Top judge candidates heard by parlt justice committee – UPDATE

Budapest, November 21 (MTI) – The relationship between the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, and the Constitutional Court, was the focus of evidence given on Monday by the candidates to fill the four vacancies at the Constitutional Court.

Parliament is to hold a vote on the four candidates on Tuesday afternoon.

The governing party members of parliament’s justice committee endorsed all of the candidates on Monday.

Ildikó Horcher Marosi, a Kúria judge who is now applying to join the constitutional court, said at the hearing that the two courts should engage in more intensive dialogue and “conflict in the air” should be defused, which is why better communication would be helpful. The constitutional court should not “teach” judges of the general courts about the law, which “they already know”, she said. Rather, they should be given constitutional guidelines but then “allowed to deliberate and rule in the cases assigned to them”.

Balázs Schanda, another candidate, called for “common sense” and a human approach to the highest levels of legal practice. Concepts such as environmental protection, the family and language are the unwritten precursors to a democratic state, he argued.

Marcel Szabó, the green ombudsman, argued for the widest possible transparency on projects related to nuclear energy and noted that the constitutional court played a vital role in setting clear definitions concerning a country’s international legal obligations.

The fourth candidate, Attila Horváth, who is author of a new national declaration to be added to the preamble of Hungary’s basic law, said it was important to apply the timeless, rational principles of Hungary’s “historic constitution” which are still valid today.

The oppositionJobbik party stayed away from the vote to endorse the candidates, saying that “it is not the candidates but the nomination procedure that Jobbik has issues with”. The Socialists did not take part in the hearing or the vote.