31 6. Legislation-related powers of the NPM95 Pursuant to Article 19 of the OPCAT, the National Preventive Mechanism shall be granted powers to “submit proposals and observations concerning existing or draft legislation”. 6.1. Reviewing draft legislation According to Section 2, Subsection (2) of the Ombudsman Act, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights shall give an opinion on the draft legal rules affecting his/her tasks and competences and may make proposals for the amendment or making of legal rules affecting fundamental rights and/or the expression of consent to be bound by an international treaty. According to the Act on legislation, the entity preparing draft legislation shall ensure that any organization may exercise its right to review the draft concerned if it affects the organization’s legal status or duties, with the proviso that such right is expressly provided to it by the Act.96 The organs responsible for codification sent me drafts primarily in order to prove that they had implemented my proposals relative to amending, repealing or drafting the legal regulations indicated in my reports. With a view to the NPM’s powers to make proposals, the State has to send, ex officio, already in the preparatory phase, all draft bills affecting detention conditions to the National Preventive Mechanism. I reviewed the drafts in a complex manner, i.e., based on my experiences gained in the course of both the visits conducted by the National Preventive Mechanism and the investigations conducted within my general powers. In 2015, the organs responsible for codification sent me 255 draft bills for reviewing and I expressed my position ex officio on two drafts. 6.2. Ex post review of norms If, in the course of my inquiries, I find that a fundamental rights-related impropriety is caused by a conflict between a self-government decree and another legal regulation, I may request the Curia (the Hungarian Supreme Court) to review the self-government decree’s compatibility with the other legal regulation.97 If I find a legal regulation anti-constitutional or in violation of an international treaty, I may turn to the Constitutional Court requesting its review.98 In 2015, when performing the tasks of the NPM, I did not requested ex post review of norms either by the Curia or the Constitutional Court. As regards legislation-related recommendations see Chapter 5.4.3. See Section 19, Subsection (1) of Act CXXX of 2010 on legislation 97 See Section 34/A, Subsection (1) of the Ombudsman Act 98 See Section 34 of the Ombudsman Act 95 96