Prof. Dr. Máté SZABÓ
Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, Hungary


 

CURRICULUM VITAE



He was elected by the Hungarian Parliament as the Parliamentary Commissioner for Civil Rights for
six years which position he had hold from 26.09.2007. He continues his role and stands as the general
ombudsman of Hungary. From 1st January 2012, Prof. Szabó is Commissioner for Fundamental Rights.
He received his law degree at the Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Law in Budapest in
1980 and got a job as a journalist. From 1984, he worked as a scientific associate in the Political
Science Department of the Eötvös Loránd University's Faculty of Law. From 1990, as an associate
professor. He defended his PhD. on social movements in 1987, and got the ‘Doctor of the Political
Science' title from the Hungarian Academy of Science in 1996.
He is a founding member of the Hungarian Political Science Association and the Hungarian
Humboldt Association; furthermore, he is an active member of the Political Science Committee of
the Hungarian Academy of Science and several international associations related to sociology and
political science.
Since 1980, he has continuously carried out several project researches on various subjects of political
and social sciences.
• Between 1991-2007, he was a fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in
Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Mainz and Frankfurt an der Oder in Germany.
• He was a visiting fellow of the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies, Wassenaar, in
1995.
• In 2000, he was a research fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

He is specialized in civil society, social movements and political protest and the theory of law and
politics as well. He published more than 300 scientific contributions in Hungarian, English and
German. He is a regular participant at conferences in political science, law, and political sociology
in Europe and around the world. He teaches political science and European studies. Since he was
elected ombudsman, he is an active member of the International Ombudsman Institution and the
European Network of Ombudsman and board member of the European Ombudsman Institute.

Awarded:
• The ‘Erdei Ferenc Prize' of the Hungarian Sociological Association for young talents in 1988.
• The memorial medal ‘For Hungarian Higher Education' of the Ministry of Education for his
teaching career in 2006.
• The ‘István Bibó-Prize' of the Hungarian Political Science Association in 2007, as an
acknowledgement of his life work.
• The Gold Cross of Merit awarded by the President of Poland in 2012, in recognition of his
merits in strengthening human rights and developing Polish- Hungarian relations in this field.

Born in 1956 (13.06.), Budapest-Hungary. Married, and father of two children.

Publications on foreign languages (2007-)

1) Books
Human Rights and Civil Society in Hungary . Twenty Years for Rights and Freedom (1988-2008). OBH,
Budapest, 2009.

2) Studies in volume
Partizipation und Zivilcourage- die neue Ungarn jenseits des Autoritarismus in: Aron Buzogany-Rolf
Frankenberg (Hrsg.): Osteuropa: Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Nomos, Baden-Baden, 2007.
277-291.

Collective Protests in Central European Post-Communist Countries, in: Pero Mladini-Davorka Vidovic
(eds.): Transitions in Central and Eastern European Countries, CPI, Zagreb, 2007. 93-117.

1968 in Hungary, in: Martin Klimke-Joachim Scharloth (ed.): 1968 in Europe. A History of Protest and
Activism, 1956-1977. Palgrave, New York, 2008. 219-229.

(-Kerényi Szabina): Transnational Influences on Patterns of Mobilisation Within Environmental
Movements in Hungary, in: Brian Doherty-Thimothy Doyle (eds.): Beyond Borders. Environmental
Movements and Transnational Politics.Routledge: New York, 2008. 107-125.

Die Zivilgesellschaft Ungarns in einer vergleichenden Perspektive, in: Anton Sterbling (Hrsg.):
Zivilgesellschaftliche Entwicklungen in Südosteuropa. O. Sagner, München, 2009. 205-239.

Kompromiss als Erbe des Kádárismus: Ungarn 1989-1990, in: Jerzy Macków (Hrsg.): Autoritarismus in
Mittel- und Osteuropa. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2009. 199-215.

The Hungarian Ombudsman Institution (1995-2008), in: Linda C. Reif. (eds.): The International
Ombudsman Yearbook. Martinus Nijhoff Publ. Leiden/Boston, 2009.154-182.

Das Wesen von Ungehorsam und Kritik. Ombudsmann-Institution, die osteuropäische Revolution
der Menschenrechte und eine neue Zivilkultur, in: Bálint Balla-Anton Sterbling (Hrsg.): Europäische
Entwicklungsdynamik. Krämer Verlag.Hamburg, 2009. 87-107.

Milestones in the global and European development of human rights, in: Jernej Rovsek/Liana
Kalcina(eds.): 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 15th
Anniversary of the Human Rights Ombudsman Act in Slovenia. The Human Rights Ombudsman of
Slovenia, Ljubljana, 2009.88-94.

Demonstration Democracy in Hungary, in: Armen Harutyunyan(eds.): Freedom of Expression-Right to
Fair Trial.Almanac, Erevan(Armenia) 2010. 38-55. in Russian: 214–233; in Armenian: 123–146.

Demokratija Demonstraciji v Vengrija, in: Armen Harutyunyan(ed.): Almanah: Szvabodna
Vürazsenyija Mnenyija. Erevan(Armenia) oroszul 2010.214-233. Uo. örményül 123-146.

Gab es eine politische Ethik der Wende- und wäre diese heute noch gültig? In: András Masát(hrsg.):
Ethik und Alltag. Zwischen Wahrheit und Wirklichkeit. Andrássy Univ.Abhandlungen Nr. 23. 2010.
Budapest, 29-57.

Revisionismus, Liberalismus und Populismus: die Oppositionn in Ungarn, in: Detlef Pollack-
Jan Wielghos (hrsg.): Akteure oder Profiteure? Die demokratische Opposition in den
ostmitteleuropäischen Regimeumgbrüchen 1989.WS-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2010. 63-83.

Zwischen Reform und Revolution. Ungarns Weg aus der Staatssozialismus-wohin? In: Th.
Grossbölting-Raj Kollmorgen u.a.(Hrsg.): Das Ende des Kommunismus. Die Überwindung der
Diktaturen inn Europa und ihre Folgen. Klartext, Essen, 2010.177-195.

The Hungarian Ombudsman Institution, in: S. Rashidova(ed.): World Ombudsmen. Y-M.M. Publ.
Tashkent, 2010. 58-74.

Defizite der Demokratie oder Machtausübung mit Defiziten? Probleme der Kundgebungen und des
Versammlungsrechts in Ungarn, in: Joachim Jesko von Puttkamer-Gabriele Schubert(Hrsg.): Kulturelle
Orientierungen und gesellschaftliche Ordnungsstrukturen in Südosteuropa. Harrassowitz Verlag,
Wiesbaden, 2010. 221-239.

Ungarn hat gewahlt – aber wie? In: Berliner Debatte/Initial 2010/2. 67–73. (– Sziklay Julia): Die
Institution des Ombudsmanns in den deutschssprachigen; LanderHumboldt-Nachrichten, 2010. No.
32. 11–20.

3) Studies in Journals
Legal and Political Environment of NGO's in Hungary , in: : Annales Universitatis Scientarium
Budapestinensis de Rolando Eötvös Nominate . Sectio Iuridica. Vol. XLIX.2008.23-55.o.

Civil and Uncivil Society in Hungary, in: Central European Political Science Review 2008./33.66-87.

A Transnational Civil Society in Europe: from the point of view of the new post-communist EU-
members, in: Central European Political Science Review Vol. 9. No. 34.2008. 61-94.

Urbanisten versus Populisten in Ungarn, in: Berliner Debatte/Initial 2009/3. 67-74.o.

Disobedience and Criticism. in: Jura 2009/2. 175-185.

Unprotected? Who guards the guardians, in: European Ombudsman Newsletter 2009/12. 58-61.o.

Related to the Tradition of the Extreme Right- Down by Law in the Post-Communist Democracy, in:
Annales 2009/253-277.

The Ethos of Ombudsman's Institution, in: Journal für Rechtspolitik 2010/1. 12-21.o.

 

 

null Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Takes Stand on Launching a Case on Establishment of Paternity and Approval of Adoption

In the currently effective regulation, it is not ensured that the public guardianship authority, which acts in matters of adoption, is notified of the launching of a paternity case that concerns a certain child in each case, as Ombudsman Dr. Ákos Kozma concluded after he had inquired into a related complaint. The Commissioner requested the competent ministry to clarify the respective statutory provisions.

A father turned to the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights with a complaint regarding the adoption procedure of his daughter under legal age. He complained that since his child was born, he had attempted to give a paternity statement of full legal force before the public guardianship authority on several occasions but the latter was not cooperative, his petition had not been registered. Finally, the child was declared suitable for adoption, then a decision on her removal from state care was adopted, then the adoption was approved. The complainant lodged a petition for the establishment of his paternity at the court, which was, however, rejected. It was explained in the reasoning that no legal case can be launched for the establishment of the paternity of another man if the status of the father is filled through adoption.

In his report on case No. AJB-1152/2021, Dr. Ákos Kozma pointed out that when examining the questions brought up in the complaint, one should start out from the requirements set out in the Child Protection Act. This means that if approving the adoption depends on the preliminary establishment of paternity, then the public guardianship authority will suspend the procedure for the approval of the adoption until the ongoing case on the establishment of paternity is concluded with a decision of binding effect. However, in the case under review, the procedure for the approval of the adoption was not suspended by the public guardianship authority, despite the fact that the complainant had filed a petition for the establishment of paternity. The status of the father had not been filled before filing the claim, according to the child’s birth certificate but by that time, the adoption of the child had already been approved by the public guardianship authority.

According to the information provided by the public guardianship authority, the procedure launched for the adoption of the child had not been suspended because they were not aware of the claim filed by the complainant at the court. In his response, the chair of the court emphasized that the court has no obligation to inform the public guardianship authority of any legal cases related to a personal status affecting a child. Based on the response given by the decision-maker, the competent ministry also recognized the concerns regarding the requirement of legal certainty and the enforcement of the rights of the affected child in this case.

The Ombudsman emphasized that in order for the quoted provision of the Child Protection Act to be able to fulfil its purpose and function, it is of critical importance that the public guardianship authority become aware of the launching of the case for the establishment of paternity.

Dr. Ákos Kozma concluded that the currently uncertain legal situation, the incidental nature of the authority’s becoming aware of the procedure for the establishment of paternity are both incompatible with the requirement of legal certainty, the principle of procedures that take the child’s best interests into account, thus, in its effect, this situation is suitable for causing an impropriety with regard to the children’s right to protection and care.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights requested the Minister of Justice to propose the amendment of the Act on Civil Procedures in order to ensure that the authorities are officially informed of the cases for the establishment of paternity that are launched, or are in progress after the adoption takes place.

Please, find the respective report at: AJB-1152/2021.

 

 

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