Act III of 1998
on National Referendum and Popular Initiative

It is a basic constitutional right that people shall be the owner of power. It exercises its power within the frames of the Constitution, primarily through its elected representatives. It is part of exercising democratic power that the people shall be able to take part in deciding the most important matters related to the country’s fate, and influencing or changing representatives’ decisions directly, through voting.

As regards these principle foundations, the Parliament shall make the following law:

General provisions

1. § In the Republic of Hungary everybody who has suffrage in the election of representatives (hereinafter referred to as voter) may take part in national referendums (hereinafter referred to as referendum) and national popular initiatives (hereinafter referred to as popular initiative).

2. § The specimen of the signature-collecting sheets shall be submitted, prior to the commencement of collecting signatures, for the sake of attestation, to the National Election Committee.

3. § (1) To support citizens’ initiative aimed at calling a referendum, or popular initiative signatures may be collected on signature-collecting sheets identical with the attested specimen.

(2) Signatures shall not be collected within the 41 days prior to and subsequent to the day of the elections of parliamentary representatives, and the members and mayors of local governments.

4. § (1) The National Election Committee shall arrange for checking the signatures of the citizens’ initiative aimed at calling a referendum, or the popular initiative.

(2) In the event of failure to comply with the term defined with regard to submitting the initiative in Article 28/E of the Constitution, the National Election Committee shall not check the signatures.

(3) With regard to failure to comply with the term referred to in paragraph (2), or the result of checking the signatures, the Chairman of the National Election Committee shall immediately inform the Speaker of the Parliament.

5. § If the citizens’ initiative aimed at calling a referendum or the popular initiative has been submitted with delay, or as a result of checking the signatures the National Election Committee has ascertained that the number of valid signatures does not reach the number determined in the Constitution, the Speaker of the Parliament shall on the next session day following receipt of the information pursuant to paragraph (3) of Article 4 announce that the initiative has not complied with legislative requirements.

6. § The Speaker of the Parliament shall announce the initiative complying with the conditions enshrined in law on the next session day following the receipt of the information pursuant to paragraph (3) of Article 4, or paragraph (2) of Article 9.

7. § (1) The Parliament is obliged to put the initiative on the agenda and discuss it.

(2) When calculating the term defined in paragraph (1) of Article 14 and Article 20, the intermission between sessions and the length of postponement shall be neglected.

Referendum

8. § (1) The decision made with a successful binding referendum, which enables the public to decide the case, shall be binding upon the Parliament.

 (2) A non-binding referendum, which enables the public to voice their opinion, ensures the contribution of the citizens to making the Parliament’s decision, but shall not bind the Parliament to make a decision with a defined content.

(3) An obligatory referendum can be only binding, a referendum ordered on the grounds of discretion (hereinafter referred to as optional referendum) can be, subject to the Parliament’s decision, with the restraint set forth in paragraph (4), either binding or non-binding.

(4) The referendum ordered with regard to a law already enacted by the Parliament but not yet signed by the President of the Republic shall be binding.

9. § (1) The initiative aimed at ordering an optional referendum may be submitted by the President of the Republic, the Government, or one third of the Members of the Parliament to the Chairman of the National Election Committee.

(2) The National Election Committee shall examine compliance with the requirements enshrined in the Constitution, and set forth in clauses a)-c) of Article 10, and shall on the grounds of this decide the attestation of the particular question. The Chairman of the National Election Committee shall immediately inform the Speaker of the Parliament with regard to the result of the attestation.

(3) If the National Election Committee has not attested the question, the Speaker of the Parliament shall on the next session day following receipt of the information pursuant to paragraph (2) announce that the initiative has not complied with the legislative requirements.

10. § The National Election Committee shall refuse to attest the signature-collecting sheet if

a) the question does not fall within the competence of the Parliament,

b) no national referendum may be held regarding the question,

c) the wording of the question does not comply with the requirements set forth in the law,

d) the signature-collecting sheet does not comply with the requirements stipulated in the Act on Electoral Procedure.

11. § The citizens’ initiative aimed at calling the referendum may be submitted, except for the discontinuance of collecting signatures pursuant to Article 118/A of Act C of 1997 on Electoral Procedure (hereinafter referred to as Procedural Law), in four months following the attestation of the signature-collecting sheet, once to the Chairman of the National Election Committee. The signatures submitted additionally, supplementing the initiative shall be invalid.

12. § If the National Election Committee has attested the signature-collecting sheet, or the question, then neither another specimen of the signature-collecting sheets regarding a question with the same content (Article 2), nor a new initiative aimed at ordering the referendum (Article 9) may be submitted

a) until the referendum is completed, or

b) until the initiative is rejected, or

c) until the term available for submitting the signature-collecting sheets elapses without any result.

13. § (1) The specific question asked in the referendum shall be worded in such fashion that it can be answered unambiguously.

(2) The specific question shall be put to the referendum in the form worded in the initiative.

14. § (1) The initiative aimed at ordering the referendum shall be decided after the announcement pursuant to Article 6

a) in the event of obligatory referendum in 15,

b) in the event of optional referendum in 30

days.

(2) The Parliament’s resolution on ordering the referendum shall contain whether the referendum is binding or non-binding, the specific question put to the referendum, and shall give orders pertaining to the budget of the referendum.

(3) The Speaker of the Parliament shall in three days inform the President of the Republic about the ordering of the referendum.

15. § The President of the Republic shall call the referendum in 15 days after the term for redress has elapsed without any result, or, in the event of redress, after it has been adjudged.

16. § (1) The referendum shall be called for a date within 90 days after the parliamentary resolution ordering it has been published, or, in the event of redress, after it has been adjudged.

(2) The referendum shall be called in such fashion that the day of voting should not fall on any national holiday, any public holiday, or the days preceding or following them.

(3) Referendum shall not be held on the day of the general elections of parliamentary representatives, or the elections of the members and mayors of local governments, and within the 41 days preceding and following them.

(4) If the referendum may not be called pursuant to paragraph (1) because of the provisions set forth in paragraph (3), the referendum shall be called for a date within the 131 days following the elections.

Popular initiative

17. § The popular initiative shall accurately and unambiguously contain the question proposed to be discussed.

18. § The National Election Committee will refuse to attest the signature-collecting sheet if

a) the question does not fall within the competence of the Parliament,

b) the wording of the question does not comply with the requirements enshrined in the law,

c) the signature-collecting sheet does not comply with the requirements stipulated in the Act on Electoral Procedure.

19. § The popular initiative may be submitted, except for the discontinuance of collecting signatures pursuant to Article 118/A of the Procedural Law, in two months after the attestation of the signature-collecting sheet, once to the Chairman of the National Election Committee. The signatures submitted additionally, supplementing the initiative shall be invalid.

20. § The popular initiative shall be decided in three months after the announcement pursuant to Article 6.

Closing provisions

21. § (1) This Act shall come into force on the day it is promulgated.

(2) Simultaneously with this Act coming into force

a) Act XVII of 1989 on Referendum and Popular Initiative, and Act XXXIX of 1989 and Act XLVI of 1990 amending and supplementing it,

b) paragraph (3) of Article 115 of Act LXV of 1990 on Local Governments.

shall be repealed.

22. § (1) Repealed.

(2) Repealed.

(3) Repealed.

23. § (1) With regard to any referendum ordered prior to this Act coming into force, the provisions in force at the date of ordering it shall apply.

(2) In the event of citizens’ initiative aimed at ordering a referendum or popular initiative in progress at the time of this Act coming into force, the Articles 2-3 and the provisions of Article 11 of this Act defining the term of submitting the initiative shall not apply.

(3) The National Election Committee shall examine compliance with the requirements stipulated in clauses a)-d) of Article 10, in the event of paragraph (2), prior to checking the signatures.

(4) In the event pursuant to paragraph (2), the initiative aimed at ordering a national referendum shall be submitted in four months, a national popular initiative in two months after this Act comes into force.