■ Hungary’s new Constitution takes effect

Hungary’s new Constitution, which was adopted in April 2011 went into force, amidst popular protests, as of January 1, 2012. The Constitution replaces the old Charter of 1949, which was heavily amended in 1989 during the transition from Communism. In a New York Times article entitle 'Hungary's  Constitutional Revolution', Princeton University's Kim Lane Scheppele has described the judiciary as being hit the hardest by the new Constitution. The powers of the Constitutional Court to control constitutionality of laws relating to budgetary matters are sliced, standing rights before the Court have been restricted so that individuals can no longer access the institution directly without first going through a lengthy process in the ordinary courts. The Court's powers to perform abstract review of constitutionality have also been reduced. In addition, the document also reduces the independence of the Central Bank and allows the President to dissolve Parliament if it fails to adopt the budget. It changes the country’s name from “Hungarian Republic ” to “Hungary”, and allows for the passage of tough media and church laws that could threaten fundamental human rights. The new Constitution has come under fire from within and outside Hungary. In calls that have prompted the Hungarian government to warn against outside interference, human rights organisations have criticised the document over the way it addresses certain fundmental liberties and called for the it to be revisited, while the EU and the US have expressed concerns over the implications of the new Charter for democracy. Germany has blasted the document for running against EU values, while some commentators have described the Constitution as authoritarian and unconstitutional. It should be noted that until the coming into force of this new Constitution, Hungary remained the only country from the former Soviet Bloc which did not completely adopt a new constitution when Communism fell in the 1990s.