The scope of the EU Charter and its application by the Hungarian courts

This paper maps out the factors regarding the Charter’s scope of application and then provides an overview of the subsequent interpretation afforded by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The content and repercussions of the CJEU’s interpretation of the field of application of the Charter in the Member States will also be discussed and, finally, the focus will be turned to how the Hungarian judiciary refers and applies the Charter. The analysis of the practice of the national courts will show that despite the CJEU’s guidelines on situations when recourse to the Charter is required, Hungarian courts have applied a narrow reading of the Charter and have thereby insulated significant national measures that give effect to EU law from EU fundamental rights scrutiny