Hungarian anti-corruption and judicial capacity debate

Hungarian legal experts and judicial officials have raised concerns regarding the government’s efforts to reform anti-corruption measures and expedite asset recovery.

Transparency International Hungary has cautioned that Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s proposal to shorten procedural deadlines may not address the root causes of corruption. Miklós Ligeti, the organization’s legal director, argued that the justice system suffers from critical capacity issues, such as staff shortages in investigative bodies and uneven court caseloads. He noted that the newly established National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office (NVVH) must coordinate closely with police and prosecution while balancing asset seizure with rule-of-law guarantees.

Following these concerns, judicial officials warned that accelerating criminal proceedings could fail without structural support. Judges highlighted that the Budapest Metropolitan Court is already heavily overburdened, noting that large-scale cases often involve tens of thousands of pages of documentation. To manage the anticipated influx of complex cases, experts suggest the government must increase the number of judges, clerks, and secretaries, raise salaries, and provide more courtroom space.