Minister of Justice László Trócsányi told business weekly Figyelő that Hungary has a good chance of mounting a successful legal challenge to the European Union's migrant quota system in the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Minister Trócsányi said that Hungary has credible arguments against the quota system and expressed his hope that other Member States will also back Hungary in its legal challenge. Never before has the ECJ had to handle a case like this, the Minister said. "It is a matter of principle because it would set a dangerous precedent if there were other cases of the EU imposing regulations with a majority vote rather than consensus," Mr. Trócsanyi explained.

The Minister pointed out that at the end of June, the debate around migrants ended with the approval of a system based on voluntary acceptance by Member States, under which Hungary would not have had to take in migrants. A few months later, however, EU Interior Ministers took advantage of the fact that decisions approved by their council do not require unanimous consent and went against the earlier decision of the European Council. The Ministers adopted a resolution obliging Member States to each take in thousands of migrants, Minister Trócsányi said, emphasising that Member States' national sovereignty should guarantee them the right to decide who they admit into their territory.

Mr. Trócsányi noted that earlier this month, the National Assembly instructed the Government to turn to the ECJ over the quota scheme and request that the Court annul the resolution on the redistribution of 120,000 asylum seekers among EU Member States.

On another subject, the Minister said that despite the Constitutional Court's decision to axe parts of the law on compensation for investors of failed brokerage Quaestor earlier this month, the Government will fulfil its promise to compensate victims. He said that the earlier law governing a top-up fund set up to help Quaestor clients just needs to be "fine-tuned".

(Ministry of Justice)