NGOs says rule of law in Hungary harmed

Several decisions have been made in Hungary over the past six months, which harm the rule of law, said a Monday statement by three civil groups based in Budapest.

The center-right Fidesz-led government has broken the system of checks and balances, the statement by The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Karoly Eotvos Institute and the Society for Freedoms said.

The statement cited the curtailment of the Constitutional Court's jurisdiction over certain financial affairs, the "nullifying" of the Fiscal Council's budget and measures that break rule of not introducing changes with retroactive effect, as well as a system of media supervision "determined under the influence of the government majority", as examples.

The civil groups said in their statement that the parliamentary majority had selected a president who had "publicly made a promise to his party" that he would not use his constitutional powers to hinder laws passed by the parliamentary majority.

It said the government was preparing to adopt a new constitution, and its preparations had been so rushed as to deny the possibility for a public debate on Hungary's basic law.