The current issue of the Constitutional Court Review intends to provide an opportunity to publish certain studies completed in 2025 in the framework of the Comparative Constitutional Law Research Group.
The Comparative Constitutional Law Research Group, established at the National University of Public Service in 2023, aims to enable researchers to use the European Constitutional Communication Network (ECCN) database created by the Constitutional Court of Hungary to study the specificities of constitutional courts in the region. This ambition allows using a comparative method to identify the similarities and differences among the constitutional traditions of different countries, which are revealed by constitutional court decisions. One of the main objectives of the Research Group is the scientific use of the ECCN database in order to give more attention and recognition to the constitutional protection afforded by the constitutional court decisions of the certain countries. Furthermore, due to this project, the constitutional specificities of the countries in the region can be more visible in international academic life and in the public discourse based on it.
During the implementation of the multi-year research project, the Research Group cooperates with the Constitutional Court of Hungary, which maintains the ECCN database. In return for this cooperation, in 2025 the Research Group intends to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, honouring the body's place and role in the constitutional order. For 35 years, the Constitutional Court of Hungary has been the guardian of fundamental rights and constitutional values, and through the exercise of its competences, numerous decisions have contributed to it becoming an internationally recognized and referenced institution. Therefore, it is important to present and evaluate the Constitutional Court's constitutional protection activities carried out in various areas over the past three decades from a comparative legal perspective.
In 2025, researchers participating in the Research Group primarily selected research topics that highlighted the outstanding achievements of the Hungarian Constitutional Court during its 35 years of operation and illustrated possible future developments in its competences. Some researchers focused on the activities of the Hungarian Constitutional Court concerning certain fundamental rights for comparative purposes: thus, they reviewed changes in the constitutional concept of property rights, the practice of the right to a healthy environment, and the enforcement of the fundamental rights of prisoners. Other researchers have examined constitutional court decisions that are significant in terms of the constitutional protection of the state structure, such as the constitutional courts and the European Court of Human Rights activities relating to parliamentary autonomy. Studies were also carried out on issues relating to constitutional procedural law. Thus, they explored the extent of constitutional review of judicial decisions, possible directions for development in connection with EU law, questions of constitutional identity and historical constitution, or even the temporal effect of constitutional courts decisions.
The database has provided a unique research opportunity for qualified researchers and PhD students with expertise in constitutional law to establish a new academic discourse in the field of constitutional law through a comparative analysis of the activities of constitutional courts, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. Most of the researchers participating in the 2025 project are current or former advisors to the Hungarian Constitutional Court, who have encountered the issues under examination in the course of their work. Consequently, they also have authentic experience in the individual research topics.
The studies produced in this research project is useful not only in the academic world in Hungary but can also help to establish cross-border research relations. Thinking together can lead to shared success, which can enable a precise understanding of the constitutional values of the Member States and thus incorporate them into the integration process.
As the head of the Research Group, I would like to express my gratitude to the National University of Public Service and the Constitutional Court of Hungary for proving the opportunity to research. Their support contributed enormously to the success of the project. ■
Lábjegyzetek:
[1] The author is chief counsellor, Constitutional Court of Hungary; head of the Comparative Constitutional Law Research Group.
Visszaugrás
