Bakó, Beáta Csilla

Beáta Bakó
e-mail: beata.bako@prf.cuni.cz
Institute for the Interregional Study of Constitutionalism
postdoc researcher

Areas of interest:
Comparative constitutional law
EU law
Constitutional theoryEmpirical legal studies
Current research project: ACEDIA ('Apathy in Central European Democracies: How to Improve Awareness?'), funded by the Programme Johannes Amos Comenius (MSCA Fellowships CZ – UK2, reg. n. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_010/0008115)

ORCiD identifier

Education and qualifications:

• 2020: PhD, University of Münster (Topic of the dissertation: The dilemmas of enforcing Article 2 TEU values: the case of Hungary, Poland and political constitutionalism), magna cum laude
• 2017: LL.M in German law, University of Münster, magna cum laude
• 2015: law degree, Peter Pázmány Catholic University, Budapest, summa cum laude
• 2013: MA degree in communication and media studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

Jobs and fellowships:

• since 2022: postdoc researcher, Charles University, Prague
• 2021-2022: Re:Constitution Fellow (CEU, Budapest; Europeum, Prague)
• 2020-2021: Max Weber Fellow, EUI, Florence
• 2013-2021: journalist, editor (various Hungarian media outlets)

Conferences:

• Inaugural conference of the European Law Unbound Society, Charles University, 25-27 September 2025 (speaker)
• ICON-S CEE Chapter Conference ‘Individual Autonomy, Fundamental Rights, And Institutional Safeguards’, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, 29-30 May 2025 (speaker)
• Do we want the rule of law? Why (not)? Workshop at Charles University, 11 October 2024 (organiser, speaker)
• A Playbook for Reinstating the Rule of Law, University of Freiburg, 20-21 June 2024 (commentator)
• Identity, Constitutionalism and Citizens’ Attitudes, Charles University, 1 December 2022 (co-organizer, chair)
• European Constitutionalism and the Virus of Distrust, Charles University, 27-28 April 2022 (speaker)
• Protecting European Union Values: Breaches of Article 2 TEU and their Consequences, University of Warsaw, 14-15 September, 2017 (speaker)

Academic publications in English:

• Who cares about the rule of law? Citizens’ rule of law priorities in Hungary and the Czech Republic, Onati Socio-Legal Series, 2026
• Can you buy the rule of law? EU rule-of-law-conditionality and the uncivic Hungary, in: Sabrina P. Ramet, László Kürti (eds.): Civic and uncivic values in Hungary (at Routledge, 2024) [book chapter]
• Challenges to EU Values in Hungary. How the European Union Misunderstood the Government of Viktor Orbán (Routledge, 2023) [monoraph]
• Governing without being in power? Controversial Promises for a New Transition to the Rule of Law in Hungary, Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law, 2022/1 [article]
• Hungary’s latest experiences with Article 2 TEU: The need for ‘informed’ EU sanctions, in: Armin von Bogdandy et. al. eds: Defending Checks and Balances in EU Member States (Springer, 2021) [book chapter]
• Judges Sitting on the Warsaw-Budapest Express Train: The Independence of Polish and Hungarian Judges Before the CJEU, European Public Law, 2020/3, pp. 587-614 [article]
• The Zauberlehrling unchained? The recycling of the German Federal Constitutional Court’s case law on identity-, ultra vires- and fundamental rights review in Hungary, Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht / Heidelberg Journal of International Law, 2018/4, pp. 863-902 [article]