“Even in an emergency, it is necessary to observe the Constitution, ensure parliamentary and judicial scrutiny and the right to information”, warned the Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, in a tweet published on Monday 23 March, the day the Hungarian Parliament was invited to consider an indefinite extension of the state of emergency declared in Hungary on 11 March for a period of 15 days.
This COVID19 T/9790 Act would allow the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, to rule by decree on any measures he deems necessary in the fight against the pandemic. “And that is without a clear cut-off date and safeguards”, the Commissioner noted.
When questioned, the European Commission did not wish to comment specifically on the Hungarian bill. The Commission recalled, through the spokesperson at the Justice Department, Christian Wigand, that any emergency measure taken by a Member State of the European Union must by nature be “temporary”. “All emergency measures taken to respond to a particular crisis situation must be temporary in nature”, they said, adding that such emergency measures must be “necessary and proportionate”.
Venice Commission. On Monday, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe confirmed the cancellation of its scheduled 20-21 March plenary session, as well as any other usual meetings in Venice.
Three opinions were nevertheless adopted by written procedure. They concern Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Moldova.
With regard to Poland, also on the agenda of this March session, the approval of an urgent opinion on amendments to the Law on Common Courts, the Law on the Supreme Court and several other Laws was postponed to the 19 and 20 June session.
Adopted, the Annual Report of activities for 2019 for the Venice Commission will be published in June after transmission to the Committee of Ministers. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc with Solenn Paulic)