Illiberal Relations: The Individual, the State and the Dignity of Communities under the Hungarian and Slovak Constitutions

Abstrakt: The paper focuses on the conceptualization of personhood and constitutionally protected groups, as well as the relationship between the individual and the state, in particular the ethno-cultural majority in two European Union (EU) member states showing illiberal tendencies, Hungary and Slovakia. The authors show how in Hungary, the recognition of individual dignity is conditional on membership in the (most often majority) community, and it is the dignity of communities—not exclusively but including that of the ethnic majority community—that is protected by the new constitution. The Slovak case study focuses on the protection of the Slovak language as a form of protecting the Slovak nation. The analysis shows how a constitutional order considering majority identities its highest value is undermining the protection of fundamental rights in the long run. In this sense, the Slovak example shows what the Hungarian illiberal1 turn can lead to.

Bibliografia:

3/2015 ‘Büntető elvi döntés’ on Debreceni Ítélőtábla Fkhar. II. 248/2014. See: Bfv. II.590/2012/18 and EBD 2015 B.3.
Act V of 2013 on the Civil Code.
Constitution of the Slovak Republic, Law no. 460/1992 Col.
Constitutional Court Decision No. 96/2008 (VII. 3.).
Constitutional Court Decision No. 165/2011 (XII. 20.).
Council of the European Union, Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on Combating Certain Forms and Expressions of Racism and Xenophobia by Means of Criminal Law, Official Journal of the European Union, L328, 2008, pp. 55-58.
Dupré, C., The Age of Dignity: Human Rights and Constitutionalism in Europe, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2015.
ECRML (European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages), Application of the Charter in the Slovak Republic, 4th monitoring cycle, 2016 2, Strasbourg, 27 April 2016.
Fiala-Butora, J., ‘Hungarians in Slovakia and the evolution of Hungarian-Slovakian bilateral relations—improvement or stalemate?’, European Yearbook of Minority Issues, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2015.
Hegyi Sz., Simon, É., ‘Szólásszabadság elleni fegyver lett belőle’ [It’s been turned into a weapon against the freedom of speech], A TASZ jelenti, 15 February 2013, http://ataszjelenti.blog.hu/2013/02/15/baj_van_az_uj_ptk-val_4_resz_szolasszabadsag_elleni_fegyver_lett_belole [2017-06-15].
Hungarian Government, Törvényjavaslat a közrend, valamint az igazságszolgáltatás működésének védelme érdekében szükséges egyes törvénymódosításokról, T/6218, 2008, (Bill on amending legislation on public order and the administration of justice) http://www.parlament.hu/irom38/06218/06218.pdf [2017-06-15].
Kateb, G., Human Dignity, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014.
Kretzmer, D., Klein E. (eds.), The Concept of Human Dignity in Human Rights Discourse, The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2002.
Küpper, H., ‘Paternalista kollektivizmus és liberális individualizmus között: az új magyar Alaptörvényben rögzített emberkép normatív alapjai’ [Between paternalistic collectivism and liberal individualism the normative basis of envisioning personhood in the new Hungarian Fundamental Law], Közjogi Szemle, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2012.
Larner, J., ‘Hate Crime/Thought Crime, Dissent’, Dissent Magazine, Spring 2010, https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/hate-crimethought-crime [2014-04-02].
Mahlmann, M., ‘Human dignity and autonomy in modern constitutional orders’, in: Rosenfeld, M., Sajó, A. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
McCrudden, C. (ed.), Understanding Human Dignity, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Moormann-Kimáková, B., Languge-related conflicts in multinational and multi-ethnic settings, Springer, 2014.
Nadácia otvorenej spoločnosti—Open Society Foundation, Verejná mienka v oblasti pravicového extrémizmu [Public opinion on the right-wing extremism], Bratislava, 2012.
OSCE, Decision No. 9/09 Combating Hate Crimes, 2009.
Pap, A.L., Democratic Decline in Hungary, Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2017.
Pap, A.L., ‘Who Are “We, the People”? Biases and Preferences in the Hungarian Fundamental Law’, in: Fejes, Z., Mandák, F., Szente, Z. (eds.), Challenges and Pitfalls in the Recent Hungarian Constitutional Development—Discussing the New Fundamental Law of Hungary, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2015, pp. 53-75.
Preamble of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, Law no. 460/1992 Col.
Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on the protection of minors and human dignity and on the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and on-line information services industry, Official Journal of the European Union, L 378/72, 27 December 2006.
RHS (Roundtable of Hungarians in Slovakia), Written Comments on the Fourth Report by Slovakia on the implementation of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, Somorja—Šamorín, 15 September 2015.
Rosen, M., Dignity: Its History and Meaning, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012.
Sajó, A., Constitutional Sentiments, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
Uitz, R., ‘Does the Past Restrain Judicial Review? (Reference to History and Traditions in Constitutional Reasoning)’, Acta Juridica Hungarica, Vol. 41, No. 1-2, 2000, pp. 47-78.
Vass, Á., ‘A kisebbségi nyelvhasználat helyzete Szlovákiában’ [The situation of minority language use in Slovakia], Létünk, Vol. 8, Special Issue, 2013.
Waldron, J., et al., Dignity, Rank, and Rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Wardyn, Ł., Fiala, J., ‘The 2009 amendment of the Slovakian state language law and its impact on minority rights’, XXIX Polish Yearbook of International Law, 2009, pp. 153-174.
Weinrib, K., Dimensions of Dignity: The Theory and Practice of Modern Constitutional Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
Zákon č. 428/1990 Zb. o úradnom jazyku v Slovenskej republike [Law no. 428/1990 Col. on the official language of the Slovak Republic].
Zákon č. 270/1995 Z. z. o štátnom jazyku [Law no. 270/1995 Col. l. on the State Language].
Zákon č. 184/1999 Z. z. o používaní jazykov národnostných menšín [Law no. 184/1999 Col. l. on the Use of Languages of National Minorities].

PDF: Pobierz