Hungarian President Katalin Novák vetoed a law that would have allowed complaints to be legally filed against those who question two fundamental principles: the role of marriage and family, and rights of children to identify with birth-assigned sex, as set in the Hungarian Constitution.
The law “On complaints, whistleblowing and rules on reporting abuse” was proposed to the Hungarian parliament last month, where it was accepted and then referred to President Novák for ratification. Although a minor part of the law, Chapter III (allowing anonymous complaints against those who question the constitutional role of the family) quickly became the center of controversy, especially after a transgender man reported himself in protest, “complaining” that he doesn’t believe marriage should only constitute a union between men and women.
Regardless of the protest, the freedom of expression argument gained more and more supporters, including the President of Hungary. According to her official explanation published on Friday, April 21st, President Novák believes the law is too vaguely formulated to be effectively used in practice, especially when made sure it respects the freedom of expression, another benchmark constitutional principle. As she wrote in her letter sent to the National Assembly:
Chapter III of the Law, by referring to the protection of fundamental constitutional values, puts forward too vaguely worded provisions, whose practical applicability and legal consequences are questionable.
When assessing complaints aimed at protecting constitutional values … it is also necessary to consider whether the classification of the conduct in question as unlawful is consistent with the right to freedom of expression, also guaranteed by the Fundamental Law.
In this form, Chapter III … is not really suitable for the protection of the values of the Fundamental Law, and thus does not serve their fulfillment either. Indeed, this chapter not only does not strengthen the protection of fundamental values but weakens it.
Although mainstream media frequently calls the ‘complaints law’ homophobic, claiming it would have encouraged citizens to take action against the homosexual community by reporting same-sex relationships to the government, this could not be further from the truth. The law would have only allowed reporting the public questioning of constitutional principles (the sanctity of marriage being one of them) and not same-sex couples themselves. In fact, Hungary not only recognizes same-sex partnerships but also allows civil unions between them with nearly the same rights as a traditional marriage.
