The Role of the Sovereignty Protection Office in the Hungarian Administration System

Rethinking the role of the Sovereignty Protection Office

Abstract

This study examines the National Sovereignty Protection Act and the newly established Sovereignty Protection Office created by this legislation. The paper applies a descriptive and analytical approach, presenting in detail the structure, function, and purpose of the new institution in the context of the Fundamental Law of Hungary. During our analysis, we employed statutory, jurisprudential, and dogmatic methods, relying on the decisions of the Hungarian Constitutional Court in which the concepts of sovereignty and constitutional identity is elaborated, along with the relationship between the two notions. Our research focuses on the question of how, based on its name and mandate, the Sovereignty Protection Office can fulfill its assigned function, especially considering that, according to the Fundamental Law, it is tasked with defending constitutional identity, while the Sovereignty Protection Act conflates the two concepts. We raise the questions: Which concept of sovereignty does the new Office protect, given that sovereignty has multiple interpretations in legal theory? What is the precise relationship between sovereignty and constitutional identity? Especially considering the establishment of this Office. Moreover, why was the Office created at all when the Hungarian Constitutional Court has already declared itself as the supreme guardian of sovereignty?