A “purge” in the Hungarian administration is underway. Peter Magyar wants the judges to resign
The new Hungarian Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, wants the resignation of the most important officials and judges appointed by the previous authorities led by Viktor Orban. He called them “puppets” of the former prime minister and gave them until May 31 to voluntarily resign. The call for resignation was made by, among others, to the chairman of the Constitutional Tribunal or the president of the Supreme Court.
See also: If Peter Magyar fails, his political past will be remembered
Magyar wants to get rid of Orban's judges. The lawyer explains
As lawyer Tivadar Huttl from HMP Legal pointed out, the term of office of judges of the Constitutional Tribunal may be interrupted only in a few cases.
— A judge may be removed from office if he fails to perform his duties for reasons beyond his control, has become unworthy of the office, has committed an intentional crime confirmed by a final court decision, or has intentionally violated the mandatory rules for submitting property declarations. Importantly, this is largely an internal mechanism: the Constitutional Tribunal itself plays a key role in excluding one of its members, which makes external dismissal of judges difficult under the current regulations, the expert emphasized in an interview with PAP.
He added, however, that it is not impossible, and the legal framework regulating the activities of the Constitutional Tribunal could be changed by a constitutional majority in parliament. For example, you could “adopt new non-compliance rules, introduce new structural reforms or increase the number of judges.”
The Constitutional Tribunal would play a key role if there was an attempt – also announced by Magyar – to remove President Tamas Sulyok, appointed by Orban's deputies, from power.
See also: The decision has been made. Judges elected to the National Council of the Judiciary
The lawyer pointed out that in the case of the President of the Supreme Court, the procedure can only be initiated by the President. The formal appeal mechanism is transparent in such a situation. — The legal basis is the president's failure to perform his duties for more than 90 days for reasons attributable to him or conduct, actions or omissions that make him unworthy of the office. The appeal is ultimately decided by Parliament, the lawyer explained.
He also recalled that the current president of the Supreme Court, Andras Zs. Varga, was “one of the most controversial judicial nominations of the Fidesz era.” — Before he became the president of the Supreme Court, he had no experience in the judiciary. He was previously a prosecutor and later a constitutional judge, but he never served as an ordinary judge before he was appointed president of the Supreme Court, Tivadar Huttl told PAP.
