Jurisdiction

The National Council for the Judiciary (“OIT”) was the body responsible for the central administration of the courts and supervising the activities of the presidents of the courts of appeals and general courts, which started its work on 1 December 1997. As of 1 January 2012, the 15-member National Judicial Council (“NJC”) took over the supervisory role of the National Council for the Judiciary and the National Office for the Judiciary (“NOJ”) took over its administrative functions. Late on Monday, January 8, the members of the National Council of the Judiciary, which is the main element of the Hungarian judicial reform and has been given new powers, were elected.

General central administration

With respect to the general central administration, the National Judicial Council (NJC):
  • supervises the central administrative activities of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary (NOJ) and, if necessary, sends a signal to the President of the NOJ;
  • may propose legislation affecting the judiciary to the initiator of the legislation and may give its opinion on draft legislation affecting the judicial system, with the exception of municipal regulations;
  • gives its opinion on the rules and recommendations issued by the President of the NOJ;
  • approves the rules of procedure of the court of judges and publishes them on the central website, and approves the information on the previous year's case-law and case practice of the court of judges and publishes it on the intranet;
  • adopts the Code of Conduct for Judges and publish it on the central website.

Budget

With respect to the budget, the NJC:
  • performs the duties of the head of the managing authority of the chapter in respect of the title of the NJC and draws up its budget proposal and the report on its implementation;
  • gives its opinion on the proposal for the budget of the courts and the report on its implementation;
  • monitors the management of the courts;
  • exercises the right of consent with regard to the rules on the detailed conditions and amounts of other allowances to judges and court managers pursuant to Article 189 (1) and (2) of Act CLXII of 2011 on the Legal Status and Remuneration of Judges, with the proviso that this right of consent shall extend to all other allowances granted to judges and court managers outside the cafeteria system, subject to the appropriations provided in the annual budget of the courts.

Statistical data collection, caseload allocation and workload measurement

In the field of statistical data collection case allocation and workload measurement, the NJC:
  • may, in exceptional and duly justified cases, order the extraordinary handling of cases of major importance for the public interest or of major importance for society at large;
  • exercises the right of consent in respect of the decision of the NOJ to determine the necessary number of judges and judicial staff in the exercise of his/her functions under Article 76(4)(a) of Act CLXI of 2011, taking into account the limits set out in the Central Budget Act;
  • exercises the right of consent of the President of the NOJ in his/her competence pursuant to Article 76(4)(e) of Act CLXI of 2011 with regard to the determination of data sheets and methods for measuring the workload of judges, the review of the development of the workload and national case flow data, and the determination of the average national workload of litigation and non-litigation proceedings by court level and by case division.

Personnel decisions

In the field of personnel decisions, the NJC:
  • gives a binding opinion on the legal qualifications of the candidates for the posts of President of the NOJ and President of the Curia and on the legal qualifications of the candidates for the posts of Vice President of the NOJ and Vice President of the Curia, taking into account the information provided during the personal interviews of the candidates;
  • lays down the principles to be taken into account in the assessment of the candidature as regards the powers of the President of the NOJ and the President of the Curia to fill the post with a candidate ranked second or third in the list;
  • exercises its right of agreement in the assessment of applications where the President of the NOJ or the President of the Curia intends to fill the post with a candidate ranked second or third;
  • exercises the right of consent in the case of appointments of judicial managers in which the candidate has not obtained the consent of the opinion-forming body Act CLXI of 2011 [Article 132(6)];
  • decides on the question of consent to the reappointment of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the courts of appeals, general courts, district courts, if the President or Vice-President has already held the same office twice;
  • publishes annually its opinion on the practice of the Presidents of the NOJ and of the Curia as regards the evaluation of applications for judges and senior judicial officers
  • appoints the President and members of the court of judges;
  • may grant relief in the event of a conflict of interest between the head of a court and a relative of a judge in the department under his/her authority;
  • conducts the verification procedure concerning the declaration of assets of judges;
  • on the initiative of the President of the NOJ, confer the titles of 'Judge of the General Court', 'Judge of the Court of Appeal', 'Judge of the Curia', and, in the case of judicial staff, the titles of Advocate-General and Counsel, and, on the initiative of the President of the NOJ, propose the awards, prizes, appreciations and plaques, or agree to the award of prizes, appreciations and plaques by others;
  • in the event of the resignation of a judge, agrees that the period of resignation shall be less than 3 months or grant the judge a partial or total exemption from his/her duties;
  • decides on the period of release from the obligation to work for the period of release from the obligation to work on the basis of the Law on the Status and Remuneration of Judges, in the event of retirement or reaching the age specified as a reason for release;
  • exercises the right of consent of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary in accordance with Article 76(5) of Act CLXI of 2011;
  • - the decision to terminate the appointment without the consent of the judge, in the exercise of their functions under point (e) of the Act on the Status and Remuneration of Judges;
  • - the decision on the assignment of a judge to the Curia and to the body concerned in the exercise of their functions pursuant to point (f);
  • - the decision to appoint a judge in the exercise of their functions under point (h);
  • exercises its right of assent in respect of the decision of the President of the Curia to terminate the appointment without the consent of the judge, as provided for in the Act on the Status and Remuneration of Judges;
  • exercises its right to give consent to the decision of the President of the NOJ and the President of the Curia declaring an application for a judgeship inadmissible where at least one candidate who was in the ranking list of the Council of the Judiciary and who had submitted a valid application in accordance with the conditions of the application had taken part in the application;
  • exercises its right of approval of the decision of the President of the NOJ and the President of the Curia declaring a vacancy for a judicial manager to be ineligible, where at least one candidate who was a valid candidate in the competition, who fulfilled the eligibility criteria and who was supported by the opinion-forming body or bodies, took part in the competition;
  • gives a binding opinion on the draft Ministerial Decree on the detailed rules for the evaluation of judicial candidatures and the scores to be awarded when establishing the ranking of applications, from which the Minister responsible for Justice may not depart.

Training

In the field of training, the NJC:
  • proposes the central education plan, and
  • exercises its right of agreement on the system of training of judges and the rules for the fulfilment of the obligation to train judges.
  • In the field of information, the NJC shall determine the structure of the information to be provided by the President of the NOJ to the NJC on the basis of the obligation to provide information every six months.
  • In the case of legislation the draft of which is subject to an opinion of the NJC pursuant to Article 103(1)(b) of Act CLXI of 2011 and the draft of which is subject to a mandatory opinion pursuant to paragraph (3)(q) of the same Act, a period of at least 60 days shall elapse between the publication of the legislation and its entry into force.
  • The NJC shall perform such other tasks as are assigned to it by law.

Other

Section 103/A.
  • The NJC shall have access to all documents, information and data, including personal data, relating to the administration of the courts. The person requested by the NJC shall comply with the request within 15 days of receipt of the request.
  • A copy of such document or data may be made by the NJC.

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