Bencze Mátyás: Judicial Resistance against the ‘New-Type’ Hungarian Autocracy
2026/8
The aim of this paper is to present the strongest possible social science evidence on the extent to which the ordinary judiciary in Hungary resisted the new type of autocracy. The paper presents numerical changes in judicial practice in a specific field of adjudication (the initiation of constitutional review by judges) during a certain period of the Fidesz-led Hungarian government, through which judicial independence from the government can be measured. The underlying assumption is that, in an autocratic political climate, a constitutional challenge to laws enacted by the ruling parliamentary majority is a clear sign of judicial resistance. The conclusion is that, although there has been a slight decrease in the number of such initiations, this is far from the total elimination of judicial autonomy.