Judicial Review of Statutory Public Bodies’ Regulations in the Light of the Hungarian Code of Administrative Court Procedure

Abstract

The introduction of judicial review of statutory public bodies’ normative administrative acts was long overdue in the Hungarian legal system. Prior to 2018, no subjective or objective legal protection was allowed against these acts, which resulted in a number of anomalies, especially in case of professional bodies (chambers) with compulsory membership. This issue was recognised by the legislature as well, which endeavoured to rectify this hiatus by adopting the Code of Administrative Court Procedure. However, the progressive rules of the Code regarding the judicial review of normative acts of professional bodies have never been put into practice, as a mere two years later it was altered in a way that reflected a reversion to the regulatory framework prior to the adoption of the Code. The aim of this paper is to examine the original regulatory framework as well as the new amended rules of the Code from the perspective of the twofold function of administrative justice: protecting individual rights, while also controlling the legality of administration. Our primary focus of research was on the qualitative examination of the rules of the Code, however we also touch upon judicial practice, where available.