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2017 Hungarian Y.B. Int'l L. & Eur. L. 61 (2017)
The EU Migrant Quota Referendum in Hungary - The Legal Aspects of a Primarily Political Device

handle is hein.journals/huyiel2017 and id is 73 raw text is: 4 THE EU MIGRANT QUOTA REFERENDUM IN HUNGARY The Legal Aspects of a Primarily Political Device Ldszl6 Komdromi* Le President de la Rdpublique est responsable devant le Peuplefrangais, auquel il a tou- jours le droit defaire appel. Constitution du 14 Janvier 1852, Art. 5.1 4.1 INTRODUCTION On 2 October 2016 Hungarian voters cast their votes to decide the following question: Do you want the European Union to be able to prescribe the compulsory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even without the approval of the Parliament? The referendum was invalid, because the required turnout quorum, the valid votes of more than 50% of the total electorate, was not reached. Nevertheless, the referendum was one of the most important political events of 2016 in Hungary and the problem of migration dominated the Hungarian political agenda also in the first half of 2017. The following paper opens with a summary of the historic and political background of the referendum, touching upon the measures of the EU and the Hungarian Government. This is followed by an analysis of the Curia's (Supreme Court of Hungary) decision,2 which gave the green light to the referendum. The most important conclusion is that the legal conditions for national referendums in Hungary (in particular, that the subject matter of the referendum lie within the competence of the Parliament and that the ques- tion be unambiguous) cannot be interpreted outside the EU law context. The refusal of the Curia to directly apply and interpret EU law in connection with referendum initia- tives is, therefore, untenable. It is also worth reconsidering the long-held view that Article 8(3) (d) of the Fundamental Law, which bans referendums that would affect obligations arising from international treaties, is inapplicable to referendums in contravention of EU law. * Associate Professor at Pizminy Pter Catholic University, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, komaromi.laszlo@jakppke.hu. 1 L. Duguit & H. Monnier & IK Bonnard (Eds.), Les constitutions et les principales lois politiques de la France depuis 1789, 7th edn (par G. Berlia), Librairie g6nbrale de droit et de jurisprudence, Paris, 1952, p. 250. 2 Decision Knk.IV.37.222/2016/9. of the Curia. 61

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