Judges

Judges pursue their profession at the Curia, courts of appeal, general courts, district and urban district courts, as well as at administrative and labour courts.

With just a few exceptions, judge positions are available by way of applications.

Except for cases stipulated in the Act CLXII of 2011 on the Legal Status and Remuneration of Judges (the Judges Act), applications for these positions are invited by the President of the National Office for the Judiciary (NOJ).

In order to be appointed as judge, the candidate must

• be at least thirty years old,
• have the capacity to act,
• be a Hungarian citizen,
• hold a diploma from a university of law, and
• have passed the bar examination,
• have experiences in the profession of at least one year,
• be willing to make an asset declaration
• have valid aptitude test results, and
• have a valid official certificate of good character.

The first judge appointment will be made for a definite period of 3 years.

The duties of judges typically include: the delivering of judgments in and regarding criminal cases, legal disputes in private law cases, other cases stipulated in legislation, the legitimacy of administrative decisions, the conflicts of municipality rules with other legislation and their annulment and the conclusion of a failure to comply with the statutory obligation of the municipality to pass legislation.

Their status is regulated by the Act CLXII of 2011 on the Legal Status and Remuneration of Judges (the Judges Act).

The process of the assessment of applications

Applications invited to fill a position at the respective courts must be submitted to the presidents of these courts (i.e. in case of a position at the district court: to the president of the district court, in case of a position at the administrative and labour court: to the president of the administrative and labour court, in case of a position at the general court: to the president of the general court, in case of a position at the court of appeal: to the president of the court of appeal and in case of a position at the Curia: to the president of the Curia). 

Within 15 days following the expiry of the deadline for application, the judicial council of the specific court of appeal or general court will interview the applicants. Based on objective and subjective points given to the applicants, the judicial council will rank the applications in line with Section 14 (4) of the Judges Act. Further information on developing ranking is available in KIM Decree 7/2011 (III.4.) on the detailed rules of the assessment of applications for judge positions and the points given in developing the ranking of applications.

The judicial council will then forward the final ranking to the president of the court, who (together with his/her recommendation) will forward it to the President of NOJ. The decisionabout the application is made by the President of NOJ or – in case of application for a position at the Curia – the President of the Curia. As a result of the application procedure, the President of NOJ or the President of the Curia may

• recommend the president of the republic to appoint the specific judge, 
• declare the application invalid.

The President of NOJ may also make a decision about the relocation of the judge.