Emergency regimes in Hungary under the pandemic
Our briefing paper provides an overview of the emergency regimes introduced in Hungary due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 until the present day and explains the consequences in terms of the executive’s powers.
In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted countries to resort to emergency laws. An emergency regime was introduced in Hungary as well. However, the ruling majority in the Hungarian Parliament adopted a regime that granted excessive regulatory powers to the Government and was at odds with international standards.
Referring to the pandemic, in March 2020 the Government first declared a “state of danger”, and then acquired a carte blanche mandate without any sunset clause to override any Act of Parliament. Certain government decrees issued using this power raised rule of law and/or human rights concerns, and some were even in breach of EU law. Although the first state of danger was terminated in June 2020, amendments introduced parallel to that provided the Government with excessive powers that can be applied with a reference to an epidemic with significantly weakened constitutional safeguards. These new provisions have been put to use during the second wave of the pandemic in Hungary in the autumn of 2020. A state of danger was declared again in November 2020, and remained in effect until the end of May 2022.
In our briefing paper, we provide an overview of the emergency regimes introduced in Hungary due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 until the present day and explain the consequences in terms of the executive’s powers. The briefing paper is available here in English:
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (1 June 2022)
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Previous versions of the briefing paper, describing the situation earlier this year, are available here:
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (1 January 2022)
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (27 September 2021)
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (15 September 2021)
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (25 May 2021)
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (24 February 2021)
Overview of Hungary’s emergency regimes introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic (27 January 2021)