In 2018, 132.560 civil and economic cases were brought before the courts, of which 101.000 belonged under the new Civil Procedure Code. In the second half of the year (1 July – 31 December), 57.000 claims were filed by citizens under the new Civil Procedure Code which represents 30% increase compared to the first half of the year.

Despite of this, in 2018 the number of civil and economic cases brought to the courts in Hungary decreased 25% compared to 2017. However, the decrease in the number of filed cases slowed down significantly in the second half of the year.

The number of civil and economic cases under the new Civil Procedure Code has risen continuously: in the II and III quarter of 2018 9-9000 cases, while in the IV quarter of 2018 10-10.000 cases were filed each month. This also indicates that, despite the challenges of the new Civil Procedure Code, the confidence of law-seeking citizens in the courts has not been diminished.

More than 50% of the cases filed under the new Civil Procedure Code in 2018 could be finished in the same year as well. The main reason for this outstanding efficiency was not the rejection of claims due to formal or substantive problems. In fact, only 14.530 claims, 14% of the cases filed in 2018 were rejected in the year when the new Civil Procedure Code entered into force. The rate of rejection of claims was not changed, neither increased nor decreased in the second part of 2018. This means that only 1 from 7 claims were rejected under the mandatory rule of the new Civil Procedure Code.

The Working Group for supporting the application of the new Civil Procedure Code set up by the President of the National Office for the Judiciary (NOJ) continuously examines and evaluates the data on the cases under the new Civil Procedure Code even in 2019. These data are shared by the NOJ with the Curia of Hungary and the courts in order to promote the development of uniform jurisdiction, and are also forwarded to the legislator. As a result of this in 2018, the legislator cancelled the procedural fee diminished to 10% in the case of rejection of the claim by the initiative of the President of NOJ.

In order to facilitate the access to justice for citizens and reduce the number of rejections of claims, the President of the NOJ initiated the simplification of compulsory claim forms for parties without legal representatives, based on the recommendations of the courts and the Working Group. This simplification can be expected for the first half of 2019.