"Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány lashed out at President László Sólyom yesterday for refusing to sign the amended Restraining Act. Sólyom opted to send the legislation to the Constitutional Court for legal review on Monday, after deeming several of its provisions unconstitutional.
Gyurcsány also criticised the court for striking down the Registered Life Partnerships Act, which also legalises same-sex partnerships, on his blog.He wrote that “such a decision is not only a legal one but also a reflection of the personal outlook of the judges, and interferes with the freedoms to which all citizens are entitled.” He added that “a form of conservative fundamentalism is unfolding in Hungary, which is slowly assuming alarming proportions.”
The amended Restraining Act was passed by Parliament on December 15. Under the law police and civilian courts would be able to temporarily evict those who violently abuse family members with whom they live for a period of between 72 hours and 30 days.
Gyurcsány wrote on his blog of his shock that the President had not signed the Act “as no matter how he looks at it, it appears that the President values the rights of a man who threatens his family, hurts its members or keeps them in terror over the rights of those who are threatened, hurt or terrorised.
“If just one element in the law is unconstitutional, the President must appeal to the Constitutional Court, and this is not a question of degree,” President’s Office press chief Ferenc Wéber responded."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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07.01.2009