13 December 2023
Taking Revenge for Dissent
Hungary’s latest judicial reform in May 2023 came in response to EU decisions to suspend the country’s access to funds due to serious rule of law concerns. The reform aimed, among other things, to strengthen the independence of the Kúria, the Supreme Court of Hungary. Experience to date shows that while on the level of formal legal rules, some improvements towards the rule of law have been made, in actual daily practice, the opposite is happening: While steps have been taken to restore the independence of the Kúria, the Chief Justice is working on further eroding the independence of individual judges. Continue reading >>
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27 September 2022
Defective Judicial Appointments in Hungary
In recent years, a series of irregularities have been revealed in relation to judicial appointments in Hungary which have compromised judicial independence and raised serious rule of law concerns. These problems have been highlighted by various domestic and international stakeholders, and issues in the judiciary have become a core chapter in negotiations between Hungary and the EU within the framework of several rule of law mechanisms. The latest round of debates revolves around judicial appointments made by Chief Justice Varga to the Supreme Court which again raise the problem of institutional manipulation of the rules safeguarding the independence of the judiciary. Continue reading >>
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13 October 2020
The Last Days of the Independent Supreme Court of Hungary?
Ordinary courts seem to have remained the last bulwark of individual freedom and the rule of law since the Fidesz government has successfully undermined other nominally democratic institutions, including the Constitutional Court. While the recently published EU Rule of law report discusses the problems of judicial independence in great detail, so far, ordinary courts have resisted political pressure relatively well, largely because of the ruling party’s failure to capture the professional leadership of the judiciary. Various legislative changes by the government in recent years coupled with the upcoming election of the Supreme Court’s new Chief Justice, however, could be fatal to the independence of Hungary’s entire justice system. Continue reading >>
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