Milestone zero: effective remedy for manipulated judicial appointments should be the baseline of recovery

In an attempt to capture the Hungarian judiciary, in the past years several judges have been granted appointments and/or leadership positions through either formal breaches of the relevant laws, or using legal loopholes. In our new brief we argue that until no effective remedy is provided for these instances, there can be no true guarantees of an independent Hungarian judiciary. The independence of the partly captured Hungarian judiciary cannot be restored by simply putting an end to arbitrary and uncontrolled court management powers, and a “milestone zero” must be introduced to restore the damages already done. Therefore, we suggest that effective measures must be introduced to enable parties to any lawsuit to verify whether the judge dealing with their case complies with the requirements of independence, impartiality, and being established by law.

Our short paper is available here:

Milestone zero – Full screening of the Hungarian judiciary should be the baseline of recovery

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This brief supplements our earlier proposals for a set of potential milestones, aimed at restoring the rule of law in Hungary, with a focus on judicial independence and democratic law-making.