Top court says National Bank of Hungary data disclosure amendments unconstitutional
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Budapest, March 31 (MTI) – Hungary’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that amendments to the law governing the central bank that give the National Bank of Hungary the legal power to decline public information requests concerning companies that support its activities, or to classify such information with retroactive effect, are unconstitutional.
In its ruling the top court noted that the central bank does a public service and the funds it manages are all public, therefore, under the constitution, it is obliged to keep its operations transparent and account for those funds to the public. The court also noted that the central bank can only set up foundations or companies such as ones that are connected to the bank’s primary function, therefore the funds donated to those organisations will not cease to be public funds.
The court at the same time declared constitutional an amendment to the postal act that allows Magyar Posta to keep information on its activities on the deregulated postal market confidential. The ruling said that the amendment actually allowed for a wider range of public information, therefore it is not in conflict with the constitution. It is up to a regular court to decide whether publication of particular data would impact the business of the Hungarian Post, the ruling added.
President János Áder sent the laws to the court for review earlier this month.
Commenting on the decisions, government office chief János Lázár declared the postal law amendment a “success”. He interpreted the decision as the top court’s recognition that in certain cases the state’s business interests have precedence over the right to public information.