BUDAPEST, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian Constitutional Court has blamed the Sargentini report adopted by the European Parliament for its lack of prior consultations, official sources told here on Thursday.
"The importance of international constitutional dialogue has been emphasized in the context of the Sargentini Report," Tamas Sulyok, President of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, declared in a press release published following the meeting of the Constitutional Court and ambassadors.
The Sargentini report, adopted by a two thirds majority of the European Parliament, enumerates a number of concerns about the rule of law in Hungary, its electoral system, changed without the approval of the opposition parties, the independence of the judiciary, corruption issues, freedom of expression, assembly and religion, as well as the rights of minorities and asylum-seekers and issues connected with equal opportunity.
Sulyok stressed that "Europe faced more complex challenges today than ever, and regular exchange of experience, opinions and information was indispensable in the shifting global political, economic and social context."
"Unfortunately, the current counter-example is the Sargentini report, the authors of which have formulated statements that negatively affect the integrity, autonomy and authority of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, however, all preliminary consultations with the Constitutional Court were omitted," he added.
Sulyok also informed that by introducing the notion of "genuine constitutional complaint", the basic law allowed the claimants to turn to the Constitutional Court directly for remedies if their fundamental rights were violated.
The European Parliament voted on Sept. 12 on the Special Report on the Rule of Law in the Republic of Hungary.
According to the document prepared by Green Party member Judith Sargentini, there is a risk of serious and systemic damage to EU values in Hungary, which justifies the initiation of a procedure under Article 7 of the EU Treaty.
If a member state is seen as being at risk of breaching basic EU values, EU institutions can recommend a process that can ultimately end with the suspension of a government's voting rights.
This option remains very unlikely, as it requires a unanimous decision of the heads of states and governments of the EU. Poland, Hungary's ally, has already said it would veto any such sanctions.
