Hungary will implement a new legal system by January 2020, reforming administrative justice tribunals to deal with public administration issues, but they will be independent of the government, the justice minister said on Thursday, according to Reuters.

“We want to put in practice a very efficient system of courts specialized in administrative law,” he told to the reporters.

“I have to reject the accusations that the government will select those judges who will sentence the government,” he said.

According to the Hungarian minister, there will be eight regional courts and a new high administrative court.

“We want to create a very efficient administrative court system,” added Trocsanyi.

He dismissed the concerns that the judges in the new courts would be held by magistrates loyal to the government lead by Viktor Orban.

“I have to reject the assertions that the government will select certain people (to become judges) to make decisions in favor of the government,” the minister said.

“When I took the oath in Parliament, I swore I would devote myself to preparing laws that are in line with the rule of law,” he said, adding that the independence of judges is guaranteed in the Constitution of the country.

Laszlo Trocsanyi also noted on Thursday that the administrative courts are part of the judiciary of several European Union countries, including Austria and France, and insisted that the new magistrates would be chosen on the basis of the competitiveness demonstrated by the exam.

He also noted that Hungary is considering various models for the designation of judges, but considers that the closest to the Hungarian one is in Austria, where the Minister of Justice has only a limited role in the appointment of magistrates.

The announcement is made in the context in which the European Parliament gave the green light to the start of the Hungarian sanctioning process because of concerns about the rule of law.

Last week, the European Parliament voted to sanction Hungary for failing to respect the EU’s values of democracy, civil rights and corruption. Hungary announced, through Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s voice, that the decision will be contested.

Source: M.adevarul