13/02/2012 Monitoring
Strasbourg, 13.02.2012 – Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE) and Jana Fischerová (Czech Republic, EDG), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) who have been appointed to assess the request for the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary – following a motion signed by 24 members of the Assembly in January 2011 – will make a fact-finding visit to Budapest on 16-17 February 2012.
Having made an initial visit to the country in July 2011, the co-rapporteurs will, in particular, assess the recent legislative reforms. They are due to meet the Speaker of the National Assembly László Kövér, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court Péter Paczolay and the Chairman of the Supreme Court Péter Darák, as well as representatives of political parties. Discussions are also scheduled with the Chairman of the Central Election Commission Vilmos Bordás, the Hungarian delegation to PACE and NGO and media representatives.
In the framework of its assessment, the PACE Monitoring Committee has requested an opinion from the Venice Commission – the Council of Europe’s group of independent legal experts – on whether another five laws recently adopted in Hungary are in line with the Council’s standards. These laws are those on Freedom of Information, the Constitutional Court, the Prosecution, Nationalities and Family Protection. The Venice Commission is also preparing an opinion on Hungary’s laws on the judiciary, freedom of religion and parliamentary elections, following a request from the Hungarian authorities.
Following their investigations, the co-rapporteurs will prepare for the PACE Bureau an opinion containing a draft decision proposing to open or not a monitoring procedure with respect to Hungary.