The Independence of the Judiciary and Media badly respected in Hungary

26^th March 2012

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjoern Jagland, who was visiting Budapest on 21st March, believed that too much power was concentrated at the head of the legal and media systems in Hungary. He informed the Hungarian leaders of the results of work undertaken by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) regarding the reforms adopted by the government. He met Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Public Administration and Justice Minister, Tibor Navracsics. The Venice Commission looked into the changes decided upon by the government in the areas of the judiciary, freedom of the press and religion. In its report published on 19th March it criticised severely the reform that was being planned for the Hungarian legal system, qualified as a "threat" to its independence, whilst admitting that the "old Hungarian legal system undoubtedly required reform."

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