Justice Minister László Trócsányi described the dialogue conducted with the Venice Commission about administrative courts as successful.

The Minister spoke to the Hungarian news agency MTI after he attended the meeting of the Venice Commission on Friday where the body adopted its opinion on the laws related to the setting up of administrative courts.

He pointed out that he had initiated the review in November with regard to the fact that the independence of the judiciary constitutes the foundations of democracy. Administrative courts functioned in Hungary until 1949.

The position adopted by the Venice Commission recognises the need for an organisationally separate branch of administrative courts, and endorsed the model of ministerial management, with the proviso that judicial bodies must also be given a role in it. The Council of Europe’s expert body concerned with issues of constitutional law specifically mentioned the excellent cooperation they had with the Ministry of Justice, and welcomed the fact that draft legislative amendments had already been submitted which would help the legislation to comply more closely with the recommendations outlined in the draft opinion, Mr Trócsányi said.

The Ministry of Justice is convinced that the Venice Commission’s opinion and the consideration of its recommendations will contribute to enabling an independent and professional system of administrative courts with strong local and international legitimacy to start its operation in Hungary on 1 January 2020, thereby raising judicial law enforcement in administrative cases to a higher level, the Minister told MTI.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)