Incoming Hungarian MoJ: "It's not a position, it's a task" - exclusive interview with Bence Tuzson

How did he feel when the prime minister asked him to lead the Ministry of Justice? What tools will the ministry have to counter EU attacks? How would he reorganize the ministry? These are some of the questions we put to Bence Tuzson, Hungary's future Minister of Justice, in Baile Tusnad, Romania.

Fotó: Bach Máté

How did you feel when the prime minister asked you to lead the Ministry of Justice? 

It is a special honor. There are no words to describe the feeling when you receive such an invitation. However, it is important to remember that it is not a position but a task. The prime minister has asked me to take on a serious task, and with that comes responsibility.

Former MoJ Laszlo Trocsanyi was appointed EU commissioner by Viktor Orban in 2019 and left the government. There were rumors at the time that the prime minister asked you for the job. Can you confirm this? 

There was no such request at that time. I had a very important job of managing the public administration back then. I think we did that job well, and perhaps that is why the premier thought I was suitable to head the Ministry of Justice.

You asked the prime minister to move EU affairs out of the ministry, which would operate in a pure, traditional structure of a justice ministry. Why do you think this change is important?  

The next period will in many technical ways be about the European Union, the period of Hungary's EU presidency. It is a period of preparation. I think it is a task that requires the complete attention of a person. We do not want to neglect the area of justice, so it is the right and responsible decision to separate the two areas and create a traditional ministry of justice with its own EU implications. Law always has an EU dimension. Many rules are directly applicable and the fight is really in the legal field. But there is a preparation for the EU presidency that has many dimensions. 

According to Hungary's incoming justice minister, an ideological battle has been started within the European Union by the European liberal mainstream. Photo by Mate Bach

We must bring together various fields of expertise and synthesize European opinions, and there is a lot of team-building work to be done. In the past period, it was justified to have these two areas under one ministry, since EU law is an integral part of Hungarian law and the battle was fought in this area. Janos Boka will be the minister responsible for EU affairs in the government. 

He will have to bring together EU issues across different branches of government. His most important task will be to ensure that the upcoming Hungarian presidency is ready for the job. Hungary will lead a large part of EU decision-making. We can have a very significant impact on the functioning of the European Union, both in the short term and in the long term.

Is it possible that the fight on this battleground will intensify as the European Parliament elections approach?

It is possible, because there is also an ideological battle started within the European Union by the European liberal mainstream. They are afraid of not winning the EU elections and are now trying to force everything down the throats of the nation states. The reports on the rule of law, the EU decisions, the infiltration of various ideological ideas into EU legislation, the signing of the Istanbul Convention, all indicate that this battle will intensify in the run-up to the elections. These will be the main issues in the EU elections.

What tools will the Ministry of Justice have to counter these?

We have to pay close attention to what decisions the EU makes. We have to watch how the bureaucrats in Brussels try to interfere in national law through stealth legislation, and we have to constantly defend ourselves with the tools of national law. Legislation must be enacted to block these attempts. The Constitutional Court also has a role to play here, independently of course. It is important to note that the Constitutional Court does this well. We have seen how it has repeatedly ordered a halt to EU legislation. The Constitutional Court defines the limits beyond which EU law cannot go. These aspirations are always reflected in legislation, but in reality they are aspirations of power and ideology.

In addition to ideological issues, we can also mention migration, because a few weeks ago the Council of Interior Ministers of the European Union voted in favor of the migration pact...

Politically, these issues are not the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, but all legislative issues must paid attention to. Under no conditions do we back a move by the EU to reclassify an issue outside the normal legislative order, and to insert the issue of migration under the reclassified issue. This could not have been done before on the basis of the EU resolution. They are trying to impose certain measures on certain countries, but this cannot work in any way. We are totally against the imperial logic. The imperial logic alone would be a reason for national resistance. Brussels intention to dictate legislation will tear the European Union apart, because this process will lead to member states not complying with EU decisions.

Recently the judiciary had to be restructured because of EU conditions. Do you think this restructuring is appropriate?

This restructuring does not really affect the functioning of the judiciary, because people go to court, they seek justice there, and they get a kind of legal service at the end. The administration of justice and the administration of law are not necessarily the same thing, and we will work to correct that in the next period. We can take administrative applications, but the administration of justice has to be transformed. It is very important that the citizen seeking justice finds it in the courts. The will of the legislator must be reflected in the judgments of the courts. There is a reason why decrees and laws are made in parliament. There is always a reason. It is worth checking whether that intention is reflected in the judgments. The reform does not affect the independence of the judiciary, nor does it affect the need to respect the court's decision. But if practice is going in a direction that is contrary to the legislative intention, intervention by the legislator is necessary.

Cover photo: Bence Tuzson, Hungary's future Minister of Justice (Photo: Mate Bach)