Abstract
AbstractIn this Article, I suggest considering linkages of a theoretical, and continuities of a sociological nature between on the one hand, the concept and the practical use of socialist legality in Socialist Hungary—with particular regard to the period following the judicial reform of 1954—and on the other hand, the concept of constitutional identity as it has developed in the Fundamental Law in Hungary, with particular regard to the period since the 2011 judicial reform. The Article highlights surprising similarities in the politically determined legislative intention in these two periods to form embracing, quasi legal concepts, which in themselves seem to differ fundamentally, although the similarities in their nature and in the specific constitutional practice are attention-grabbing. The interpretation of the role of state institutions, and especially the judicial role, lead one to think that despite the explicit rejection of the Socialist era in Article U) of the Fundamental Law in Hungary, the new constitutional regime has familiar attitudes to the understanding of the rule of law and the role of the judiciary in promoting the enforcement of the new, supra legal concepts of a transformative nature, which, however, are filled in with the ruling political ideology, whether it be socialist legality or national constitutional identity.
Highlights
Fruzsina Gardos-Orosz is a senior research fellow of the Institute for Legal Studies, Center for Social Sciences and is associate professor in constitutional law at the Law Faculty of ELTE University
In this Article, I suggest considering linkages of a theoretical, and continuities of a sociological nature between on the one hand, the concept and the practical use of socialist legality in Socialist Hungary—with particular regard to the period following the judicial reform of 1954—and on the other hand, the concept of constitutional identity as it has developed in the Fundamental Law in Hungary, with particular regard to the period since the 2011 judicial reform
Being a familiar concept in Hungary, it is easier to understand “constitutional identity” as introduced into Hungarian law in 2016 and assess what it contributes to the legal system through the slow transformation of the law’s interpretation, application, and judge’s attitudes themselves
Summary
The concept of socialist legality first appeared in Hungary in the 1950s, during Imre Nagy’s premiership. In the 1960s, the term gained a new meaning thanks to the chief legal theorist of the Kádár regime, Imre Szabo He examined the Western idea of the rule of law and condemned those who thought that socialism could be built in such a system.. The first judicial act based on socialist legality that entered into force in 1954 rejected the Rákosi dictatorship, the previous uncertainty in political actions not governed by law, and the arbitrariness of the judiciary.. The first judicial act based on socialist legality that entered into force in 1954 rejected the Rákosi dictatorship, the previous uncertainty in political actions not governed by law, and the arbitrariness of the judiciary.16 This Act emphasized that Article 41 (2) of Act XX of 1949 on the Constitution of the People’s Republic’s declares: “In the Hungarian People’s Republic the judges are independent and subject only to the law.”. The concept of socialist legality as a normative but quasi and supra legal concept makes the law instrumental because this particular understanding of the rule of law means that the law’s aim is not to establish the rule of law, but the rule of the Party.
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