17.10.2012 - In an opinion adopted by the Venice Commission – the Council of Europe's independent advisory body on constitutional matters – recent amendments to Hungary’s laws on the judiciary were welcomed as curbing the power of the president of the National Judiciary Office. Amendments that limit the NJO president’s term of office and subject his or her discretionary powers to judicial review were positively assessed by the Commission as increasing the independence of the judiciary. As indicated in the opinion, the amendments focused on the issues raised by the Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland in his dialogue with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics.

The Venice Commission remains critical of two issues in particular: (a) the manner of reinstatement of judges who had been forced to retire and (b) the practice of transferring cases without selection criteria. The Hungarian Constitutional Court in July deemed unconstitutional a previous law that had forced judges older than 62 to retire, but the NJO president has made it too difficult for judges who wish to return to work, according to the Venice Commission, by requiring judges to apply to a labour court to have their dismissal invalidated and then to re-apply for work. The Venice Commission opinion says that the Hungarian Parliament should adopt a law simply reinstating all those eligible who wish to be reinstated.

Overburdened courts in Budapest have been authorized to lighten their caseloads by transferring cases to courts outside of the capital, but the Venice Commission opinion states that without selection criteria, such transfers could result in either unfair trials or courts that do not have the means to properly address transferred cases.

Among items on the agenda during the Venice Commission’s plenary session this past Friday and Saturday, experts also addressed legal issues in Bosnia Herzegovina and Ukraine, and held discussions over a recent draft for a new constitution in Tunisia with a delegation from Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly.

Venice Commission opinion and Hungarian reply
Programme - October plenary session
Hungary and the Council of Europe