LÁSZLÓ KOMÁROMI The Legal Basis For Civic Participation in Hungary after 1989 1. REFERENDUM AND CITIZENS' INITIATIVE 1.1. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Referendum and citizens' initiative, the two institutions of civic participation by means of which voters may decide issues of common importance directly by a public vote, both have been part of the Hungarian regulation since 1989. The reason for treating the two institutions together is that neither the Basic Law (hereafter: the Constitution) of Hungary nor statutory regulations make a difference between them from a procedural aspect: basically the same procedure applies to votes on measures developed by the authorities and to votes on proposals put forward by citizens. The normative framework of these instruments was significantly changed two times since 1989: the development of the regulation can be, therefore, divided into three periods. 1.2. T H R E E PERIODS SINCE 1989 Act XVII of 1989 on Referendum and Popular Initiative, which was passed by the last Parliament of the one-party State, was the first detailed regulation on direct democratic instruments in Hungary. It introduced the possibility of citizen-initi- ated public votes, since it entitled - in addition to the President of the Presidential Council, the Government, or at least 50 MPs - 50,000 citizens as well to request a popular vote. (The right of initiative of the President of the Presidential Council was later replaced by that of the President of the Republic.) If the initiative came from at least 50,000 but less than 100,000 citizens, the Parliament was free to decide whether to submit the question to a public vote or not. If, however, at least 100,000 citizens signed the initiative, the Parliament was obliged to order the vote (100,000 citizens corresponded to ca. 1.25% of the total electorate). An initiative could be launched both for the confirmation of acts passed by the Parliament and for deci- sions falling within the competence of the Parliament, especially for deciding on the