Mr Nagy was pastor of a parish of the Hungarian Reformed Church. In 2005, disciplinary proceedings were brought against him after a local newspaper had reported him as saying that State subsidies had been paid unlawfully to a Calvinist boarding school. He was immediately suspended and his tenure was eventually terminated following a decision by the ecclesiastical courts.

He then brought proceedings before both the labour and civil courts. Both were ultimately discontinued on the ground that the courts had no jurisdiction. The labour courts discontinued the proceedings in December 2006, on the ground that the dispute concerned his service as a pastor and therefore the provisions of Labour Law were not applicable in his case. That decision was upheld on appeal in April 2007. His civil law claim was also ultimately discontinued in May 2009, the Supreme Court concluding that there was no contractual relationship between Mr Nagy and the Church and, therefore, that his claim had no basis in civil law. Continue reading →