The Hungarian Constitutional Court and the Concept of National Constitutional Identity

Abstract

In a long-awaited decision delivered in December the Hungarian Constitutional Court seems to have settled some of the questions related to the relationship between the European Union’s (EU) legal order and Hungary’s constitutional order. In this decision, the Hungarian constitutional judges offer some guidance on two important concepts: state sovereignty and constitutional self-identity. With this decision, the Hungarian Constitutional Court deliberately entered the dialogue that is taking place between European domestic courts on the relationship between EU law and national constitutions. This paper aims to present the Hungarian Constitutional Court's decision and to discuss it from a comparative perspective.

Keywords: Hungarian Constitutional Court, Constitutional Identity, National Identity, Constitutional Law, Comparative Perspective, Judicial Review, EU Law, Principle of Primacy, State Sovereignty, Judicial Dialogue

JEL Classification: K00, K19, K39, K49