RECENT REFORMS AND RESULTS IN THE JUDICIARY IN HUNGARY - CEPEJ NETWORK OF PILOT COURTS PLENARY MEETING BARCELONA, 3. OCTOBER 2019 - Coe
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RECENT REFORMS AND RESULTS
IN THE JUDICIARY IN HUNGARY
CEPEJ NETWORK OF PILOT COURTS
PLENARY MEETING
BARCELONA, 3. OCTOBER 2019.
MAIN TOPICS 1. The evolution of the number of long-lasting cases 2. The “Digital Courts” in Hungary 3. Court mediation
1. LONG-LASTING CASES
• We call a case “long-lasting” if it lasts more than 2 years at first instance, more
than 1 year at second instance at the Regional Courts, or more than 6 months at the
Regional Courts of Appeal (the “High Courts”, also at second instance).
• The Head of the Hungarian National Office for the Judiciary (“NOJ”) has announced
a voluntary program in 2015 called “F o r t h e s ervi ci n g c o u r t s ! ” One of the
main goals of the program was to support the timely jurisdiction and to act against
the long-lasting cases.
• In a 10 months period the Hungarian courts have reduced the number of long-lasting
cases with nearly 27%. Therefore, they have finished almost 13.000 long-lasting
cases.SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• In 2016 a new project was announced: the first “Su s tai nable Developme nt
Pro gram”. Among other features the aim of this program has affected the long-
lasting cases as well. The courts have reached further reduction of the number of
long-lasting cases, and simultaneously kept the quality indicators of the jurisdiction at
the same level (or even improved them; e.g. the number of repeals/annulments
decreased at district courts).
• Most of the judges has joined trainings on the timely jurisdiction. In this program many
regional courts evolved own collection of decisions (judgement database) or
improved their former ones.
• Other aims of this program were for example to use the IT sources in a more
effective way, or to introduce or broaden the selective waste collection at the courts.
Another possibility for the courts was to make steps towards a family-friendly
workplace.SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• In the program the courts have strengthened their contact with the clients: they have
worked out petition templates for the parties, they got feedbacks from the public on
questionnaires, and kept on with the most popular – nation-wide – program of the
“Open Courts”. The “Open Courts” program is another story of success, that has
brought the people closer to the courts. The young people are a priority “target
group” of this program, so there are extraordinary lessons about justice – kept by
judges and court clerks in the schools – and case-simulations for secondary school
students. And for anyone who is interested, the courts organize regularly guided
tours in the court buildings. The courts are often represented at festivals too, where
visitors can get information about courts in unusual ways, such as quiz contests.• The next program was the Sus tai nable Developme nt Prog ram Nr.2. in 2017, in which the
courts carried on with the course started in the first program, and kept or even improved the
results of it, especially on the field of the long-lasting cases. As the number of incoming cases
has decreased lately, the ratio of the long-lasting cases compared to the number of all cases
could not be reduced anymore; but the absolute number of the long-lasting cases continued to
decrease.
• The Regional Court of Veszprém as the Pilot Court of the CEPEJ had the best results among
the regional courts in both the I. and the II. Sustainable Development Program!
• *www.icon-library.net• By the end of 2012 the courts of the Regional Court of Veszprém had nearly 300 cases which were older than 2 years. After the programs (in 2018) this number was reduced to less than 100, and it is still decreasing. • The Su s tain able Develo pmen t Pro g ram has continued with the 3rd sequence, which is still in progress. • Beside the programs above the head of the NOJ started a Leadership Program, which aimed the strengthening of the communication of the courts, balancing the workload and increasing employee satisfaction. It also provided opportunity to share good practices with one another on special fields of the court administration, as for instance on the human resource management. This program has also a continuation. • After all these programs the number of long-lasting cases at the Hungarian courts has sinked from nearly 15.000 (in 2010) to 8000 (in 2018), so with 45%. With these figures we have reached a result that is better than ever!
2. DIGITAL COURTS
• The electronic communication was introduced to the courts from 2008, gradually:
• first in registry proceedings (2008, then 2012 and 2014)
• then in civil proceedings (could have been chosen on demand from 2013 and from 2015, and
is compulsory for legal representatives, companies and bodies of public administration from
2016)
• compulsory in bankruptcy proceedings for debtors and in liquidation processes from 2015
and 2016.
• from 2015 in civil societies’ register proceedings
• also in criminal proceedings from 2015
• from 1. January 2018. fully electronic communication in all proceedings (the courts
provide the possibility of it in all fields of jurisdiction)
• In 2018 more than 1,3 million electronic submissions.
• The Courts’ Integrated Informatic System contains more than 22 million electronic
documents.2. DIGITAL COURTS
The idea of tomorrow’s court consists of many things, not just electronic communication.
For the clients:
We provide fast and convenient e-administration
e-procedures:
• electronic communication
• e-submissions
• electronic forms
• e-delivery
e-complaint:
• submit electronic administrative complaints
• nonstop2. DIGITAL COURTS
process duration calculator:
• tells, on average how much time does a court need to finish certain cases
• plannability (if the court of jurisdiction can be chosen by the parties)
electronic notification
• the registered clients and legal representatives
• receive sms and e-mail notifications about the most important procedural acts (for example: that the
expert’s opinion has arrived to the court, or that the controversial party has lodged an appeal)
general authorizations’ record
• accept and accomplish electronic data entry, data retrieval applications
•2. DIGITAL COURTS
registry of people under guardianship
• via the so called “Client Gateway” (a secured online platform for citizens, lawyers, companies
operated by the state) the clients can:
• accomplish data requests on paper or electronically
• accept electronic applications, data retrieval
• access to an accurate database
judicial payment system:
• ensure the electronic fulfilment of payment obligations in judicial proceedings
• convenient and user-friendly services (for example: user account, retraceable payments, court fee
calculator)
• new payment methods: paying court deposits, prepayments for legal costs
• the fee comes directly to the budget of the courts
• since March 2019.
• about 2 M EUR was paid through this system until now (in 7 months)NEXT MILESTONES OF THE DIGITAL COURT:
e-file
• Started on the 1st October at one pilot court, and will start on 1. January 2020 for all
courts
• after registration every concerned party (clients, legal representatives, experts) can
access to the files 24 hours a day even from home
• digitalized image of the paper-based file (even the file cover)
• can be edited by multiple persons simultaneously
new collection of judicial decisions
• faster, easier, more efficient access
• complex, thematic searchNEXT MILESTONES OF THE DIGITAL COURT: Digital devices was bought for 2600 judges to ensure efficient e-work • 1434 laptops • 1139 tablets • 26 e-book readers with 21st century office software package: • registers, data bases available from everywhere • home office • integrated workstation and mail system • team work • videoconference
NEXT MILESTONES OF THE DIGITAL COURT:
WITH THE E-FILE COMES FOR JUDGES AND COURT STAFF: The „Ruling Support System” • e-files • tasks • legal collection • public registers • proceedings’ book • collection of judicial decisions • anonymization application • anonymized decisions
WITH THE E-FILE COMES FOR JUDGES AND COURT STAFF:
Decision Editing Application
• judicial order and decision forms
• common structure
• well searchable
• correct law references
Anonymization application
• certain decisions of the courts must be anonymized and published on the website of the courts
• anonymization was a long and exhaustive process until now
• anonymization with one single click – if the decision was made with the decision editing application, but also
much easier (with a few clicks) if it wasn’t made with it
Collection of judicial decisions
• all required anonymized decisions are available at one place
• intelligent, optimized search
• appealable decisions and repealsTHE “VIA VIDEO” PROJECT
For remote auditions, video and sound recording in courtrooms
Remote audition:
• improving timeliness
• courtrooms are connected:
• to internal partner authorities
• to other courtrooms
• to international judicial agencies
We have now 72 endpoints (each regional court and the district courts at the seat of the regional courts have at
least one courtroom equipped with remote audition endpoint devices) By the end of this year the number will
grow with further 112 endpoints.
It is in use for 1 year. The courts had more than 3100 remote auditions in this period. More than 1100 judges
have used it. Alone in June this year nearly 500 remote auditions took place.THE “VIA VIDEO” PROJECT The number of remote auditions is growing quickly:
THE “VIA VIDEO” PROJECT Video and sound recording • improves transparency Planned services in this field: • annotations to the recordings • own data storage • central helpdesk
SPEECH-TO-TEXT PROGRAMS
The dictated text is converted immediately to a visible, written text that can be edited,
corrected, and replayed.
Timeline:
• From 2016: pilot (testing) period
• From the middle of 2017: further testing, purchasing
• In 2018: more than 700 software licences purchased
We have tested 2 types of speech-to-text programs:
• one is voice-depending, and can be teached by its user to recognize new words and
expressions
• the other doesn’t depend on the voice of the user, but cannot be teached to recognize other
words than it was entered to its database3. COURT MEDIATION This alternative dispute resolution procedure is available at the Hungarian courts since 2012, and is an effective tool of enhancing customer satisfaction and timeliness in civil litigious and non-litigious cases. In the last few years the Hungarian model has become a unique, costumer-focused model. The parties may choose whether they wish to use the court's mediation process, and if so, it is included in the costs of legal proceedings, or they could opt to a mediator outside of the court. The court mediation is a non-judicial procedure. At the courts judges and officials of the court with special qualification shall conduct the mediation process. In the case of an agreement, the parties shall be entitled to the right for the suspension of the payment of duty, depending on in which stage the agreement ends the process. The parties may choose a so-called „private mediator” related to the court proceedings, but independently of it as well. In such cases, the hourly rate and the cost of mediation process are paid by themselves, but this cost can be deducted from the fees of the court proceeding (up to 50.000HUF – approx. 160 Euro).
3. COURT MEDIATION Regulation of the mediation procedure in Hungary Mediation is possible in civil, labor, health, education, and now in administrative issues as well. In some criminal proceedings mediation is also possible, and if it’s successful, it makes a reason for terminating the criminal proceeding. (The criminal mediation is conducted by probation officers.) The Law of intermediary activities was adopted in 2002, which established the legal framework for the mediation in Hungary. The law was supplemented with a new section from 2012, with the procedure of mediation at courts.
3. COURT MEDIATION Since 2014 the judge in actions for the termination of parental custody rights may order that the parties should visit together a mediator (mandatory mediation), and listen to the detailed information about what advantages it has if they resolved the conflict with an agreement they worked out together. In these cases they are free to decide if they enter into the mediation procedure, or they ask for the decision of the judge. If they do not wish to continue the mediation procedure or would like to finish it without an agreement, the trial continues without delay. From 1 January 2018, in administrative court proceedings, the judge may, with the agreement of the parties, impose a court mediation procedure in the cases in which the law does not preclude it. At the same time the court proceeding is suspended until the end of the mediation, but for a maximum of two months, like in mandatory mediation cases. In the case of an agreement they can ask the judge to approve the agreement in a court settlement, so their mutual will be in judgement effect and will therefore be enforceable.
3. COURT MEDIATION Court mediation network in Hungarian Courts • In Hungary's most relevant courts, so approximately in 70 major Hungarian courts, there are more than 130 judges and court clerks who attend in the judicial mediation procedures. The network has also 20 coordinator members. • According to data from the European Commission's 2017 and 2018 Justice Scoreboard, the Hungarian Courts are in the forefront of promoting and encouraging the use of alternative dispute resolution methods.
3. COURT MEDIATION At the end of 2018 • at 20 regional courts + 2 regional courts of appeal • 70 judges and 60 court clerks were appointed to court mediators More than 4500 mediation procedures were conducted (since 2013), out of which 50% of all procedures were concluded with an agreement.
3. COURT MEDIATION
Cases from the beginning of January 2013 to end of 2018
1. Diagram
1200
1000
800 604
435
419
600 409
293
400
540
495 500
200 410
363
81
110
0
2013. 2014. 2015. 2016. 2017 2018
Agreement Without agreementTHANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Peter Pfeifer, dr.
Judge
Regional Court of Veszprém, HUNGARYYou can also read
