Budget

„NJC expresses its opinion on court budgets and the report on the implementation thereof,
examines the economic and financial management of courts, expresses opinions on the
detailed conditions and the rates of the benefits of judges and judicial employees.
The budget of NJC is displayed separately within the NJO budget.”

The court is independent in exercising public authority, i.e. in the terms of adjudication and it is separated from the legislative and executive branches, in case budgetary issues, however, similarly to other countries in Europe and the world, it is part of the single central budget. The budget of the courts forms as an independent budget chapter, within which the Curia has its own title, and under a unified title there are 26 independent budgetary organizations. (5 Court of Appeals, 20 General courts, and NJC)

The compilation of the court budget on a chapter level is the task of the President of NJC and the President is also authorised by the act to participate in the budget negotiation, however it has a guarantee importance that NJC may comment on the next year’s budget plan and the closed year’s financial report. [Points a) of paragraph (2) of Article 103 of Act CLXI of 2011]

Among others it is the task of the President of NJC to govern and manage the budget chapter, and he/she also governs the internal control of courts. Further to that the legislator also decided that the control of the management of courts is the task of the President of NJC. To this end NJO may request for information from the President of NJC, and the members of NJC have the right to control the management by having access to documents. However, it is important that the control of courts as individual budget entities is the right and obligation of the President of NJC since NJO controls central management and not local administration. [Point b) of paragraph (2) of Article 103 of Act CLXI of 2011]

The system of the remuneration of judges is defined by cardinal law, while the rate of the base remuneration of judges is defined by the act on the annual budget. The remuneration of judges is not solely a budgetary issue, since from the aspect of judiciary independence it is essentially important that judges receive proper remuneration. Sadly, taking into consideration the gross value and purchasing power, the remuneration of judges is the lowest in the European Union and in the last eight years the remuneration improvement has not reached the rate of inflation.

The European Networks of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), the International Association of Judges (IAJ), the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and the Association of Hungarian Judges have drawn the attention several times to the fact that the remuneration of judges should reflect their responsible work and should ensure their independence. The importance of this is shown also by the fact that the legislator has provided the possibility to NJC to comment on the detailed rules and rate other benefits. [Point c) of paragraph (2) of Article 103 of Act CLXI of 2011]