Constitutional concerns regarding academic freedom and the newly set up public interest trusts (PITs) are well known to the international community as the forced reorganisation of the University of Theatre and Film Arts has sparked criticism around the world.

A bejegyzés magyarul itt olvasható el / In Hungarian

Sándor Fazekas, former Minister of Agriculture (currently MP), and the member of the board of trustees of the Marek József Foundation, a PIT operating the The University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest.

This June, MPs from the opposition turned to the Hungarian Constitutional Court (HCC) to challenge a law on PITs. They complained that the new legal entities, while using public money to perform their public tasks, were not bound by legal safeguards that would prevail in case of national property. MPs also argued that there are no rules on conflict of interests for PITs’ officials, which is not in line with separation of powers enshrined in the Fundamental Law of Hungary. 

After K-Monitor had traced back the lawmaking of the past two years and the activities of four Fidesz MPs, it filed an amicus curiae submission to the HCC to support the MPs’ arguments about the conflict of interest rules. 

The submission sheds light on how MPs István Bajkai, Sándor Fazekas, János Lázár and István Nagy had participated as lawmakers in the PITs’ set up and recapitalisation with state subsidies, and how they all took a seat on the PITs’ board of trustees. It must be noted that besides their MP mandate, Fazekas and Lázár are also assigned as government commissioners while Nagy is the Minister of Agriculture since 2018.

Is this even lawful? 

Pursuant to the statutory law, holding of different public positions is absolutely lawful as a very recent legislation on the PITs has abolished all previous conflict of interests rules. The change was supported by the MPs who now personally benefit from the new law. From now on, there is no conflict of interests if somebody holds a position in the National Assembly, in the Government and also bears membership in a PITs’ board of trustees. There is also no provision on lawmaking either which excludes MPs from voting on a bill whose consequences they are involved in.  

Apart from the fact that conflict of interests rules lacking leads to eliminate separation of powers, holding of different public positions carries corruption risks as well. Since PITs may receive funding not only from the Hungarian state but also from the corporate world or even foreign states, members of the board of trustees like the four MPs might be engaged in fundraising and lobbying activities. This entails a high risk of corruption. 

K-Monitor is of the view that the law contradicts the separation of powers doctrine as the appointment to the board of trustees is incompatible with a mandate as public official. The legal framework now challenged before the HCC serves clearly Fidesz’s aim to control all entities in public. For the time being, the HCC has not scheduled the case to deliberate, so there is still no obstacle to holding even three different positions in different branches of government.

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