The
Venice Commission and the
Hungarian Helsinki Committee expressed concern over the provision on cardinal acts; opposition parties asserted these could bind future governments to Fidesz' actions, but did promise to participate in the debate on the acts.
[14][13] Amnesty International believes the document "violates international and European human rights standards", citing the clauses on fetal protection, marriage and life imprisonment, and sexual orientation not being covered in the anti-discrimination clause. Left-wing and liberal members of the
European Parliament asserted that it fails to protect citizens' rights and
reduces legislative checks and balances.[11] Among these was
Guy Verhofstadt, head of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, who said the constitution could limit "fundamental human rights" and was adopted without transparency, flexibility, a spirit of compromise and sufficient time for debate.
[42] Werner Hoyer,
Germany's deputy foreign minister, expressed his country's concern as well,
[12] prompting the
Hungarian Foreign Affairs Ministry to dismiss the remarks as "inexplicable and unacceptable".
[43] Additionally,
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested the government should address concerns about the constitution.
[44]
In March 2013, Parliament amended the constitution for the fourth time, on a 265-11 vote, with Fidesz, the Christian Democrats and three independents in favor and the Socialists boycotting the vote; there were also 33 abstentions.
[47][48] Subsequently, President
János Áder signed the amendment into law, citing his legal duty and the need to preserve national unity.
[49][50] The fifteen-page amendment touches on several aspects.
It annuls rulings of the Constitutional Court made before the 2011 constitution went into force, while allowing their legal effects to remain.
It endows the president of the Kuria and the chief prosecutor with the power to initiate constitutional review of laws. While giving the Constitutional Court the power to review the constitution itself on procedural grounds, it stipulates that the court cannot annul a law passed by a two-thirds parliamentary majority. Judges and prosecutors are obliged to retire at the general retirement age, although that age is left unstated; the Kuria head and the chief prosecutor are exempt. The amendment enshrines freedom of religion and allows constitutional complaints regarding the church law. It allows civil lawsuits for
hate speech targeting an individual's community, and
declares that communism is condemned. The measure requires students whose education is subsidized by the state to work in Hungary for a period after graduation or reimburse their tuition costs to the state. It allows only public media to air political advertising prior to general and
European elections.
The importance of the traditional family is stressed, and authorities are empowered to ban living in certain public spaces, although homelessness is not outlawed. A prior proposal on requiring voters to register prior to elections was not included after being earlier voided by the Constitutional Court.
[51]