current member of the constitutional court

On 27 July 2026, the National Assembly elected Dr Pál Sonnevend to serve as a Member of the Constitutional Court, with his appointment taking effect on 28 July 2026.

He obtained his degree in law from the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in 1995, graduating summa cum laude. He subsequently continued his studies at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, where he was awarded the degree of Legum Magister and, in 2005, a doctoral degree, the latter likewise conferred upon him with the distinction summa cum laude.

Between 1997 and 2000, he served on the staff of László Sólyom, initially in the latter’s capacity as President, and subsequently as former President, of the Constitutional Court. From 2000 until 2010, he assisted Presidents of the Republic Ferenc Mádl and, thereafter, László Sólyom in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities, serving as an adviser on constitutional law at the Office of the President of the Republic and, from 2006 onwards, as Head of the Department for Constitutional and Legal Affairs.

Since 2010, he has held a full-time academic appointment at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University. Within that Faculty, he served as Vice-Dean responsible for international affairs between 2010 and 2019 and subsequently as Dean from 2019 until 2025. He has been Head of Department since 2016 and has held the rank of full professor at Eötvös Loránd University since 2017. Between 2003 and 2009, he taught as a lecturer within the University of California Overseas Programme. He subsequently served as a visiting professor at Andrássy University Budapest, the German-language university, from 2016 until 2019, and at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg from 2017 until 2024.

His principal fields of research encompass the protection of human rights under constitutional law and international law, with particular emphasis upon the right to property, linguistic rights, the domestic legal effect and practical implementation of international human-rights guarantees, and the effective observance and enforcement of the fundamental values underlying the law of the European Union. He is a co-editor and co-author of the first Hungarian-language commentary on the European Convention on Human Rights. He is also the co-author, together with leading European scholars, of two volumes examining the role of European law in addressing constitutional crises and in restoring democracies founded upon the rule of law. He serves as a member of the editorial boards or scientific advisory boards of several leading specialist journals, including the Heidelberg Journal of International Law.

Between 2013 and 2018, he acted as Hungary’s Agent before the International Court of Justice at The Hague in the case concerning the Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros system of barrages. From 2013 until 2026, he was a member of the body of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and, between 2018 and 2026, he served as an arbitrator of the Permanent Court of Arbitration operating under the auspices of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He has been a member of the Budapest Bar Association since 2010, although his membership is currently held in abeyance.

In recognition of his distinguished academic and professional achievements, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences awarded him the Bolyai Plaque in 2015. In 2025, Eötvös Loránd University honoured him with the Eötvös Loránd University Commemorative Medal, while, in the same year, the Georg August University of Göttingen conferred upon him the title of Doctor honoris causa.