The current issue of the Constitutional Court Review intends to provide an opportunity to publish studies completed in 2023 in the framework of the Comparative Constitutional Law Research Group.

The Comparative Constitutional Law Research Group, established at the National University of Public Service in 2023, aims at enabling researchers to use the European Constitutional Communication Network (ECCN) database created by the Constitutional Court of Hungary to study the specificities of constitutional courts in the region. This ambition allows using a comparative method to identify the similarities and differences among the constitutional traditions of different countries, which are revealed by constitutional court decisions. One of the main objectives of the Research Group is the scientific use of the ECCN database in order to give more attention and recognition to the constitutional protection afforded by the constitutional court decisions of the examined countries. Furthermore, due to this project, the constitutional specificities of the countries in the region can be more visible in international academic life and in the public discourse based on it.

During the implementation of the multi-year research project, the Research Group cooperates with the Constitutional Court of Hungary, which is responsible for the creation, maintenance and continuous expansion of the ECCN database. In addition, the Research Group defines the themes for the given project year in consultation with the Constitutional Court Review, adapted to the subject of the Constitutional Court decisions processed in the ECCN database. Thus, the research project would like to reflect the extended content of the database. However, it should also be noted, as the ECCN database is constantly expanding, only a limited number of decisions are currently available on a given topic. Therefore, the Research Group also provided an opportunity for researchers to use the ECCN database out of the main research topic, and choose another theme, more closely related to their own research profile.

The main research topic chosen by the Research Group in 2023 is entitled “Crises and the search for ways out in the practice of constitutional courts”. There were and unfortunately, there are many crises in the recent years, from the global economic crisis, mass immigration and pandemic COVID-19 to the global food and energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. In reviewing state measures to restrain crises, national constitutional courts, as the main bodies for the defence of national constitutions, have a significant role. The research project in 2023 aimed at comparing relevant Constitutional Court decisions; in particular, the reasoning of constitutional courts, seeking answers how they perceived the constitutional framework and institutional guarantees for crisis management. In this context, particular attention should be paid to the experience of democratic decision-making and the justification of restrictions on fundamental rights. It is also important to identify the characteristics of the argumentation, and to assess the constitutional framework for crisis management in the States of the region by highlighting similarities and differences.

The ever-expanding database has provided a unique research opportunity for qualified researchers with expertise in constitutional law to establish a new academic discourse in the field of constitutional law through a comparative analysis of the activities of constitutional courts. Researchers explored a wide range of topics, such as the enforcement of the right of assembly, the right to health, the right to a healthy environment, the right to a fair trial, or the right to asylum in times of crisis in different countries, and there are some other, fundamental rights-oriented studies not directly related to the topic of crises but also using the database. The studies produced in this research project could be useful not only in the academic world in Hungary, but can also help to establish cross-border research relations. Thinking together can lead to shared success, which can enable a precise understanding of the constitutional values of the Member States and thus incorporate them into the integration process.

As the head of the Research Group, I would like to express my gratitude to the National University of Public Service and to the Constitutional Court, for providing the opportunity to research, and for the support of the AURUM Lawyers’ Club for Talented Students Foundation which also contributed to the success of the project.