State of Danger Replaced by Disease Control Preparedness

The Hungarian government declared a state of disease control preparedness based on which the government can declare a health crisis whenever it deems necessary and rule by decree.

It was on Tuesday this week that Hungarian Parliament unanimously lifted the 'special legal order' that had given basically unlimited power to the government since March 31 this year and the government majority immediately passed legislation to authorize the government to declare another state emergency granting it extra powers to handle an epidemic.

Experts at Réti, Várszegi and Partners Law Office PwC Legal point out that the legal framework does not return to the pre-emergency order. On the one hand, many of the norms adopted in the 'state of danger' continue to operate at the statutory level, and on the other hand, with extended rules for health crisis situations, the government retains broad regulatory authority.