Court: the way the Hungarian Academy of Sciences was deprived of its research network violates the right to property

According to a recent decision of the Constitutional Court, the way in which the research network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, MTA) was separated from the Academy in 2019 by the Minister of Innovation and Technology László Palkovics was partly unconstitutional.

The court called on the Parliament to fulfil its duty to fill the regulatory gap on the right to property by 30 June 2023. However, it did not annul the entire law in the context of ex-post review. This means that the decoupled research network can essentially continue to operate under the system set up three years ago, Telex reports.

Court calls on the Parliament to regulate financial ties between MTA and research network

Parliament has run afoul of the constitution by failing to regulate financial ties between the Eötvös Research Network and its former operator, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA), the Constitutional Court said on Tuesday.

In 2019, the parliament amended laws on operating and financing the institutional network for research, development and innovation. In line with the proposal, MTA research institutions were transferred to the Eötvös Loránd Research Network from MTA. MTA head László Lovász and 61 lawmakers turned to the court in two separate queries, asking the body to annul the amendments which they said “breached MTA’s right to property, the Academy’s constitutional securities and scientific freedom.”

In Tuesday’s decision, the court said MTA’s assets are not state-owned property, dedicated for a specific purpose. Therefore, the parliament must issue legislation to guarantee the circumstances for the Academy to perform its public duties, the decision said.

Source: Telex, MTI