The April Laws of 1848: Foundations of a Constitutional Government in Hungary

Képes, György (2024) The April Laws of 1848: Foundations of a Constitutional Government in Hungary. In: Fundamental Legal Transformations as a Consequence of the Springtime of Nations (1848). Studies of the Ferenc Mádl Institute, 3 (3). Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, Budapest, pp. 105-134. ISBN 9786156356482

Preview

Text TKEN3FundamentalLegalTransformations06Kepes.pdf - Published Version Download (311kB) | Preview

Abstract

The ‘April Laws’, the series of laws enacted by the last Hungarian feudal diet in March 1848, sanctioned by king Ferdinand V at the end of a due legislative process on 11 April, established a new form of government for Hungary: a constitutional monarchy patterned after the English and Belgian models. The limits of royal executive power, combined with the accountability of the newly established ministerial cabinet were declared and regulated in Act III of 1848, while the parliament itself was transformed by Acts IV-V of 1848 to a modern legislative body partially (i.e., its lower house) elected by the people, having annual sessions in order to establish the yearly budget to be respected by the cabinet. Unlike in other European countries, the Hungarian historical constitution was not replaced with a written constitution incorporated in a single document, and the transition from a feudal to a civic social and polical system seemed to be smooth and peaceful. Quoting the famous words of historian István Deák: it was a ‘lawful revolution’. However, half a year later, it still turned into a war of independence, for several internal (dissatisfaction of the nationalities) and external (counter-revolutionary events in Vienna) reasons. In August 1849, the Hungarian war of independence was crushed by the military superiority of Austria and Russia, but when two decades later the constitutional status of Hungary was reinstated as the result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, it were the ’April Laws’ that served as the basis, and even if none of them is formally in force any more, we still respect them as the foundation of modern Hungarian parliamentarianism.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item