
Transparency International applauds the draft law concerning legislation which shall ameliorate the professional substance of laws, as well as it imports advance in the field of publicity of laws. However, the draft law concerning social involvement does not indicate new solutions since it mostly repeats conventions which are already in effect. The international organisation considers the preparation of law on social involvement a symbolical gesture emphasizing the importance of the issue, although it also draws attention to its defects.The most severe defect of the draft law concerning social involvement in the preparation of laws is that it overrules the very well functioning ’lobby law’ and it does not offer solutions instead in order to make business interest enforcements transparent.
According to TI, not the abrogation of the law but the extension of the effect of the lobby law and the introduction of measures santioning omission of implementation would import solution to make business interests appearing in the executive decision-making more transparent. The draft law in its present form also provides opportunity not to reveal the identity of the reviewer to the public which brings several possibilities for the latest grey zone of lobbyists.The additional problem is that the draft concerns exclusively the review of draft laws prepared by ministers, therefore the appearance of civil opinion is not possible in every case of draft laws. The report of order of laws prepared by treaties and other state organs and draft laws prepared by MPs or parliamentary committees are not yet appropriately regulated.
Neither the draft law on legislation, nor the one on social negotiation obligates the overall publicity of effect studies needed for the preparation of laws. The measure deprives the reporters from the possibility to get acquainted with the factual data financed by public money which hinders effective professional work.None of the draft laws disposes of sanctions applied in case of inexecution of their more important conventions which – according to the experiences of the law on the liberty of electronic information – makes the efficacy of the new laws doubtful.
In the interest of executive decision-making, including the transparency and efficacy of legislation, Transparency International Hungary suggests the overall regulation of lobbying, the overall publicity of effect studies prepared in the course of law preparation, the regulation of order of social negotiation in the regard of laws prepared by non-ministries and the formation of a responsibility system which would enforce execution, relating to these two regulations and the future lobbying regulation.