Administrative Criminal Law and Fundamental Rights Guarantees: The Scope and Level of the Legality Principle

Abstract

The study analyses whether and how application of the legality principle (nullum crimen et nulla poena sine lege) is realised concerning administrative sanctions. The author reviews selected decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Constitutional Court of Hungary. The study focuses on Decision No. 30/2014. (IX. 30.) of the Constitutional Court of Hungary which brought a significant turn in the case law. The Constitutional Court explicitly extended the scope of the fundamental rights guarantee enshrined in Article XXVIII, Paragraph (4) of the Basic Law of Hungary to administrative sanctions, but at the same time reduced the level of protection as compared to the level provided for the ‘hard core’ of criminal law.