Black Friday at Hungarian courts

22 November 2024 was Black Friday at Hungarian courts. Representatives of the three highest judicial administration bodies (the Kúria President, the President of the National Office of the Judiciary, and the President of the National Judicial Council) signed a so-called ‘agreement’ with the Ministry of Justice. The document, in exchange for unguaranteed promises regarding a long-overdue salary raise at courts, includes an approval of undefined overall structural judicial reforms capable of further undermining judicial independence.

Both the content of the ‘agreement’ and the circumstances that led to its signing indicate that the government put undue pressure on judicial leaders who opted for giving up guarantees of judicial independence in a political bargain that might yield to salary raises.

The conclusion of the ‘agreement’ resulted in an unprecedented public protest among Hungarian judges and judicial staff at all levels of the judicial system, including in the form of hundreds of sharply formulated critical opinions published on the websites of Hungarian judicial associations. The outrage led to the resignation of the President of the National Judicial Council, but it is yet to be seen whether the government will attempt to refer to the ‘agreement’ as an approval for implementing its agenda amidst the continuing protests of judges.

Our new analysis explains the antecedents and the significance of the unprecedented protest of judges and judicial staff through:
– how the government exerted financial pressure on the judiciary, pushing it to the brink of inoperability (section 1);
– how this was converted into political pressure on the National Judicial Council (section 2);
– why the concluded ‘agreement’ violates judicial independence and undermines the system of checks and balances (section 3);
– how the undetailed, undefined reforms highlighted in the ‘agreement’ can undermine judicial independence (section 4).

Our analysis is available here: Black Friday at Hungarian courts (6 November 2024)