Hungary top court rejects challenge against sections of sovereignty protection law

Hungary’s Constitutional Court has rejected a complaint challenging the constitutionality and seeking the annulment of certain sections of the law on the protection of national sovereignty, the court said on its website on Friday.

In its decision, the court said the sections in question did not restrict the petitioner’s right to the freedom of expression, and argued that because Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office does not have the authority to impose direct sanctions in connection with its investigations, the protection of the right to a fair official procedure does not extend to the Office’s investigations.

The constitutional complaint had been submitted by Transparency International Hungary. It argued that the law on the protection of national sovereignty prohibits any organisation that can have any kind of influence on the outcome of elections from accepting funding from abroad.

The petitioner said the Sovereignty Protection Office’s authority to launch procedures was so broad that it could “practically launch an investigation against any organisation for any reason”. Transparency International Hungary said the sections of the law it had challenged violated the right to the freedom of expression, arguing that they restricted the petitioner’s right to express its opinion as an independent organisation on any social or political issue because if the Sovereignty Protection Office deemed that its opinion could influence the outcome of an election, it could launch an investigation against the organisation at any time.

Transparency International Hungary also said the regulations on the Office’s procedures violated the right to a fair procedure because they contained no provisions protecting the rights of the client.

Top Court rejection

The Constitutional Court said the law did not give the Sovereignty Protection Office the power to apply any legal consequences, so the sections in question were not connected to the right to the freedom of expression.

The court said the Sovereignty Protection Office is an independent autonomous state administrative body that is not an authority and does not exercise official control.

It also argued that the Office did not have the authority to impose direct sanctions or to apply legal consequences.

The Sovereignty Protection Office welcomed the Constitutional Court’s decision “in which it rejected a motion by pressure groups funded from abroad”.

“The foreign-funded political pressure groups have been calling the law on protecting national sovereignty unconstitutional for a year now, mounting a disinformation campaign against the Office, and have been doing everything they could to render its work impossible,” it said in a statement. “Their attempt has failed today.”

“It has been shown that the claim by foreign-funded pressure groups that the operations of the Sovereignty Protection Office are unconstitutional is a lie,” they said. “As a result, the Sovereignty Protection Office expects these organisations to issue an apology, to send the Office the documents they have been unlawfully withholding, comply with Hungarian laws and fulfil their obligations.”

The Office said it will continue to defend Hungary’s constitutional identity and take action against those who attempt to infringe on it.

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• Sovereignty Protection Office: Transparency International Hungary activity harmful for country