The guardian of the democratic functioning of the State

Head of State in state of emergency

Abstract

The ninth amendment to the Fundamental Law has significantly changed the special legal order (SLO), including the regulation of state of emergency. As a result, the Government is now entitled to take emergency measures not the President of Republic as earlier. According to international trends and the development of information technology, the revision of the legislation was necessary. At the same time, it is worth considering how the amendment relates to the status of the Head of State. In my study, I review the relevant elements of the existing legislation on the status of the head of state. In this context, I define his role in the Hungarian state organisation and examine the past and present rules on the state of emergency. On the basis of these, I conclude whether the new system is suitable to deal with all possible crisis situations, whether it is sufficiently effective and whether it is in line with the rules governing the institution of the Head of State.