Supervision

„The central responsibilities of the administration of the courts shall be
performed by the President of the National Office for the Judiciary. The National
Judicial Council shall supervise the central administration of the courts.”

The most pivotal duty of NJC is defined by Article 25. of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, according to which NJC supervises the central administration of courts, which is carried out by the President of NOJ.

Point a) of paragraph (1) of Article 103 of the Court Organisation Act regulates supervisory power as follows: in the area of general central administration NJC shall examine the central administrative activity of the President of NOJ and if necessary, notifies the President of the NOJ of any problems.

In the administrative system established by the legislature as of January 1, 2012 the central administration of courts is carried out by one person, the President of NOJ. The President of NOJ received the administrative powers of the former National Council of Justice (NCJ) and its President (appointment of senior judicial executives, adjudication of judicial applications, budgetary powers, powers related to staff management, expressing opinions on draft legislation, training of judges). According to the ministerial commentary of the Act “since a wide range of toolsneeds to be provided for the central administration, it is an essential requirement when establishing the system to ensure that the central administration itself is controlled and accountable”. Therefore, the legislator has set up a panel solely consistedof and elected by judges through a secret ballot, the National Judicial Council, which carries out supervisory and commentary functions, and in some cases exercises the right to consent.

The ministerial commentary draws the attention to the fact that the President of NOJ does not operate without control, because the National Assembly has the right to remove the President from office (by the motion of the President of the Republic or that of NJC) and the NJC exercises revising and awareness-raising powers over the President. To this end, NJC has the right to draw the attention (notify) to irregularities detected during its supervision of the central administration, and ultimately, initiate the removal from office of the President of the NOJ.