Hungary may revisit plan of administrative courts - Kövér

Administrative courts may be back on the table

Kövér told the broadcaster on Tuesday that the decision to shelve the introduction of administrative courts has nothing to do with the quality of the legislation, rather than by the entirely irrational exertion of pressure and a series of attacks that Hungary was subjected to in relation to the reform of its judiciary system.

He said this is a tool used both by the country’s enemies internationally and the local opposition to prove that the rule of law is infringed in Hungary. “Criticism and attacks were concentrated here. This is where we have had failures in disputes with European Union institutions before," he added.

That is why the cabinet felt

this conflict is not worth it in a political sense

even though the administrative courts would improve the operation of the Hungarian judicial system.

“The Hungarian judicial system has been functioning without such courts so far, and it will keep on doing so," said Kövér.

The government is now waiting for the “other side" to appreciate this “gesture", he said, adding that the matter is off the agenda only temporarily.

When the time is right, we could revisit it. But we are not planning to do so in the next year for sure.

EU funds play a key role

At the end of May this year, the government asked Parliament to delay the implementation of the administrative courts system indefinitely, without a deadline, for these courts are in the crossfire of European and international debates. These courts will not be created until the disputes are cleared up, said government spokesman Gergely Gulyás. The courts were supposed to go live in 2020.

In April, the EU Commissioner in charge of legal affairs reaffirmed that the European Commission’s previously expressed concerns that the new administrative courts would raise serious issues about the independence of the Hungarian judiciary.

The justice system created by the bill adopted at the end of last year will be entirely dependent on the Justice Minister, critics say, arguing that anyone going up against the state could be potentially have a government loyalist judge ruling on the case.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee argues that the system will give excessive powers to Justice Minister without effective oversight of any judicial self-administration body.

The Committee also called on Parliament not to adopt the bill before receiving the opinion of the Venice Commission expected in March 2019. The ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition, however, pushed the bill through with its legislative majority, although the vote was conducted amidst the biggest scandal in the House so far.

Portfolio strongly believes that the unexpected decision to put off the creation of the administrative courts had a great deal to do with the commitment of several key EU officials to link the payment of EU transfers to compliance with rule of law criteria. Consequently, the setting up of administrative courts in 2020 - if the objections regarding them were endorsed - could potentially jeopardise the drawing of all available EU funds for Hungary.

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