Based on Act XX of 1949 on the Constitution of the Republic of Hungary and on Act LXVI of 1997 on the Organisation and Administration of the Courts, in Hungary justice is administered in a four-level system by the Supreme Court, the regional courts of appeal, the county courts (including the Municipal Court of Budapest) and the local courts. First instance jurisdiction in most matters rests with the local courts, effecting the principle that the overwhelming part of the cases shall be settled at the local level, within the easiest reach of the parties. Appeals against the decisions of the local courts may be submitted to the county courts (and the Municipal Court), which thus function mainly as appellate courts, however, in cases specified by law (e.g. in civil cases with a minimum value of HUF 5 million (€ 20.000) and criminal cases with a sentence up to life imprisonment) they have first instance jurisdiction. The territorial competence of the local and country courts is determined by and identical with the areas of public administration. The regional courts of appeal hear the appeals lodged against the decisions of the local and county courts. There are five courts of appeal throughout the country in Budapest, Szeged, Pécs, Debrecen and Győr. Taking over the task of examining appeals, the regional courts of appeal significantly contributed to the reduction of the backlog of cases before the Supreme Court and as a result the Supreme Court is nowable to concentrate on its main function of ensuring the uniform application of law and examining applications for the review of final judgements as extraordinary remedy.

Ensuring the principle of independence of the judiciary by separating it from the executive, the administration of the courts is the prerogative of the National Council of Justice, which was established in 1997. Its most important functions are:

The National Council of Justice consists of 15 members: 9 judges elected by the judiciary through delegates, the Minister of Justice, the Prosecutor General, the President of the National Bar Association and two MPs appointed by the Constitutional and Judicial Committee and the Budget and Financial Committee. The Council is presided by the current President of the Supreme Court who submits each year a report to the Parliament about the overall situation and functioning of the courts and the activities of the Council.

The judge
In Hungary judges are appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic. Recruitment to the judiciary consists of several stages. Candidates to judgeship must be Hungarian nationals with a right to vote, they must have a clean criminal record, a university degree in law and they have to pass the professional exam. University graduates generally work for three years as trainees and then for one year as court secretaries. After the professional exam has been passed and a special checking on the candidate's physical and psychical health has been done, upon recommendation of the president of the county court and upon proposal by the National Council of Justice the President of the Republic appoints a judge for a three-year probationary period. Following an assessment of the judge's performance at the end of the probationary period, a re-appointment for an indefinite period may take place. Judges may carry on their judicial activities until the age of 70.
The Constitution provides that judges shall be independent and subject only to the law. Besides being prevented from pursuing any political activity or from entering any political party, judges are not allowed to be involved in business activities or to become members of an arbitration court. In order to ensure the accountability of judges and counteract corruption in public life since December 2001 judges have been required to make disclosure declarations on property which are collected and monitored by the National Council of Justice. As a basic guarantee of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, at the beginning of 2002 a system of predefined distribution of cases was introduced for the courts, which significantly contributes to the transparency of court proceedings. To check the maintenance of professional knowledge of judges all throughout their career, their judicial performance is evaluated twice in every 6 years.

The Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court is not part of the ordinary judicial system, its proceedings are not of the adversarial type. It has its own budget and its members (eleven judges) are elected by Parliament. It is charged with the review of the constitutionality of laws and the protection of the constitutional order and fundamental rights granted by the Constitution. Its competence includes the posterior and preventive review of the constitutionality of statutes, the review of statutes from the aspect of conformity with international treaties, the establishment of unconstitutional omission to legislate and the review of constitutional complaints submitted because of violations of rights provided for in the Constitution. If in the course of its procedure the Constitutional Court establishes the unconstitutionality of a statute, it annuls it in whole or in part. The posterior review of the constitutionality of a statute might be initiated by anyone and referring to the violations of rights included in the Constitution or to unconstitutional omission to legislate, anyone may turn to the court directly. The court's decisions cannot be contested. (www.mkab.hu)