At a conference held at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in London on 20-21 May 1967, Isaiah Berlin used the term ‘false’ populism, defining it as “the employment of populist ideas for the ends other than those which the populist desired. That is to say – Berlin argues -, their employment […]

For the first time ever, on September 12, the European Parliament (EP) launched Article 7 TEU (Lisbon Treaty) proceedings against Hungary’s government. The Parliament began the action by adopting a report by Judith Sargentini, a member from the Netherlands. The report lists 12 major concerns from the functioning of the constitutional and the electoral system to economic […]

“The protection of Hungary’s self-identity and its Christian culture is the duty of all state organizations” says one of the new provisions of the 7th Amendment that was adopted on 20 June to change the country’s Fundamental Law of 2011. This article will highlight the legal, cultural and political background to this with possible consequences. […]

by Gábor Halmai* On 5 June the Hungarian Constitutional Court issued two injunction decisions, almost identical in their texts, in which the judges suspending the constitutional review procedures against two laws enacted in early April, 2017 by the Hungarian Parliament, outside the normal legislative process. The first, an amendment to the Act on National Higher […]

In anticipation of our Workshop on Populism and Constitutionalism on 20 November (info & sign up here) we are publishing a series of blog posts in which the speakers will outline their thoughts on the topic. We are continuing our series with a contribution from Gábor Halmai, Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at the EUI, […]