NO MONEY FOR THE REFORM OF JUDICATURE

The government has stopped the reform of the judicial system: the recently submitted amendment of the criminal procedure law contains only some exceptions to permit two appeals though this change may have affected the majority of cases. A third appeal will be possible only if the court of first and second instance deliver a contrary judgment. This was the case of banker Péter Kunos and partly this was the outcome of the Tocsik case, too as the Supreme Court changed the verdict of acquittal delivered by the Metropolitan Court. The reform failed because of the lack of money: an additional HUF 3.5 billion would be necessary to increase the staff and the technical capacity of the Courts of Appeal and that of the Supreme Court. Even so the criminal code effective since July 2003 will be amended in 260 points according to the bill submitted to the parliament.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó