Top court annuls legal provisions on national security vetting of judges

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday ruled unconstitutional and annulled certain legal provisions requiring the national security vetting of judges.

The court’s ruling comes after Péter Darák, the head of the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, requested that the court declare provisions of the law on national security agencies pertaining to the vetting of judges unconstitutional and annul them.

Darák noted in his appeal that national security laws passed in 2013 established new national security rules applying to the judiciary as well. Under those rules, only the heads of the Kuria and the national judicial office OBH were exempt from vetting.

Darák also noted that under the law, judges are required to undergo national security vetting while lawmakers are not. The appeal also said it was impossible to determine the exact situations in which the rule needs to be applied to judges.