Home > 2.1.2 Executive bodies > HUNGARY - Joint Opinion on the 2020 Amendments to the Electoral Legislation
 
 
 
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Paragraph 56
 

Sections 35 and 36 of the Act revise Sections 214 and 228 of the Act on Electoral Procedure, which had established deadlines of three or five days from receipt of the matter for election commissions to adjudicate objections and appeals - in line with international standards.44 The amendments introduce an additional deadline of fifteen days for consideration of complaints to commissions that “do not relate to an election which has already been called but the result of the election has not yet become final”. The precise meaning and application of this amendment is unclear in terms of whether the deadline relates to pre- or post-election complaints, while the Ministry of Justice noted that it can apply to both.45 The appropriateness of an election dispute-related deadline depends on which stage of the electoral process it is applicable and a fifteen-day adjudication deadline is not considered international good practice particularly for pre-election disputes. The Venice Commission and ODIHR recommend clarifying and, if necessary, revising these provisions in order to ensure the timely settlement of disputes, in conformity with international good practice.