Venice Commission - Report on Bicameralism

Disclaimer: this information was gathered by the Secretariat of the Venice Commission on the basis of contributions by the members of the Venice Commission, and complemented with information available from various open sources (academic articles, legal blogs, official information web-sites etc.).

Every effort was made to provide accurate and up-to-date information. For further details please visit our site : https://www.venice.coe.int/

Hungary

1.Has the country ever had a bicameral parliamentary (or congressional) system in the past? If so, in which period? Why was it decided to change into a unicameral system? Is there a public debate about changing to a bicameral system? What are the terms of the debate?

Hungary had a bicameral legislature for many centuries. The rules of this system were laid down in Article I of Act I of 1608, which established the bicameral legislature as the basis of Hungarian bicameral parliamentarism until the middle of the 20th century.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the relationship between the two chambers was characterised by equality in public law. From then on, however, the political centre of gravity shifted to the chamber organised on the basis of popular representation (this was reflected in its new name: the House of Representatives).
The reform of the upper house took place at the end of the 19th century: it mainly changed its composition, with a certain marginalisation of ecclesiastical representation. The composition was also affected by the fact that the monarch could appoint fifty members to the House of Lords for life, at the suggestion of the government.
The revolution following the First World War led to the dissolution of the upper house, which was not re-established until 1926. Since then the upper house acted as a balancing and compromising body, bringing together representatives of the aristocracy, the churches, industry, finance, business, academia and local government.
A Provisional National Assembly operated from December 1944 until the autumn of 1945. The National Assembly reconvened in the autumn of 1945 and has been unicameral ever since.
The 1949 Constitution established the Presidential Council of the Hungarian People's Republic, which replaced the Parliament with broad powers. Thereafter, until 1987, the role of the National Assembly was relegated to the background and became essentially formal, holding only four sessions a year, each lasting a few days.
Although the idea of reintroducing a bicameral legislature was mooted during the 1989-90 regime change, there was no real support for it from either the communist state party or the newly formed democratic parties.
Since then, the situation has been similar: although positions in favour of a bicameral parliament appeared sporadically in Hungarian public life during the drafting of the 2012 Fundamental Law, they did not gain political support.

2.What is the population of the country? What is its size?

On 1 October 2022, the population of Hungary was 9.604.000. The size of Hungary is 93030 square kilometres.

3.What form of state and form of government has the country? Please provide details with reference to relevant constitutional provisions. a) Unitarian or federal/regional/other form of decentralization; b) Parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential or mixed

Hungary is a parliamentary republic with a government which exercises executive power, and a head of state - the President - who has mainly representative functions. The Fundamental Law is the foundation of the Hungarian legal system – see its official English translation at https://njt.hu/jogszabaly/en/2011-4301-02-00
According to Article B) of the Fundamental Law, Hungary is an independent, democratic rule-of-law State. The form of government of Hungary shall be a republic. The source of public power shall be the people. The power shall be exercised by the people through elected representatives or, in exceptional cases, directly. Article C) stipulates that the functioning of the Hungarian State shall be based on the principle of the division of powers.
The President of the Republic is an inviolable head of state, who expresses the unity of the nation and guards the democratic functioning of the state. His duties include representing Hungary, initiating laws and national referendums, having constitutional and political veto power over laws, making decisions concerning special legal orders, and being the Commander-in-Chief of the Hungarian Defence Forces. For personnel decisions, he proposes the Prime Minister, the President of the Curia [Supreme Court], the President of the National Office for the Judiciary, the Prosecutor General and the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, and appoints professional judges and the President of the Fiscal Council. (For details see Articles 9-14 of the Fundamental Law)
The Government is the body of the Prime Minister and the ministers, responsible to the Parliament. It is the general executive and the supreme organ of public administration. It has the power and authority to exercise all the functions and powers which are not expressly conferred by the Fundamental Law or the law on another organ, to adopt decrees on subjects not regulated by any Act, to issue decrees on the basis of a statutory authorisation that may not be contrary to any Act, and to establish state administration bodies. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government who determines the general policy of the Government, and his or her mandate is closely linked to that of the Government as a whole. The Government accountable to the National Assembly. The Prime Minister is elected by The National Assembly on the proposal of the President of the Republic. The National Assembly may withdraw its confidence from him or her. The Ministers are appointed by the President of the Republic on a proposal from the Prime Minister. Ministers are responsible for the management of certain sectors and bodies of the public administration, within the framework of the Government's general policy. (For details see Articles 15-22 of the Fundamental Law)
In accordance with the republican democratic system based on indirect representation, the National Assembly is Hungary’s supreme representative body. Its regulatory activity consists of drafting and amending the Fundamental Law and Acts, adopting the central budget, authorising the recognition of the binding force of international treaties, and deciding on the declaration of a state of war and the conclusion of peace. Its supervisory powers include the right to interpellate and question the leaders of other state bodies. It elects the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the members and President of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Curia, the President of the National Office for the Judiciary, the Prosecutor General, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and his deputies, and the President of the State Audit Office. The basic principles of the election of Members of Parliament are that the right to vote is universal and equal, that voting is direct and secret, and that it ensures the free expression of the will of the electorate and the participation of nationalities. The Fundamental Law regulates in detail the formation and dissolution of Parliament, its work, the order of its sittings, the rights and duties of Members of Parliament, their immunity and independence. (For details see Articles 1-7 of the Fundamental Law)
According to Article F) of the Fundamental Law, the territory of Hungary shall consist of the capital (Budapest), counties, towns and villages. Hungary is a unitarian state, with local governments for the management of local public affairs and the exercise of local public power. They may only be vested by law with compulsory functions and powers, for the performance of which they are entitled to receive proportionate budgetary or other material support. Local public affairs include the right to legislate, to take decisions, to administer themselves, to determine their own organisation and operation, to exercise the rights of the owner of municipal property, to determine their own budget, to manage themselves, to carry on business, to decide on the type and rate of local taxes, to create municipal symbols, to establish local honours and awards, to request information, to initiate decisions, to associate and cooperate freely with other local authorities. The members of local government and mayors are elected by the electorate for a term of five years by direct and secret ballot on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, in elections which ensure the free expression of the will of the electorate. (For details see Articles 31-35 of the Fundamental Law)

4.How many members are in the lower house?

Since 2014, the Parliament has 199 members, instead of the previous 386, elected by Hungarian voters in a single-round ballot. The previous 176 single-member constituencies have been reduced to 106. Under the new system, each voter resident in Hungary can cast two votes, one for the individual constituency candidate and one for the national (party or nationality) lists. The individual candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins, while the votes cast for the national lists will be used to allocate seats according to a method of calculation that ensures proportional allocation of seats. The parties that obtain at least 5% of the votes cast directly on the national lists will be allocated seats. Hungarians living outside the country can only vote for party lists. In the Parliament elected in this way, there are 106 individual winners and 93 national list members.
In addition to the party lists, nationalities can also run separate lists and obtain seats at preferential rates. Nationalities that set up a nationality list at the elections but do not win any preferential mandate, shall have a “nationality advocate” to represent them in the Parliament. The nationality advocate may speak in Parliament if the item on the agenda concerns the interests and rights of the nationalities but does not have the right to vote. However, he/she has the right to vote in the work of the committee representing the nationalities and may participate in the meetings of the standing committees and the legislative committee with the right to consult. He/she may address questions to the Government and to members of the Government, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, the President of the State Audit Office and the Prosecutor General on matters concerning the interests and rights of nationalities within their competence. The advocate shall enjoy the same immunity as members of Parliament.