Flash analysis on latest judicial reform proposals

Less than one week before the scheduled decision on compliance with the judicial super milestones by the European Commission, the Hungarian government launched last-minute legislative amendments to cover at least part of the outstanding deficiencies of the judicial reform passed in May 2023. The solutions adopted, including their method of adoption, are makeshift and breach relevant laws and bylaws, as well as rule of law principles. Despite explicit expectations for public consultation in the process, and the legal obligation to do so, there were no public consultations about the adopted modifications, nor do they reflect Hungarian civil society organisations’ proposals in addressing fundamental deficiencies of the adopted reform.

As assessed by Amnesty International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the last-minute modifications

• take illusionary steps to remove the obstacles to preliminary references,
• do not resolve persisting problems of the case-allocation system at the Kúria and
• leave intact all remaining deficiencies in compliance, including the possibility of cementing the Kúria President in position despite the requirement to exclude re-election.

The makeshift solutions offered by the Hungarian government cannot resolve long-standing rule of law concerns and should not serve as a ground for the European Commission to legitimise the remaining shortcomings of the judicial reform.

The Flash Analysis prepared by Amnesty International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee is available here.