The current issue of the Constitutional Court Review intends to provide an opportunity to publish certain studies completed in 2024 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 addition, the Research Group defines the themes for the given project year in consultation with the Constitutional Court of Hungary, adapted to the constitutional court decisions processed in the ECCN database. Thus, the research project would like to reflect the content of the database. However, it should also be noted, as the ECCN database is not yet complete, only a limited number of decisions are currently available on a given topic. Therefore, the Research Group also provided an opportunity for certain researchers to use the ECCN database out of the main research topic, to choose and publish another theme, more closely related to their own research profile.
The apropos of the main research topic chosen by the Research Group in 2024 is the 20[th] anniversary of Hungary's accession to the European Union. Therefore, the Research Group focused on how constitutional values and fundamental rights based on common European traditions are reflected in the practice of some constitutional courts. The Act CLI of 2011 on the Constitutional Court of Hungary (hereinafter: CC Act) was amended in the end of 2023, and its new Section 38/A establishes the 'decision on prior interpretative notice of the European Union' as a new competence of the Constitutional Court of Hungary. At the request of the Court of Justice of the European Union and with due regard to its competences afforded in the treaties establishing the European Union, the Constitutional Court of Hungary shall deliver a preliminary opinion on the interpretation of priority values listed in CC Act for the purpose of compliance with the Fundamental Law of Hungary, if such constitutional issues are involved in cases pending before the Court of Justice of the European Union and interpretation can be inferred directly from the Fundamental Law of Hungary. The CC Act specifies the following values: a) the constitutional arrangements of Hungary regarding essential State functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the State, maintaining law and order and safeguarding national security; b) Hungary's constitutional ba) order, bb) requirements, bc) traditions; c) the national identity of Hungary; d) the sovereignty of Hungary; e) the inalienable right of disposition of Hungary regarding its population; f) the fundamental rights and freedoms, and human dignity protected in the Fundamental Law of Hungary. In this context the Research Group aimed at examining in particular, how the interpretation of certain values and fundamental rights referred to above are presented in the practice of the Hungarian Constitutional Court and for comparison in the constitutional court practice of the EU Member States.
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. By selecting a value or a fundamental right listed in Section 38/A of the CC Act, the researchers have explored a wide range of topics such as questions surrounding the concept of population, definition of the concept of national minority, certain aspects of the regulation of abortion and assisted suicide, the right to a name, the right to a fair trial including the right to a lawful judge and the constitutional protection of judicial independence. 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, and for the support of the AURUM Lawyers' Club for Talented Students Foundation which also contributed to the success of the project. ■
Lábjegyzetek:
[1] The author is chief counselor, Constitutional Court of Hungary; head of the Comparative Constitutional Law Research Group.
Visszaugrás
