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 Ombudsman Takes Stand on Handling Public Interest Disclosure

In a case related to livestock rearing, the town clerk of the Common Local Government Office of Kiskunhalas caused a fundamental-rights-related impropriety relating to legal certainty and fair authority proceedings while handling a public interest disclosure that had been submitted to her – concluded the Ombudsman. Dr. Ákos Kozma asked the town clerk to take action in order to prevent the future occurrence of improprieties such as the ones exposed.

A complainant turned to the Ombudsman in person, and requested the legal review of his case in the Complaints’ Office of the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. He objected to the fact that the public interest disclosure regarding livestock rearing and the construction of the related buildings, which he had first made in person at the Common Local Government Office of Kiskunhalas, and which, when called upon, he had also submitted in writing on 17 November 2017, was not properly investigated. He also alleged that in recent years, horses had been kept in a suburban district of the residential area of Kiskunhalas, and buildings suitable for the ownership of equidae had been – in his view, unlawfully – erected.

In his report on Case No. AJB-608/2021, Dr. Ákos Kozma exposed that the town clerk had significantly exceeded the deadline specified in Section 2 of Act CLXV of 2013 on Complaints and Public Interest Disclosures (“Pkbt.”). What is more, she had failed to send the relevant information about deadlines to the complainant, and she had not referred the complaint – as prescribed by Section 1(5) of the Pkbt. – to other authorities who had competence regarding the public interest disclosure at hand.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights established that by protracting the inquiry into the public interest disclosure, failing to inform the complainant about the deadlines, and omitting to do the necessary referral, the town clerk caused an impropriety related to the complainant’s fundamental rights to legal certainty and fair authority proceedings.

In consideration of the administrative court action that had already been completed on the matter, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights did not take a stance regarding the lawfulness of the construction of livestock verandas that the complainant had objected to. At the same time, he took into consideration that according to Section 36(5) of Gov. Decree No. 253/1997 (20 December) on the National Settlement and Building Requirements (“OTÉK”), the conditions for the placement of livestock buildings may be determined by the Local Building Code with due observance of public and animal health requirements, as well as environmental criteria. The Ombudsman found that the Local Building Code of Kiskunhalas that was in force at the time of the inquiry did not contain any provisions regarding the conditions of the placement of livestock buildings. He pointed out that the deficiency of the regulation makes it significantly harder for the local government to settle the conflicts arising from livestock rearing among the inhabitants, so he concluded that regulations should be formulated regarding animal husbandry, giving due consideration to the local context and the zones defined by the OTÉK.

In consideration of the above, Dr. Ákos Kozma asked the town clerk of the Common Local Government Office of Kiskunhalas to take action in order to prevent the future occurrence of improprieties such as the ones exposed, and urged her to pay special attention to fully complying with the relevant regulations when handling public interest disclosures. Furthermore, he suggested that she consider initiating the amendment of Decree No. 8/2001 (1 March) on the Local Building Code of the Town of Kiskunhalas and the approval of its Settlement Plan, as well as the drafting of a local government decree on the rules of keeping pet animals.

For the report, please click on the following link: AJB-608/2021.

 

 

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