Explanatory note for the Bills on terminating the state of danger and on related transitional provisions
The explanatory note provides details of the proposed new framework concerning the state of danger and the state of medical emergency; compares the scope of decrees the Government may issue during a future state of danger, a future state of medical emergency, and while the Authorization Act remains in force; and demonstrates how the decision to lift the current state of danger will remain at the discretion of the Government.
On 26 May 2020, the Deputy Prime Minister submitted to the Parliament two Bills related to the state of danger declared by the Hungarian Government: Bill T/10747 on Terminating the State of Danger (“Termination Bill”), and Bill T/10748 on the Transitional Provisions related to the Termination of the State of Danger (“Transitional Bill”).
The Termination Bill, as stated in the joint statement of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Amnesty International Hungary, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union “is nothing but an optical illusion”: if the Bills are adopted in their present form, that will allow the government to again rule by decree for an indefinite period of time, with significantly weakened constitutional safeguards.
The Transitional Bill would, among others, fundamentally alter the current legal framework of the state of danger as defined by the Disaster Management Act and the state of medical crisis as defined by the Health Care Act.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee compiled an explanatory note for the Bills, which
- Provides details of the proposed new framework concerning the state of danger and the state of medical crisis;
- Compares the scope of decrees the Government may issue during a future state of danger, a future state of medical crisis, and while the Authorization Act remains in force; and
- Demonstrates how the decision to lift the current state of danger will remain at the discretion of the Government even after the Termination Bill is adopted.
The explanatory note is available here:
–>> An updated version of the explanatory note on the Bills as adopted by the Parliament is available here:
Explanatory note for Bills T/10747 and T/10748 as adopted by the Hungarian Parliament (17 June 2020)
–>> An unofficial English translation of Bill T/10747 as adopted by the Parliament is available here. An unofficial English translation of selected provisions of Bill T/10748 as adopted by the Parliament is available here.
–> A German translation of the explanatory note from 17 June 2020 is available here.