Do constitutional courts restrict government policy? The effects of budgetary implications and bloc-politics in the Hungarian Constitutional Court's decisions between 1990 and 2018

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article addresses the budgetary implications of constitutional adjudication by analysing the decisions of the Hungarian Constitutional Court (HCC) between 1990 and 2018. Our results highlight that the HCC does not narrow the parliamentary majority's room to manoeuvre by blocking policies with serious budgetary consequences, and the potential budgetary consequences of a decision do not weigh in with the judicial output. At the same time, right-leaning courts are more likely to declare a law unconstitutional passed by a left-wing parliamentary majority, whereas left-wing courts adjudicate unconstitutionality with about roughly the same likelihood in cases of right- and left-leaning parliaments.