The Constitutional Court has annulled certain provisions of the government decree on the local council solidarity contribution for violating the Fundamental Law, the court said in a statement on Wednesday.
The National Judicial Council had turned to the court, arguing that the drafters of the February 4 decree on emergency regulations had failed to allow the council to provide its legally required opinion, and it asked the court to retroactively annul the relevant provisions of the decree.
The council argued that retroactive annullment was justified because the decree’s rules must be applied in ongoing proceedings, potentially causing irreversible changes even if the court later annulled the provisions.
In its decision published on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court said that there was no evidence of the council’s opinion being requested or submitted on the matter, so the legislation went against Hungarian procedural law.
Further, the decree also breached the principle of equality before the law, “as there may be cases already dismissed by courts and others still pending or under appeal”.
The court therefore upheld the OBT’s request and annulled the contested provisions. The ruling states that retroactive annullment requires the legislature to resolve the legal status of cases terminated under the decree by the end of the state of emergency.
Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of Budapest, described the ruling as a “coup de grace” to the legal battles against the Orbán government.
“A fitting end to our legal struggles: the Constitutional Court has retroactively annulled the core provisions of the solidarity contribution decree,” Karácsony said in a post on Facebook.
He said the court had ruled that the Orban government “not only trampled on local autonomy but also on judicial independence.”
Karácsony noted the “six-year political and legal battle” against what he called the “unjust and senseless plundering” of Budapest, saying the Orban government had previously dismissed the courts, the Constitutional Court and the State Audit Office. However, he said, the capital’s election results had delivered a “final verdict” on their policies.
Based on the ruling, Karácsony expressed confidence that ongoing lawsuits would also be won, but stressed his preference for cooperation with the new government over further litigation.
“Let this Constitutional Court decision mark the end of the dark period defined by our struggles against the bleeding and suppression of Budapest, and the political punishment of a free city,” the mayor added. “Let it open a new chapter of cooperation and development for Budapest.”
