Article: Admissibility of constitutional complaint as an instrument of influencing public policy under emergency pressure: latest lessons to be learned from Central-Europe Journal: International Journal of Public Law and Policy (IJPLAP) 2026 Vol.12 No.3 pp.227 - 246 Abstract: Our manuscript conducts comparative assessment, and provides a deeper understanding, how the constitutional courts of Austria, Germany and Hungary adapted the admissibility of constitutional complaints to the extraordinary circumstances raised by the global pandemic to influence public policies on a timely manner. Our analysis would reflect on an issue with long history, which should have been partly reconsidered in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Admissibility of constitutional complaints have been reflected by several authors, however, the emerging role of these remedies to influence public policies has not been discussed in depth by the existing legal scholarship. The rapidly evolving public health context frequently required from policy-makers urgent reflections, which should have been subject to constitutional review. This paper demonstrates that if constitutional complaint has been implemented in a given country, in the light of the huge time pressure, the flexible interpretation of admissibility provided by the constitutional courts could give the most effective constitutional remedy for the citizens to influence emergency policies. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Admissibility of constitutional complaint as an instrument of influencing public policy under emergency pressure: latest lessons to be learned from Central-Europe

Authors: Boldizsár Szentgáli-Tóth; Ágnes Váradi; András Hunvald

Addresses: HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, 1097, Tóth Kálmán Utca 4, Budapest ' HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, 1097, Tóth Kálmán Utca 4, Budapest ' HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, 1097, Tóth Kálmán Utca 4, Budapest

Abstract: Our manuscript conducts comparative assessment, and provides a deeper understanding, how the constitutional courts of Austria, Germany and Hungary adapted the admissibility of constitutional complaints to the extraordinary circumstances raised by the global pandemic to influence public policies on a timely manner. Our analysis would reflect on an issue with long history, which should have been partly reconsidered in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Admissibility of constitutional complaints have been reflected by several authors, however, the emerging role of these remedies to influence public policies has not been discussed in depth by the existing legal scholarship. The rapidly evolving public health context frequently required from policy-makers urgent reflections, which should have been subject to constitutional review. This paper demonstrates that if constitutional complaint has been implemented in a given country, in the light of the huge time pressure, the flexible interpretation of admissibility provided by the constitutional courts could give the most effective constitutional remedy for the citizens to influence emergency policies.

Keywords: public policy; constitutional complaint; emergency; constitutional court; admissibility; access to justice; comparative research; COVID-19.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2026.155204

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2026 Vol.12 No.3, pp.227 - 246

Received: 31 Mar 2024
Accepted: 21 Jun 2024
Published online: 29 Jul 2026 *

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Title: Admissibility of constitutional complaint as an instrument of influencing public policy under emergency pressure: latest lessons to be learned from Central-Europe

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