MAGYAR KÉTFARKÚ KUTYA PÁRT v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT
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alleging that the restriction of voters’ right to freedom of expression also infringed its
right to freedom of expression.
Based on the above, the Constitutional Court finds that the complainant requested
the setting-aside of the impugned decision of the Kúria by relying on a violation, not
of its own fundamental rights, but of the rights of others. Therefore the complaint does
not fulfil the condition set out in section 27(a).
In the light of the above, the Constitutional Court rejects the constitutional
complaint pursuant to section 56(1) and (2) of the Constitutional Court Act and
Rule 30(2)(h) of the Rules of Procedure.”
30. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Czine took the view that the case
raised issues of constitutional importance. She commented as follows:
“I do not agree with the decision rejecting the constitutional complaint, for the
following reasons.
In my opinion the substantive conditions, in particular those under sections 27
and 29, were met in the present case, since the arguments submitted concerning both
the right to freedom of expression and the principle of the exercise of rights in
accordance with their purpose under section 2(1)(e) of the Electoral Procedure Act
raise doubts about the constitutionality of the judicial decision. They also render it
necessary to examine a question of fundamental constitutional importance.
...
In the present case the National Election Commission established, based on the
available evidence, that the complainant had ‘encouraged voters to take photographs
of valid and invalid ballot papers in the course of the referendum and to publish them
on the application, thereby sending a message to the Government’.
The complainant clearly argued in its constitutional complaint that ‘by making the
application available its intention was to provide a possibility for voters to exercise
their right to freedom of expression by taking and anonymously sharing photographs
of ballot papers, or in the case of those who decided not to participate in the
referendum, photographs of the activities they were engaged in instead of voting’.
According to the complainant, its conduct in enabling the exercise of voters’ right to
freedom of expression falls within the sphere of protection of Article IX (1) of the
Fundamental Law.
In my opinion, in the present case, it is a question of fundamental constitutional
importance whether the impugned judicial decision restricted the right to freedom of
expression and whether the principle of the exercise of rights in accordance with their
purpose under section 2(1)(e) could serve as a constitutional ground, within the
meaning of Article I (3) of the Fundamental Law, for restricting the right to freedom
of expression. In the light of this, I considered it necessary to declare the
constitutional complaint admissible and to examine it on its merits.”