The role of European institutions in the protection of rule of law, democracy and human rights - A case study about Hungary

  • Eszter Bodnár

Izvleček

What are the greatest challenges posed to the rule of law and democracy in our days? Which of the branches of government threaten them most? What has been the role of the European insti-tutions? What would need to be done to improve the rule of law and democracy? These are some of the questions that were set us to answer in a case study about Hungary. In my essay I focus on the role of the European institutions in the protection of rule of law, democracy and human rights. After giving a short overview of the recent constitutional changes in Hungary to help understanding the background, it presents how the constitutional amendment weakened the system of checks and balances, especially the role of the constitutional court. In its main part, the essay evaluates through cases the influence of three European institutions (namely the Venice commission, the court of Justice of the European Union and the European court of Human rights) on the Hungarian constitutional changes and whether their activity is able to assist, complete or even replace domestic remedy mechanisms. Finally, it makes attempts to seek possible ways for the future to improve the rule of law and democ-racy.

References

-
Objavljeno
2019-06-20