Supreme Court head says establishment of new high court will not affect his position

In a wide-ranging interview with Magyar Idők, the head of Hungary’s Supreme Court, the Kúria, defended his record and responded to the question of how he saw his role as a public administration judge in light of the fact that the Kúria would no longer be occupied with public administration cases, given the establishment of a new high court with precisely that remit.

“This is indeed a peculiar situation,” Péter Darák said.

“As a public administrative judge, I am of course paying attention to the details of how the transformation proceeds.”

In the introduction to the interview published on Wednesday, the paper said: “Péter Darák says the fact that the Kúria which he heads will no longer deal with public administrative matters in the future is irrelevant from the point of view of his post as court president.”

Darák said the Kúria would use all available means at its disposal to contribute to the constitutional changes resulting from the reform of the justice system.

As a public administration judge, he said he was closely following the details of the reform.

Referring to the new court, however, he said an organisation that is “professional and specialised will be of constant value for the administration of justice”.

Asked about the dangers of a parallel system, he said needless overlaps could be avoided if cases belonging to different legal areas were clearly distributed among the independent courts.

At the same time, the system will enable organisational solutions better suited for the progress of cases, he added.

In response to a question about the distribution of cases, he said the independence of the judiciary was important because citizens must be assured that the judge handling their case has no obligations towards any of the legal opponents involved.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI