The Minister of Justice (under the authorisation of the Government) submitted
a petition asking for interpretation of certain provisions of The Fundamental Law.
The particular constitutional issue addressed in the case was the enforcement of the
Fundamental Law and the judgement of the CJEU in the case C-808/18 (in which CJEU
considered Hungary’s fulfilment of obligations regarding third-country nationals seeking
international protection) more specifically, the interpretation of the Fundamental Law in
the context of the above CJEU judgement. The Constitutional Court held that:
– Where the joint exercise of competences specified is incomplete, Hungary shall be entitled
to exercise the relevant non-exclusive field of competence of the EU, until the institutions
of the European Union take the measures necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the
joint exercise of competences.
– Where the incomplete effectiveness of the joint exercise of competences leads to
consequences that raise the issue of the violation of the right to identity of persons living
in the territory of Hungary, the Hungarian State shall be obliged to ensure the
protection of this right within the framework of its obligation of institutional protection.
– The protection of the inalienable right of Hungary to determine its territorial unity,
population, form of government and State structure shall be part of its constitutional identity.