At the meeting, Minister Trócsányi stressed that the goal of the draft legislation is to reinforce the rule of law and improve the professional quality of the public administration justice system.

The Minister rejects all accusations concerning the reduction of the independence of courts that are purely of a political nature, are being put forward in the interests of generating political capital, and lack all professional foundations. The Ministry of Justice is open to discussing all question, criticism and comments with relation to the public administration justice system.

At the ambassadorial meeting, following a review of the contents of the draft legislation, the representatives of Hungary’s embassies asked the Minister of Justice question, which Mr. Trócsányi answered in full and in detail. The Minister declared that every public administration judge who submits a request and conforms to the formal and content requirement, which are the same as the current requirements for the recruitment of judges, will become a public administration judge in the new courts without adjudication. Meaning that those who are currently public administration judges will continue to be public administration judges in the new courts.

The Minister of Justice explained that the draft legislation has been in preparation since 2014. This is a professional piece of draft legislation, in the preparation of which the proposals of the Expert Committee, which is made up of highly recognised and respected experts, not politicians, have represented an important criterion. The Committee is made up of judicial representatives and university professors, who amongst other are experts in public administration law, public law and constitutional history. In addition to its opinion, the Expert Committee had also organised an international conference on the topic of the public administration justice system, meaning that the results of both Hungarian and international legal history have been made use of during the drafting of the proposed legislation.

Mr. Trócsányi also reported on the fact that he had turned to the Venice Commission for an opinion on the draft legislation. Next week, embassies will be receiving an English language version of the proposed Act on the Public Administration Justice System.

(Ministry of Justice)