The Res Iudicata – Judges for Social Awareness Association wishes to express the followings:
At the meeting of the 20th of November 2024, the National Judicial Council authorised its President to stipulate a quadripartite agreement by a vote of 8:7. The agreement was signed by the Minister of Justice, the President of the National Office of the Judiciary, the President of the Curia, and the President of the Council. This led to an unprecedented wave of protest in the Hungarian judicial system. Judges and judicial staff members expressed their opinions and their disagreement by sending letters and signing a common declaration, available both on our[1] and on the Hungarian Judges’ Association’s (MABIE)[2] website. The colleagues rejected the agreement, because it provides the Council’s prior consent to an unknown and undetermined judicial reform.
In spite of the legal reasons and arguments written in many of the letters, the President of the National Council of the Judiciary on the 11th of December 2024 said that the hundreds of letters received were a result of a mere incitement, and he pointed out that “the legislative and the executive powers have the right to determine the legal framework of the judicial system, but because of the principle of the separation of powers, it is essential to obtain the opinion of the courts during a judicial reform, and one possible way of doing it, is to involve the judicial organisations, for example the National Council of the Judiciary, while drafting the reform.[3]”
One day later, according to our previously expressed concerns, some reform bills in connection to the agreement were already submitted to the Parliament, but without involving the National Council of the Judiciary in the legislative procedure. The Ministry of Justice explained in a detailed letter why it was not given the opportunity to the Council to submit its opinion through the law-making process[4].
We would like to stress the commitments made regarding the milestone C9.R27 of Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, regarding the predictability, quality and transparency of the legislation and the shortcomings of their accomplishment, as identified in the 2024 Rule of Law Report. The above-mentioned legislation regarding the judicial system is precisely the result of a procedure that is contrary to the purpose of the commitments, avoids the obligation of consultation and violates the fundamental values of the European Union, as well as contributes to the deterioration of the rule of law, fundamental rights, and democracy[5].
The information given about the legislative procedure by the Ministry of Justice also raises the question whether the President of the National Office of the Judiciary was invited to attend the session of the Parliamentary Committee, that had on its agenda the legislation directly affecting the courts, as it is written the Act CLXI of 2011 on the Organisation and Administration of the Courts [Section 76 (1) f)].
We are convinced that the National Council of the Judiciary, the body elected by us, judges, made a mistake when ignored the protest and the opinions of the colleagues and the judicial associations. We ask the President of the National Council of the Judiciary to provide information to the public on the steps that the Council is taking “to find the solution to set right a wrong decision”, as he himself said when he was elected as President of the Council.
Budapest, 16th of December 2024.
The Board of the Res Iudicata Association
[1] https://resiudicata.hu/kozlemeny-a-birosagokat-erinto-megallapodasrol/
[2] https://mabie.hu/berjavaslat/felhivas-velemenynyilvanitasra-csatlakozo-nyilatkozatok-megkueldesere
[3] https://obt-jud.hu/hu/uj-elnokot-valasztott-az-orszagos-biroi-tanacs
[4] https://obt-jud.hu/sites/default/files/sajtokozlemenyek-mellekletek/VII.83.2.2024_Válaszlevél-az-OBT-elnöke-részére.pdf
[5] https://helsinki.hu/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/12/HU_EU_funds_assessment_Q3_2024.pdf
