Parliament has elected Dr. Marcel Szabó Deputy Ombudsman responsible for the protection of the interests of future generations

Press release

Parliament has elected Dr. Marcel Szabó Deputy Ombudsman responsible for the protection of the interests of future generations

With 335 votes for, 6 against and 2 invalid ones Parliament has elected Dr. Marcel Szabó Deputy of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, responsible for the protection of the interests of future generations. The Deputy Ombudsman has taken the oath of office. His mandate is for a term of six years.

Before his election Dr. Marcel Szabó gave an account of his professional career in front of three committees of Parliament and answered the questions of the MPs. All three committees – the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Justice and Procedure, the Committee on Human Rights, Minorities, Civil and Religious Affairs, as well as the Committee on Sustainable Development – voted unanimously for the nominee of Prof. Dr. Máté Szabó, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, considering him suitable for the position of Deputy Commissioner.

The Deputy Ombudsman responsible for the protection of the interests of future generations monitors, assesses and controls the enforcement of the legal provisions serving the sustainability of the state of the environment and of nature, and, in case of an impropriety coming to his knowledge, initiates and prepares the measures of the Commissioner.

Dr. Marcel Szabó, 42, is an international lawyer and associate professor and head of department at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, environmental law having been one of the main fields of his professional and academic activities for almost 20 years. In addition to teaching law, he has been using his varied professional knowledge and expertise in the interest of the protection of natural waters, rivers and lakes. He paid special attention to the protection of the Danube and to the drawing up of legal instruments in order to prevent the harmful environmental and natural consequences caused by the diversion of the Danube in October 1992. He participated in the preparation of the Ombudsman's environment policy recommendation on the development policy and the preservation of the ecosystem of the Danube valley, and, at the request of the National Sustainable Development Council, in a study on the international and European law questions of sustainable development; he also worked for the sustainable use of transboundary natural resources. He initiated the introduction in Hungary of the training of environmental managers, made a proposal to improve the environmental concept of the draft Basic Law, and it was partly due to his activities that Hungary's commitment to international cooperation in the promotion of sustainable development was laid down in the Basic Law.

10 October 2012