BackAs of 1 July 2013, pensioners working in the public sector will stop receiving their pension as long as they remain employed. According to the Hungarian Ombudsman, this alteration of pension regulations infringes the right to property, the protection of rights representing pecuniary values, therefore he requested the Constitutional Court to annul this amendment.
In the wake of the amendment of pension regulations the Ombudsman received numerous complaints from private citizens and various interest groups, including the Teachers’ Union, the Union of White‑collar Workers, the Hungarian Medical Chamber and the Civil Servants’ Council of SOTE University. Most of those complainants deemed the introduction of the ban on double benefits discriminatory as it just covers the public sector, leaving out the private sector. The right to pension is an acquired right that shall not be taken away. They also found it prejudicial that the ban affects not only future pensioners but also people who are already receiving their pension.
In his petition Ombudsman Máté Szabó did not inquire into the constitutionality of the pension system’s transformation – he asked whether or not pensions were protected. Having reviewed the regulation and the complaints, the Commissioner concluded that being entitled to pension as a result of having met all the requirements, constitutes a right representing pecuniary values which is under the constitutional protection of the right to property. He found that his conclusion was supported also by the Constitutional Court's earlier decisions of great significance concerning the pension system.
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SOURCE: Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary
