The Draft 17th Amendment to the Fundamental Law: sometimes too much, sometimes too little — but improvable
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee has submitted its opinion on the draft 17th Amendment to the Fundamental Law. The organisation objects to the government allowing just 5 days for public consultation on matters of this magnitude, and to its failure to justify in sufficient detail the considerations underlying the proposed amendments. The Helsinki Committee considers the removal of certain constitutional office-holders to be acceptable for the purpose of restoring the rule of law, but takes issue on several points with the manner and justification of those removals. It also identifies as problematic the fact that the draft contains changes that are not necessary for restoring the rule of law, while at the same time failing to repeal certain provisions that seriously curtail fundamental rights.