Godność wobec praw człowieka w nieliberalnym konstytucjonalizmie
Human Dignity in Regard to Human Rights in Illiberal Constitutionalism

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the relationship between human dignity and human rights in constitutionalism that labels itself ‘illiberal’. This relationship is assessed on the basis of the Hungarian Basic Law of 2011. It is argued that this type of constitutionalism creates logical correlations that affect the approach to human rights. As a consequence, it seems that one can apply human dignity against human rights. Illiberal constitutionalism introduces systemic changes that cannot lead to changes in freedoms and rights as such; for instance, limitation of the freedom of speech because of the dignity of the nation. The notion of dignity in the Hungarian Constitution is ‘overburdened’ as it encompasses many notions that remain in certain ‘tension’. For instance, linking the dignity of the nation with human dignity leads to the limitation of the freedom of speech. The paradox of illiberal constitutionalism is that the role of human dignity increases at the expense of human rights. The logic of this constitutionalism is thus not only an attack on institutions (e.g. courts), but also an inevitable change in the approach to human rights. The illiberalism of the illiberal constitutionalism expresses itself, foremost, in its different approach to an individual and his or her position in the state. In a liberal order the individual is autonomous and, in a certain way, separated from the nation. In an illiberal order, the individual is connected to the nation: a human being is not only an individual but an individual immersed in the nation and the dignity of the nation.

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