Press release from Sándor Palace

In Act III of 2025 adopted by Parliament, the fundamental right of assembly was limited in cases of violation of the statutory prohibition set out in Article 6/A of Act XXXI of 1997 on the Protection of Children and Guardianship Administration (hereinafter: Child Protection Act).

The purpose and object of the prohibition, as laid down in the Child Protection Act, is, among other things, to ensure the legal protection of children from unsolicited interfering behaviour and influences that violate their rights to be brought up in a family environment that ensures their physical, intellectual, emotional and moral development.

This is based on Article XVI(1) of the Fundamental Law, which provides for the fundamental right of children to the protection and care necessary for their proper physical, mental and moral development, and to an identity appropriate to their sex at birth. Article VIII of the Constitution also guarantees the right to peaceful assembly as a fundamental right.

Conceptually, the conflict between the rights of the child and the right of assembly in its unfettered exercise can only be resolved by a proportionate and necessary restriction of one fundamental right to the benefit of the other. 

In the present case, the subjective scope of fundamental rights (children/assemblers) and their different vulnerability are in themselves sufficient grounds for resolving the conflict between the exercise of fundamental rights and the protection of children's rights by means of a proportionate legal restriction on the right of assembly. 

The legal restriction, adopted by more than two thirds of MPs, only covers the prohibition of named conduct affecting the fundamental rights of children guaranteed by the Fundamental Law, and therefore does not affect the substance of the right of assembly.

As for exactly which specific assemblies or events require the application of the adopted legal regulations - as has been the case under the regulations already in force – this question falls within the scope of individual judicial discretion, with appropriate legal remedies available.