Hungarian chief public prosecutor submits report on prosecutor’s office to parliament

The number of registered crimes has dropped to one third compared with a decade ago, and the Hungarian prosecutor’s office maintains good relations with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), Péter Polt, the chief public prosecutor said in a report to lawmakers about his office’s activities last year.

The number of registered crimes, including crimes against life, fell by 5.2 percent last year, while the number of human smuggling offences increased, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Polt’s report addressed corruption in detail and insisted that subjective assessments based on perception indicated a very different picture from the facts. Objective data show that the situation concerning corruption is no different in Hungary from the average in European Union member states, except for the health-care sector, the report said.

• Read also: Hungarian forint is in a slump again: euro has risen by 30 forints in a month

Commenting on efforts to speed up proceedings, the report said that last year the prosecutor’s office proposed a court decision in 74.5 percent of cases. The report highlighted that with 87.9 percent of suspects, the court rulings matched the prosecutor’s charges in every respect.

Polt said the prosecutor’s office maintained “excellent” international relations last year, especially concerning cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). There has been a continual decrease in the number of OLAF recommendations, and all recommendations have been followed up by the Hungarian authorities, with charges raised in 67 percent of the cases over the past five years. “This is an outstanding figure, nearly twice as high as the 35 percent average in the EU,” he added.

Polt also noted good relations with EPPO, adding that among the countries that have not joined the organisation, Hungary is the only one to have signed a cooperation agreement with it.

Read alsoOrbán: I knew before the war that something was wrong with Putin

Source: MTI