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Hungary Judicial Organs
The district courts, labor courts, and military courts
lay at
the bottom of the judicial hierarchy. District courts were
the
courts of first instance in all disputes. Labor courts
operated
in Budapest and the counties, hearing cases on appeal from
labor
affairs arbitration committees and other extrajudicial
entities
dealing with labor matters. Military courts operated in
garrisons
and some military units, concerning themselves with
military
cases and other cases that affected national defense
(see Military Justice
, ch. 5). The Supreme Court heard appeals
directly from the military courts.
County courts served as courts of first appeal for
decisions
of the district courts and the labor courts. The county
courts
also acted as courts of first instance in certain cases
involving
murder, willful homicide, and grave crimes against social
property. These courts functioned as courts of first
instance in
civil suits of a certain magnitude directed against the
state,
government officials, or socialist enterprises.
The Supreme Court acted as the court of appeal for the
county
courts and the military courts. One of the judges of the
Supreme
Court or one of the court's judges working together with
lay
assessors (non-professional judges) could act as court of
first
instance for certain important cases. These decisions
could then
be appealed to a council of the Supreme Court. Councils of
the
Supreme Court specialized in military, civil, criminal,
labor
affairs, or economic cases. The Presidential Council of
the
Supreme Court heard appeals from these councils on points
of law.
Professional judges and lay assessors presided over the
courts. When courts on any level acted as courts of first
instance, they consisted of a professional judge and two
lay
assessors, although the law provided for some exceptions.
Courts
hearing appeals consisted of three professional judges,
with the
exception of the Presidential Council of the Supreme
Court, which
was led by the council's president.
The Supreme Court could issue "guiding principles or
decisions in principle" when guidance was necessary "in
the
interests of guaranteeing uniformity or on questions of
legal
interpretation." These decisions were binding on the lower
courts. Other decisions of the Supreme Court were not
binding,
but they influenced the decisions of the lower courts.
The prosecutor general supervised observance of the
law. This
official, who was appointed by the National Assembly upon
recommendation of the party's Central Committee, headed a
hierarchy of prosecutorial offices organized on the county
and
district levels. The prosecutor general undertook criminal
investigations and prosecutions and reviewed the legality
of
actions taken by governmental, social, and economic
organs. Only
the National Assembly, Presidential Council, and Council
of
Ministers were excluded from the authority of the
prosecutor
general.
Data as of September 1989
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