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LAPA Director Kim Scheppele monitors developments in Hungary

Updated 2/21/2012

Kim Lane Scheppele is an expert on Hungarian constitutional law. In the last year and a half, the newly elected Hungarian government has been dismantling the system of constitutional checks and balances to create a state that centralizes political control in the hands of one political party.   Scheppele has been monitoring developments in Hungary.   On this page, you will find links to interviews with her, articles by her and English-language documents from the Hungarian constitutional process.  

Interviews with and articles by Scheppele (updated 2/21/12):

In English

• NEW Kim Scheppele’s lecture at Central European University on “The Unconstitutional Constitution.”   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_swtZNgjTc
• NEW Opinion on Hungary’s New Constitutional Order:  Amicus Brief for the Venice Commission on the Transitional Provisions of the Fundamental Law and the Key Cardinal Laws
• Excerpts of Scheppele’s lecture at the Central European University:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HndfvEMuOts
• Kim Lane Scheppele, "Hungary, Misunderstood?," The Conscience of a Liberal post, 1/21/2012; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/21/hungary-misunderstood/
• Kim Lane Scheppele, "Somewhere in Europe,"The Conscience of a Liberal post, 1/12/2012; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/somewhere-in-europe/#more-28181
• Kim Lane Scheppele, "Hungary's Unconstitutional Constitution", The Conscience of a Liberal post, 1/2/2012; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/the-unconstitutional-constitution/#more-27941
• Kim Lane Scheppele, "More Hungary," The Conscience of a Liberal post, 12/20/2011; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/more-hungary
• Kim Lane Scheppele, "Hungary's Constitutional Revolution," The Conscience of a Liberal post, 12/19/11; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/hungarys-constitutional-revolution
• Paul Krugman, "Depression and Democracy," New York Times, 12/12/11; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/opinion/krugman-depression-and-democracy.html?ref=paulkrugman
  
• At Eva Balogh's Hungarian Spectrum blog;    http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/2011/12/paul-krugman-and-kim-lane-scheppele-on-todays-hungary.html

In Hungarian 

• Media articles written in Hungarian about Scheppele during her recent Budapest trip:

  • Népszabadság:  http://nol.hu/kulfold/20120203-_ez_egy_veszelyes_uj_vilag_
  • HvG: http://hvg.hu/itthon/20120131_scheppele_magyar_alaptorveny
  • HvG:   http://hvg.hu/itthon/20120202_scheppele_fidesz_kormany
  • Origo:   http://www.origo.hu/itthon/20120131-kim-lane-scheppele-eloadasa-a-magyar-alaptorveny-alkotmanyellenessegerol-a-ceun.html (this has CEU pictures)
  • 168 Ora:  http://m.168ora.hu/globusz/nyt-az-orban-kormany-felreerti-sajat-szerepet-89781.html
  • ATV:  http://atv.hu/cikk/20120131_scheppele_alkotmanyellenes_az_uj_magyar_alaptorveny
• On the website portal Origo:  http://www.origo.hu/itthon/20111215-kim-lane-scheppele-jogasz-professzor-a-magyar-alkotmanyos-valtozasrol.html 
• In the weekly newsmagazine HvG:    http://hvg.hu/itthon/20111216_scheppele_partallam_fidesz
• In the largest circulation daily newspaper Nepszabadsag (forthcoming in the Saturday edition): http://nol.hu/kulfold/latszat_csak_a_magyar_demokracia

Links (updated 1/12/12)

• News Coverage of Hungary in English
• United for Democracy in Hungary Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/United-for-Democracy-in-Hungary/237662222935447
• Portfolio.hu: http://www.portfolio.hu/en/
• Blogs covering Hungarian Developments in English (Updated 1/12/2012)
  • Eva Balogh's Hungarian Spectrum http://esbalogh.typepad.com/
  • The Contrarian Hungarian https://thecontrarianhungarian.wordpress.com/
  • Free Hungary http://www.freehungary.hu/index.php
  • Hungarian Ambience (to see the far right's point of view) http://www.hungarianambiance.com/ 

Documents in English on the Hungarian Constitutional Revolution
(Updated 2/8/12)

• 1989-90 Hungarian Constitution
• 1949 Hungarian Constitution
• The Public Survey conducted by the Fidesz government on the new constitution, March 2011
• University of Reading Professor Alan Renwick on the new Hungarian election laws 
  • Part 1:  http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/readingpolitics/2011/12/25/hungary%E2%80%99s-new-electoral-law-part-1-the-basics/
  • Part 2:  http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/readingpolitics/2011/12/26/hungary%E2%80%99s-new-electoral-law-part-2-analysis/
•  Letter from György Schöpflin to Kim Scheppele, 1/2/2012

•  Statement of the Association of Hungarian Judges, 7 January 2012

• The New Hungarian Constitution

• The Report of the Venice Commission on Democracy through Law, evaluating the new Hungarian Constitution

• The Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion (the "churches law")

• Law on the "Testament to National Unity" (The Trianon Law)

• The Media Laws – a complete set of translations and analyses can be found at https://cmcs.ceu.hu/node/26249  and https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1751289

• Report of the European Central Bank on the draft Central Bank Law (superceded by a wholly different draft Hungarian law that made the IMF walk out of negotiations with Hungary on Friday 16 December)

• Beyond Democracy:   Report of the Think-Tank Haza és Haladás on the likely results of the new election law

• Transitional Acts – Constitutional Addendum (excerpts). 

• European Liberal Democrats resolution against the new Hungarian Constitution
• Letter from the Vice President of the European Commission for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship to the Hungarian Minister of Justice (Reding to Navrcsis-2); Annex to the above letter (Annex Reding Letter).