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Hungary to set up courts overseen directly by government
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 12, 2018 / 6:23 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Hungary to set up courts overseen directly by government
Krisztina Than
2 MIN READ
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary passed a law on Wednesday to set up courts overseen directly by the justice minister, a move critics said would allow political interference in judicial matters and further undermine the rule of law.
The administrative courts will take over cases about government business such as taxation and elections currently handled in the main legal system. The government said the courts would be presided over by independent judges who would be able to handle cases more efficiently.
The justice minister will have big powers in appointing the judges and will oversee the courts’ budgets. Rights groups said that compromised the separation of the executive and judicial powers in what they see as a further step towards authoritarianism by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“(The law) is a serious threat to the rule of law in Hungary and runs counter to values Hungary signed up to when it joined the European Union,” the rights group Helsinki Committee said in a statement.
-snip-
Hungary to set up courts overseen directly by government
Krisztina Than
2 MIN READ
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary passed a law on Wednesday to set up courts overseen directly by the justice minister, a move critics said would allow political interference in judicial matters and further undermine the rule of law.
The administrative courts will take over cases about government business such as taxation and elections currently handled in the main legal system. The government said the courts would be presided over by independent judges who would be able to handle cases more efficiently.
The justice minister will have big powers in appointing the judges and will oversee the courts’ budgets. Rights groups said that compromised the separation of the executive and judicial powers in what they see as a further step towards authoritarianism by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“(The law) is a serious threat to the rule of law in Hungary and runs counter to values Hungary signed up to when it joined the European Union,” the rights group Helsinki Committee said in a statement.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-courts/hungary-to-set-up-courts-overseen-directly-by-government-idUSKBN1OB193