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Commission Report 2002 (Hungary)   
Political criteriaSeveral important steps have been taken over the past year to continue implementation of judicial reform. As foreseen by the Action Plan, a decision was taken in June 2002 to establish five Regional Courts of Appeal, which will reduce the backlog of cases at the Supreme Court in respect to appeals in last instance. Further efforts to modernise the judiciary were made with an overall increase of staff at all court levels. Furthermore, the development of the Court Information System progressed and is now operational at 18 county courts, the Budapest municipal court, the Supreme Court, and the National Council of Justice. The training of judges in Community law, which started in September 1999, continued, and by March 2002 around 75% of the judges had received training and 60 judges had become national trainers. Concerning free legal aid, the existing provisions are rather restricted for criminal cases, contrary to the principles generally applied. If convicted, the accused must pay all the costs of the proceedings. As foreseen in the Action Plan, the Government has prepared a draft law to modify the rules on legal aid to bring them in line with European standards. However, the draft has not yet been submitted to Parliament. So far, the budgetary situation of the judicial system has hardly changed and resources remain limited. To address the situation, a new law, which will empower the National Council of Justice to submit its proposal for the 2004 budget directly to Parliament, is currently being processed by Parliament.In line with the long-term anti-corruption strategy adopted in 2001 and following the Action Plan, a number of new measures have been taken during the reference period. In particular, the legal framework has been further improved with the adoption of revised laws on public procurement, criminal affairs, money laundering and taxation. Practical measures concerned the introduction of a bonus system and a salary increase for the customs services, which should also have a positive impact. Finally, asset declarations became compulsory for senior civil servants as well as for the President of the Republic, judges, ombudsmen and certain other institutions and professions. On the institutional side, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice share overall responsibility for the implementation of the anti-corruption strategy, and various additional bodies were set up to make the fight against corruption more effective. In line with the Action Plan priority, the Hungarian Government has continued to make efforts to address the difficult situation of the Roma minority. Budgetary resources for the implementation of the medium-term programme have been further increased. In the area of education, new teaching material was prepared, but this does not address the issue of transferring Roma children out of the mainstream system into special education facilities. According to estimates, there are still around 150 schools in Hungary where special Roma classes are maintained. Further progress was made to ensure a proper impact assessment with the introduction of a new monitoring system. In the fight against discrimination, a special anti-Discrimination Network of legal aid offices was set up by the Ministry of Justice in co-operation with the National Roma self-Government and the Office for National and Ethnic Minorities. The Network, established in late 2001, offers free counsel and representation to individuals claiming discrimination. However, the scope of the operation of this Network is rather restricted and covers only issues related to discrimination against persons belonging to national and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, the fact that this system does not cover the costs of the legal proceedings, which must be paid by the plaintiff if the case is not upheld, acts as a disincentive. The legal framework for anti-discrimination is still fragmented and appropriate sanctions are missing. During the reference period, a new comprehensive anti-discrimination law was prepared and submitted to Parliament. Its adoption would be a major step forward in the regard and should address the Action Plan priority. Concerning the establishment of an effective system for addressing complaints of police misconduct, no progress can be reported. The relevant Action Plan measures were not properly implemented. Overall, the priorities falling under the political criteria have been partially met. The implementation of the measures under the Action Plan is partially on track. Next: Economic criteria Up: D. Accession Partnership and Action Previous: D. Accession Partnership and Action |
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