User:Forditó123/Hungary's Authorization Act of 2020

So far, the Hungarian government has twice been granted special powers by parliament during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic to implement a long period of government by decree. These two pieces of special legislation are called "Authorizing Acts ".

It is important to note that the Hungarian Constitution provides the government with the possibility of government by decree in certain exceptional cases (e.g. in times of emergency), but this is severely limited in time: decrees are only valid beyond 15 days if Parliament authorizes the government to extend the validity of the decrees before the 15 days have expired. The authorizing acts remove this constitutional limitation (in the case of the first authorizing act) and extend it to 6 times its length (in the case of the second authorizing act).

The first authorization act
Official name Act XII of 2020 on the protection against the coronavirus. It was passed by the Hungarian Parliament on 30 March 2020 in connection with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic in Hungary.

The Act softens the constitutional temporal limits of the state of emergency declared by the Government by decree on 11 March 2020 by authorizing the Government to extend the duration of the relevant Government decrees until the end of the state of emergency without further consent of Parliament.[2] Since the Government decides on the end of the state of emergency, this essentially empowered the Government to govern by decree without time limits.

The law expired 79 days after its introduction, on 18 June 2020, as it was repealed by Parliament after the state of emergency had passed.

Basic provisions of the law
The Government in an emergency may, in addition to the extraordinary measures and rules provided for in Act CXXVIII of 2011 on Disaster Management and the Amendment of Certain Related Acts, suspend the application of certain laws, derogate from legal provisions and take other extraordinary measures by decree in order to guarantee the safety of life, health, persons, property and legal security of citizens and the stability of the national economy.

The Government may exercise its powers pursuant to paragraph (1) - to the extent necessary and proportionate to the objective to be achieved - under the Decree for the prevention, management, eradication, as well as the prevention or elimination of the harmful effects of a human pandemic.

The Act added a new offence of obstructing epidemic control to Act C of 2012 on the Criminal Code, and at the same time amended the rules on the offence of dissemination of rumors.

Under the Act, the Constitutional Court will continue to operate during the emergency, even "online", i.e. by using electronic means of communication.

On the government side, Balázs Orbán stressed that the National Assembly is free to decide at any time after the promulgation of the law whether it agrees with the government's assessment of the current situation, and may even decide to withdraw its consent to the extension of the state of emergency.

History
The bill was submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén on 20 March 2020, under number T/9790.

Immediate reaction
International institutions warned that it gave the Hungarian leader unprecedented leeway to use violence against critics and to dismantle democratic checks and balances. Members of the European Parliament expressed fears that, as the sole holder of the power conferred by the Authorization Act, the government had been given indefinite powers.

Following the adoption of the law, a joint declaration was issued by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden. The declaration does not mention Hungary. The declaration urged the European Union to investigate the compatibility of member nation's legislation on COVID-19 with European Community law. Hungary joined the joint declaration on 2 April 2020.

The law (as well as the decree declaring a state of emergency before it) is considered unconstitutional by constitutional lawyers.

Main decrees issued under the Act
During the time that the Authorization Act was in force, Parliament continued to function in an unchanged form, amending a number of laws and creating new ones. Below we highlight some of the government decrees that have been made possible by the government by decree introduced by the Authorization Act.


 * 6 April 2020 Free parking in most parts of the country
 * 10 April 2020 Indefinite extension of previously imposed curfews
 * 16 April 2020 Support for reduced working hours
 * 21 April 2020 Increase in working time limit: employers can impose a working time limit of up to twenty-four months
 * 30 March 2020 Anti-Dissemination of Rumors Act. This law has also received a lot of international press coverage, as mostly the authors of Facebook posts critical of the government have been subject to interrogation.
 * 13 June 2020. A one-time gross subsidy of HUF 500,000 for a significant proportion of health workers.
 * 19 June 2020 Documents expiring in Hungary between 11 March and 3 July will be valid until 15 December
 * 11 February 2022 Restrictions on teachers' right to strike

Revocation
On 16 June 2020, Parliament voted in favor of two bills on the withdrawal of the state of emergency and the rules for the temporary period. With the former, Parliament orders the government to lift the state of emergency declared by government decree. The other bill stipulates that with the lifting of the state of emergency, the Coronavirus Act providing for the extraordinary legal framework will also be repealed.

On the afternoon of 17 June 2020, President János Áder signed the two Acts on 1) the lifting of the state of emergency and 2) the rules of the temporary period, and ordered their publication.

The second authorization act
CIX Act of 2020 on the protection against the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic was adopted by the National Assembly on 10 November 2020. In contrast to the first authorization act, which granted special rights to the government for an unlimited period and was ultimately valid for 99 days, the second authorization grants special rights for 90 days (see § 5).

Contents
According to its first paragraph, "[t]his law [...] lays down special rules in connection with Government Decree 478/2020 (3/11/2020) on the declaration of a state of emergency". The Government had thus already declared a state of emergency one week before the entry into force of the second Authorization Act. Since, in an emergency, the Government becomes entitled to govern by decree, but its decrees are only valid for 15 days, the essence of the second enabling act in this respect is that it modifies the 15-day time limit to 90 days.

Another important element is the amendment of the most basic democratic rules for the preparation and conduct of elections and referendums. It essentially prohibits the preparation and holding of elections and referendums.

Consequences
The new rules on referendums nipped in the bud the national referendum movement launched by Gergely Karácsony three weeks earlier.

Additional information

 * The constitutional problems of the state of emergency declared on 11 March 2020 - Hungarian Academy of Sciences Social Sciences Research Centre

Institute of Legal Sciences, 10 April 2020.


 * The Authorization Act is not unconstitutional for what they say. But it really is - Válaszonline.hu, 17 April 2020.


 * Hungary 'No Longer a Democracy' After Coronavirus Law - Balkansight.com, 31 March 2020
 * Vera Jourová: Hungarian coronavirus rules are not in conflict with EU law - Infostart.hu, 19 April 2020.