financing, and the possibilities of reforming this corrupt system.
Anna Unger comments on the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. FEC, in which the Court changed its jurisprudence concerning party financing. She tries to predict the future impact of the decision, which on free speech grounds allowed the corporates unlimited campaign finance. Gábor Gadó analyzes the prospect of reintroducing compulsory membership in the chamber of commerce for all businesses and firms. He argues, inter alia, that such a corporatist move would reinforce the business sector's dependency on the government. In his essay, Gábor Polyák analysis the American and European debates over network neutrality, and concludes that in the digital media system the means and aims of the regulation are inseparably intertwined, which requires the change of mentality from both the legislature and the law enforcement institutions.
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In his article, Tamás Verdes deals with the possible changes of the regulation of the right to vote in the new Hungarian Constitution after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Alajos Kiss v. Hungary.
The article by Vasily Lukashevich explores the development of the autonomous "family life" concept of Article 8 of the European Convention in relation to same-sex couples. The primary focus of the article is the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Schalk and Kopf v. Austria. The significance and impact of this judgment is analyzed and contrasted against the existing case-law on the matter.
We also publish summaries of the recent judgments of European Court of Human Rights and the Hungarian Constitutional Court.
In their study, Petra Bárd and Andrea Borbíró deal with the data protection and criminological aspects of cameras used in the vehicles of the public transportation. Their conclusion is that liberty and security interest in this issue can not be deemed as zero-sum game.
Here we present a review of the recently published Commentary to the Hungarian Constitution. ■
Visszaugrás
