The Hungarian Constitutional Court (CC) will hold its sessions in one of Parliament’s office spaces for roughly the next six months due to the renovation of the Court’s Donáti Street building, CC said in a statement on Monday. According to an August government decree, 556 million forints will be provided for the works.
Built in the early 1970s, the three-story, reinforced concrete building was last renovated in the early 1990s. Now, in order to improve energy efficiency, the windows and doors will be replaced and the facade will be insulated.
Approximately 150 of CC’s staff will continue to work in the building during the renovation, but the fifteen members of the Court and the five-member-panels will temporarily meet in the Parliament building.
According to an agreement between the Office of the Parliament and CC, constitutional judges can use one of Parliament’s mezzanine floor offices for free until spring 2020 – says the statement on CC’s website.
What makes the temporary move of the court’s judges interesting is the fact that in recent years there has been a great debate over the separation of powers in Hungary.
The main reason for the argument was Viktor Orbán moving his headquarters from Parliament to the Buda Castle in January; thus – according to the official explanation – separating the executive and legislative powers on a formal level. With the Constitutional Court members located in the Parliament building, following this logic, however, the legislative and judicial branches would not be separated for the next half a year.
Featured Tamás Kovács/MTI