Parliament Elects Five New Constitutional Court Justices

Hungarian Parliament elected five new justices to the Constitutional Court in a secret ballot on Tuesday. The new justices are Nóra Chronowski, Miklós Ligeti, András György Kovács, Zsolt Szomora and Árpád Gábriel Orosz, all nominated by the governing Tisza Party. The newly elected Constitutional Court justices took their oath before Parliament.

Parliament elected new justices because the mandates of four justices, including court president Péter Polt, expired on September 1 after the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law, adopted in July, stipulated that the mandate of a Constitutional Court justice ends at the age of 70. In November, Ágnes Czine, the court's deputy president, will also leave the court for the same reason, after serving 12 years.

Parliament had 60 days to elect new justices to replace those leaving. The new justices were elected for nine years, after the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law reduced the mandate from 12 to nine years. A two-thirds majority of MPs is required to elect Constitutional Court justices.

Opposition parties Fidesz and the Christian Democrats (KDNP) had previously said they would not participate in the process of electing the justices, calling the procedure "illegitimate and a mockery of constitutionalism". For this reason, their MPs left the chamber before the secret ballot. The Our Homeland group, however, participated in the vote and nominated candidates.

Previously, the justices had made statements during their hearings.

Nóra Chronowski, a university professor, a doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and a constitutional lawyer, called the democratic rule of law and human dignity the highest values of constitutionalism, which should guide the interpretation of the constitution. She also said the protection of individuals, minorities and vulnerable groups, and the examination of constitutional complaints, were important.

András György Kovács, a council chair justice at the Curia with a PhD in administrative law, said that for a justice, there was no more uplifting and honorable task than to re-sharpen the constitutional practice created by the Constitutional Court of László Sólyom, which brought about the change of regime. He added that the top court could further develop its practice to ensure that Hungary remained a functioning, consolidated democratic rule of law in the long term.

Miklós Ligeti, an ombudsman, a criminal lawyer, and the legal director of Transparency International Hungary, said the main task of the next period would be to rethink and rebuild the court. The "captured Constitutional Court" in many cases had not operated in the direction of the rule of law and had not been on the side of the disadvantaged, he added.

Árpád Gábriel Orosz, a former head of the Civil College of the Kuria, a council chair judge in civil law, a European legal expert, and has been a lecturer at the University of Szeged since 1993, said the most important factor in restoring confidence in the court was the appointment of credible and independent members. He said it was important to know the circumstances and context of each case and to weigh the consequences of decisions.

Zsolt Szomora, deputy director of the Institute of Criminal Sciences at the University of Szeged's Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, said he was a supporter of constitutional dialogue, believing that the separation of powers should not be seen as a confrontation. Conflict, he added, could have a weakening effect on the rule of law, while constitutional dialogue forced the representatives of the public power branches to reflect on each other and thus further build the constitutional state. In late July, parliament already decided on a new Constitutional Court justice: Pál Sonnevend, a department head and former dean at ELTE's Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, was elected to replace Csaba Hende, a former Fidesz MP and defense minister. Hende left the body as a result of the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law and the rules of the Constitutional Court law.