Former Hungarian President László Sólyom Passes Away

László Sólyom, former President of the Republic, first President of the Constitutional Court, academic and university professor, has died at the age of 81, the Secretariat of the former President of the Republic told MTI on Sunday. László Sólyom passed away after a long illness "with great strength, activity and serenity," the statement said.

Between 1989 and 1998, László Sólyom was a member of the Constitutional Court, and for eight years, he was its first president. He was elected President of the Republic on June 7, 2005 and served in that position for five years.

In 1989, he was elected a member of the newly created Constitutional Court. He first served as deputy president of the Constitutional Court and then as its first president between 1990 and 1998. Under his chairmanship, the Constitutional Court took important decisions on a number of important issues, such as the abolition of the death penalty, the Justice Act, the status of the President of the Republic, the constitutional content of the referendum, legislation on abortion and the law on compensation.

On the occasion of László Sólyom's death, several people and organizations expressed their condolences – among them the current President of the Republic, Katalin Novák. "László Sólyom was an internationally renowned jurist who, first as a participant in the National Round Table and then as the first President of the Constitutional Court, played a decisive role in the transformation of the [political] system, in the creation of democracy and the constitutional framework that governs our lives," she said in her statement.