István BALSAI

April 5, 1947

Miskolc, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hungary

He was appointed justice minister in the first democratic Hungarian government. During his term as minister the first democratic fundamental laws were made. He served as chairman of the party"s Committee of Ethics from 1996 to 2005. He was the leader of the parliamentary group between 1998 and 2002. Later this group transformed as National Forum. Balsai was excluded from the Magyar Demokrata Forum (Hungarian Democratic Forum) in 2005. He was commissioned to examining the 2006 protests in Hungary by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in 2010. Balsai said in the report dated 15 March 2011 that the investigation had also uncovered possible grounds for raising the charge of the perpetration of an act of terror. The author said that it is necessary to investigate whether Gyurcsány should take political and legal responsibility for the police’s behaviour. “In the course of my investigation I came to the conclusion that October 23 the symbol of the most grievous offenses … the Gyurcsány government’s violent and paranoid exercise of power,” Balsai wrote in the document. As a result he resigned from his parliamentary seat and other political positions.

István BALSAI

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Minister of Justice

Background

BALSAI, István was born on April 5, 1947 in Miskolc, Hungary. Parents: Doctor József Balsai and Mária Baisai (née Szalontai).

Education

Piarist Gymnasium, Budapest. Rákóczi Gymnasium, 1965. Faculty of Political and Legal Sciences, Eótvós Loránd University of Arts and Sciences, Budapest, 1967, Doctor, 1972.

Spoken languages: Hungarian.

Career

He was appointed justice minister in the first democratic Hungarian government. During his term as minister the first democratic fundamental laws were made. He served as chairman of the party"s Committee of Ethics from 1996 to 2005.

He was the leader of the parliamentary group between 1998 and 2002.

Later this group transformed as National Forum. Balsai was excluded from the Magyar Demokrata Forum (Hungarian Democratic Forum) in 2005.

He was commissioned to examining the 2006 protests in Hungary by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in 2010. Balsai said in the report dated 15 March 2011 that the investigation had also uncovered possible grounds for raising the charge of the perpetration of an act of terror.

The author said that it is necessary to investigate whether Gyurcsány should take political and legal responsibility for the police’s behaviour.

“In the course of my investigation I came to the conclusion that October 23 the symbol of the most grievous offenses … the Gyurcsány government’s violent and paranoid exercise of power,” Balsai wrote in the document. As a result he resigned from his parliamentary seat and other political positions.

Religion

Roman Catholic

Politics

Balsai joined to the Fidesz parliamentary group after six months.

Membership

He joined to the Hungarian Democratic Forum (Magyar Demokrata Forum (Hungarian Democratic Forum)) in 1988 and became a member of the National Assembly of Hungary in 1990. He was a member of the leadership of the Magyar Demokrata Forum (Hungarian Democratic Forum) in 1994 and between 1996-2003. He became a member of the Lakitelek working group which criticized the activity of the presidency and president Ibolya DáVide

He was elected to a member of the Constitutional Court of Hungary in 2011.

Interests

Swimming, bridge, folk architecture. Constitutional law.

Connections

Spouse Doctor Ilona Balsai (née Schmidt), 1973. Children: István, Szabolcs.

Father:: Jozsef Balsai
Mother:: Maria Szalontai
Spouse:: Ilona

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István BALSAI

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