HCR 30 – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
08/09
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 30
A RESOLUTION congratulating the Republic of Hungary on the adoption of its first national constitution.
SPONSORS: Rep. Katsakiores, Rock 5; Rep. Messier, Hills 17; Rep. Ferrante, Rock 5; Rep. Whitehead, Hills 26; Rep. Dowling, Rock 5; Rep. Fesh, Rock 5; Rep. Reichard, Rock 5
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
This house concurrent resolution congratulates the Republic of Hungary on the adoption of its first national constitution.
12-2067
08/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
A RESOLUTION congratulating the Republic of Hungary on the adoption of its first national constitution.
Whereas, the Government of Hungary has adopted its first national constitution ever, replacing the constitution put in place by the Stalinists in 1949; and
Whereas, prior to the Stalinist constitution, Hungary did not have a formal written constitution. Instead, its basic law was governed by the Doctrine of the Holy Crown (Szentkorona-tan), a complex tradition that underlies Hungary’s historical, unwritten constitution until the 1949 Soviet-drafted constitution; and
Whereas, for nearly 1000 years, the Doctrine of the Holy Crown was this basis of the idea of the state of Hungary, determined Hungary’s constitutional development from the middle ages to World War II, and yields influence in public thinking on the constitution up to the present; and
Whereas, when communism fell, Hungary was the only post-Soviet state not to immediately establish a new constitution; and
Whereas, since 1988 the idea of preparing a new constitution was discussed. Reform communists and the opposition took account of this development at the Hungarian Round Table Talks in mid-1989, desiring a document that would establish a multiparty system, parliamentary democracy, and a social market economy; and
Whereas, time pressure did not allow a new constitution to be written and on October 18, 1989, the National Assembly adopted a new comprehensive amendment to the 1949 Constitution, which was to prevail until a new constitution was framed; and
Whereas, in April 2010 the Fidesz Party won a 2/3 majority in the elections, the number necessary to establish a new constitution according to the framework of the constitution in force; and
Whereas, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited all parties to participate in a constitutional drafting committee; and
Whereas, all registered political parties in the Republic of Hungary were invited to submit drafts to the Constitutional Committee and participate in parliamentary debate; and
Whereas, to solicit the input of the citizens of Hungary in the process of the drafting of the constitution, questionnaires were distributed to 8,000,000 Hungarian voters, with 1,000,000 having been completed and returned; and
Whereas, in place of a preamble, the constitution includes a “national testament” or “national declaration.” Beginning with the first line of Hungary’s national anthem “God Bless the Hungarian” the introductory testament refers to Hungary’s religious and ethnic roots, the historic role of the Holy Crown in Hungarian life, and the legacy of the 1956 revolt against the Soviets; and
Whereas, the national testament declares that Hungary does not accept the legal continuity of the 1949 constitution, which served as “the basis of a tyrannical rule”; and
Whereas, Hungary has adopted a constitution that can, as the national testament states: “acknowledge the suspension of our historic constitution as a result of foreign occupation. We reject the applicability of statute of limitations to the inhuman crimes committed against the Hungarian nation and its citizens during the reign of the national socialist and the communist regimes”; and
Whereas, the new constitution is the first national constitution to be drafted on an iPad; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring;
That the New Hampshire legislature congratulates the people of Hungary and Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the adoption of their first national constitution; and
That the New Hampshire legislature applauds the democratic process of drafting and adopting the new constitution; and
That the New Hampshire legislature recognizes the historic nature of the adoption of Hungary’s first national constitution that reflects the identity, beliefs, history, shared suffering, and unity of the people of Hungary; and
That copies of this resolution be sent by the house clerk to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary and to Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, the American ambassador to Hungary.