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law adoptionVerified

Hungary adopts the Fundamental Law, replacing the 1989 constitution

On 18 April 2011 the National Assembly adopted the Fundamental Law of Hungary, which entered into force on 1 January 2012 and replaced the 1989 constitution. In the causal graph this event strengthens Illiberal state capture in Hungary, a driver that weakens Access to justice index — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 18 April 2011 the National Assembly adopted the Fundamental Law of Hungary, which entered into force on 1 January 2012 and replaced the 1989 constitution. Cardinal laws attached to it rewrote the Constitutional Court, judicial administration, and other referees that an ordinary majority cannot later unlock. The Venice Commission issued a critical opinion on the new constitution and the cardinal-law package. This Fact is the adoption sitting. It is not the 2013 Fourth Amendment taken alone, not a later recovery-fund deal, and not a campaign speech. The official text is the Fundamental Law; the Venice Commission opinion is the independent file.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Viktor Orbán

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    verified

    Prime minister whose government or governing majority advanced the named measure. The institutional source ties the measure to the governing legal program under Orbán. Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 is stored only because contributions.size is NOT NULL — not a sourced magnitude. Attached by Pack6 land-now subset; the fact's own primary source documents the measure.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.2025 Rule of Law Report – Country Chapter on HungaryEuropean Commission · verified
  2. 2.Opinion on the New Constitution of Hungary, CDL-AD(2011)016Venice Commission · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorViktor Orbán
  2. contributed toFactHungary adopts the Fundamental Law, replacing the 1989 constitution
  3. strengthensDriverIlliberal state capture in Hungary
  4. weakensIndicatorAccess to justice index

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Hungary adopts the Fundamental Law, replacing the 1989 constitution. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/hu-fundamental-law-2011

https://factrail.ai/facts/hu-fundamental-law-2011

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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