Judicial Review and Hungary's Transition from Communism to Democracy: The Constitutional Court, the Continuity of Law, and the Redefinition of Property Rights

The nature of judicial review in Eastern Europe and whether it functions in response to the community or imposes upon the community is examined, with particular focus on the exercise of judicial review in Hungary by the recently formed Constitutional Court. The Court posseses jurisdiction to issue advisory opinions and to engage in review of legal rules before and after enactment. Two normative categories are proposed for analysis of the relationship between the form and substance of judicial review. If the Court's authority is the product of communal consent, then it should respond to: 1. communal expectations of the nature of judicial precedents and the adjudicatory process, and 2. the popular ideals of the social movement that underlies the creation of the Constitution. It seems that communal roots underlie the form and substance of the Court's works, but uncertainty exists as to whether the Court will remain a politically effective organ.