Recognition as a minority
Enlisted in the annex of the 2011 Nationalities Act are those 13 ethnic groups that qualify as nationalities in Hungary (the same ones as under the previous legislation). However, the list is not complete: the former minority act allowed the persons concerned to initiate their recognition as a minority. In order for a group to prove that it meets the conditions set out in the minority definition, a special popular initiative had to be launched by at least 1 000 persons (as opposed to the general rule of popular initiatives requiring at least 50 000 valid signatures), who identified themselves as belonging to the given minority. Procedural issues were governed by the provisions of the Act on National Referendums and Popular Initiatives, with the additional requirement – introduced in 2005 – that during its proceedings the National Election Commission shall request the statement of the President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on whether the legal conditions had been met. Based on the old-new regulation, in order for the National Assembly to expand the list of minorities identified in the Nationalities Act, the minority must already exist at the time of recognition. The National Assembly only declares the existence of the minority if the legal conditions are met, it does not itself create the “new” minority group. Four cases related to such popular initiatives have been brought before the Constitutional Court: those of the Jews and the Russians in 2006 [Decision 2/2006. (I. 30.) AB; Decision 27/2006. (VI. 21.) AB], that of the Bunjevacs in 2010 [Decision 148/2010. (VII. 14.) AB], and that of the Huns in 2012 [Order 3265/2012. (X. 4.) AB].