Orban’s Court Chief Survives Impeachment Attempt in Parliament
Orban’s Court Chief Survives Impeachment Attempt in Parliament
(Bloomberg) -- Hungary’s parliament refused to oust the head of the court administration, cementing in power Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s appointee who was criticized for abusing her power when selecting judges.
Orban last month gave a concession to the European Union to indefinitely delay plans to further extend his influence over the judiciary as the bloc mulls whether to cut funding to members that flout the rule of law. Yet Tuesday’s vote means he’s ring-fencing the overhaul of courts carried out in the last decade that brought his nation to a standoff with the EU.
The prime minister tapped Tunde Hando, the wife of a ruling party European Parliament lawmaker, to head the new National Office of the Judiciary from 2012, giving her wide-ranging powers to appoint judges after a reorganization that ousted the supreme court’s chief justice and sent scores of judges into retirement.
The EU’s top court later ruled those early retirements were illegal. The Venice Commission, an inter-governmental legal watchdog in Europe, objected to the concentration of power in Hando’s position.
Hando proceeded to abuse her power over the appointment of new judges, according to the council of judges that oversees her work. The council had asked lawmakers to impeach her. She rejected the allegations, calling the supervisory council biased.
To contact the reporter on this story: Zoltan Simon in Budapest at zsimon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Andrea Dudik, Andras Gergely
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