If Gergely Karácsony consciously decided to liquidate the cooperation instead of the agreement, thereby violating the basic legal obligation for local governments, there may be a place for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings.
Recently, in a public interest report, a private individual initiated disciplinary proceedings at the Metropolitan Assembly against Gergely Karácsony, because, as he puts it, the capital owes the Ministry of Construction and Transport (hereinafter: ÉKM) HUF 2.175 billion for the maintenance of the Budapest pass, i.e. that the citizens of the capital pay the HÉV - lines and agglomeration bus routes can also be used with a BKK pass.
Last year, the contract between the state and the capital was still in force, according to which the state gave HUF 12 billion a year to public transport in Budapest. Since Gergely Karácsony did not accept the offer of the ÉKM, the contracts expired on December 31, 2023, and the Budapest municipality lost its right to shape the timetables of the HÉV and the agglomeration Volánbüz routes, and the legal basis for the joint Budapest pass ceased to exist.
According to press reports, Gergely Karácsony may have consciously decided to refuse cooperation with the state, which is why the whistleblower István Tényi can initiate the Metropolitan Assembly to investigate the mayor's responsibility in the case of the cancellation of the pass.
The whistleblower refers to Article N) paragraph (3) of the Basic Law of Hungary, according to which local governments are also obliged to respect the principle of balanced, transparent and sustainable budget management.
It should be noted that according to Article 34 (1) of the Basic Law, local governments and state bodies cooperate in order to achieve community goals, and Article 38 (5) states that economic organizations owned by the state and local governments are defined by law manage independently and responsibly in accordance with the requirements of legality, expediency and efficiency (that is, the BKK must also strive for this, it must meet these requirements when making its legal transactions and decisions).
Regarding the disciplinary responsibility of the current mayor, it can be said that CXCIX of 2011 on civil servants. Act (Kttv.) 225/K. § (1) par. provisions applicable to the mayor must also apply to the mayor.
Disciplinary responsibility is one of the specific institutions of the public service (public employee) legal relationship. In case of committing a disciplinary offense, we can talk about the civil servant's disciplinary responsibility, and he commits a disciplinary offense if he culpably violates his obligations arising from the public service relationship. The practitioner of the employer's authority is obliged to initiate the procedure if there is a reasonable suspicion that a disciplinary offense has been committed.
The Kttv. 225/E. According to §, the mayor commits a disciplinary offense if he culpably violates his duties arising from his position. Disciplinary penalties that can be imposed against the mayor:
• reprimand,
• reduction of the mayor's salary and honorarium by no more than 20% (the reduction of the salary and honorarium may not apply to a period longer than one year).
If Gergely Karácsony consciously decided to liquidate the cooperation instead of the agreement, thereby violating the basic legal obligation for local governments, there may be a place for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings.
The contract contained such important rights for the capital, the loss of which can be evaluated as a strategic error on the part of Gergely Karácsony, and in this case negligence can essentially be ruled out, the mayor probably did not sign the agreement with the aim of subsequently putting himself in a victim position, to the government can show that it makes the local governments impossible and makes me feel disgusted with the people of Budapest.
The Kttv. 225/F. § (1) par. disciplinary proceedings against the mayor are ordered by the representative body, the member of the representative body, his committee, and the head of the capital and county government office are entitled to initiate the procedure. The disciplinary procedure can be divided into two main stages:
the first is the examination stage, the second is the decision stage. The Kttv. 225/F. § (2) par. pursuant to the disciplinary procedure (investigation phase), an investigation must be held, for the conduct of which a three-member investigation committee must be commissioned from among the members of the representative body.
The Kttv. 225/F. § (3) para. according to the investigation committee, it is obliged to conduct the investigation within thirty days of its assignment, in the framework of which it will listen to the mayor. The investigation committee prepares its report within eight days after the conclusion of the investigation, and the chairman of the investigation committee convenes a meeting of the representative body out of turn, within fifteen days after the preparation of the report - by sending the report at the same time. Based on the report, the representative body makes a substantive decision on the mayor's disciplinary case (decision stage) at a meeting called by the chairman of the investigation committee, but no later than within the following eight days. To conduct the discussion of this agenda, the representative body elects a chairman from among its members.
The mayor is obliged to cooperate in the procedure.
The Kttv. 225/F. § (4) para. may be suspended from the post of mayor during the disciplinary proceedings (in this case, part of the salary may be withheld). The mayor may challenge the suspension decision within eight days of its notification in accordance with the rules applicable to civil service disputes. The court makes a decision within eight days, there is no room for legal remedies against its decision.
In terms of international examples, for example in the United Kingdom each local authority has a standards control committee elected by the council, with at least one or two independent persons as full members, which has the ability to recommend sanctions to local elected representatives. who do not comply with local code requirements.
The Standards Board consists of regional bodies (as first instance authorities) and a national body (as an appeal authority). The board can take disciplinary action against local elected representatives if they do not comply with the provisions of the local code: public reprimand, suspension for up to three months or disqualification from office for up to five years.
In Germany, according to Article 28 (2) of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz – GG), the municipality has the right to regulate all matters of the local community on its own responsibility, so for example the Act on the Local Government Constitution of Lower Saxony (NKomVG) regulates the duties and responsibilities of the mayor.
According to the GG, the violation of a "duty-related obligation" by the head of the executive power (in the case of local governments, the mayor) as a result of an intentional illegal act or gross negligence provides the public administration with a right of redress. This right of recourse can be used regardless of the legal status of the head of the executive: regardless of whether he was elected directly or indirectly. Provincial laws on the foundations of local governments must expressly provide for this right of recourse against elected councillors.
In German regulations, the mayor is (also) responsible for balancing the municipal budget.
In the state of Hesse, if the mayor seriously violates his official duties, the municipal representative body can request the initiation of disciplinary proceedings from the initiating authority, and if the initiating authority rejects the request, the municipal representative body can turn to the disciplinary chamber, and if the latter approves the request then , it already results in the initiation of official disciplinary proceedings (it also decides on temporary suspension and withholding of salary).
Featured image: Mayor Gergely Karácsony speaks before the departure of BKV's festive light trams and light buses at the Hungária train station on December 1, 2023. MTI/Péter Lakatos
