Reaction to the Statement by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Created: 7th March, 2013 11:55	print	send

The  rule  of  law  is  fully  operational in Hungary, and accordingly, the National Assembly is conforming to the decision of the Constitutional Court by  adopting  the proposal to the Fundamental Law which is currently before Parliament.  Both  the  Hungarian  Government  and the Hungarian Parliament uphold  the  responsibilities that go with membership of the European Union and  the Council of Europe. It is our firm belief that the proposal that is currently  before  parliament  conforms fully to these responsibilities. We feel  it  is  natural  that  the  Council  of  Europe  should  monitor  the constitutional  amendments  of  its  member  states,  but  be  feel  it  is unacceptable  that  prior  to  the  adoption of the amendment the Secretary General  of  the  Council of Europe should announce a preliminary judgement which  is  clearly  based  un  misunderstandings.  We  find  this behaviour
especially  strange  because  two  writers  of  official  Council of Europe reports  on  Hungary  were  on  an  official visit to Hungary at the end of February, at which time they received detailed information from the Speaker of  Parliament  and the heads of the various parliamentary groups regarding the  reasons  for  the  constitutional  amendment.  The  statement  of  the Secretary  General  of  the  Council  of  Europe  which  claims  that  "the Government of Hungary wishes to reintroduce those temporary provisions that the  Constitutional  Court has annulled" is an obvious misunderstanding. In fact,  the  truth  is  that the Constitutional Court annulled the temporary provisions  for  purely  formal  reasons,  and  expressly gave the National Assembly  the  task  of including all constitutional regulations within the Constitution,  meaning that the National Assembly in fact has an obligation to incorporate the temporary provisions into the Fundamental Law.

Accordingly, the current amendment is not only not contrary to the decision of the Constitutional Court, but in fact serves princely the implementation of  that  decision.  The temporary provisions have formed part of Hungarian legislation  for  over  a  year, and have withstood the scrutiny of several European  bodies during that time. It is our view that the reduction of the high  pensions  of  communist leaders, the condemnation of dictatorships or the protection of human dignity are clearly in harmony with Europe's common
constitutional  traditions, and we therefore view all substantive criticism and that of procedure to be unfounded.

Hungary is a democratic state in which the branches of administrative power function  independently, and in which constitutional power lies only in the hands  of  the  National  Assembly.  While  continuing  to  insist on equal standards  and fair treatment, the government parties and the Government of Hungary  remain  open  to  clearing  up possible misunderstandings with any European body and to dispel unfounded concerns.

Antal  Rogán,  Leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group and Gergely Gulyás, Member of Parliament