Prosecutor General Dr. Péter Polt has submitted to the Parliament his annual report on the activities of the Prosecution Service of Hungary and has summarized the most important findings of the report in a video message.
In his video message Prosecutor General Dr. Péter Polt emphasized that last year – when the Prosecution Service of Hungary celebrated its 150th anniversary – resembled 2020 as far as work organization was concerned. A series of measures introduced and taken due to the pandemic remained in force, and practice has proven that it is worth maintaining some of these measures on a long term basis if they remain within the legal framework and meet the rule of law criteria.
In 2021, The Prosecution Service filed motions for penal orders with regard to 74.5% of all indictments. If legal requirements were met in such proceedings, the court decided the cases on the basis of case files and documents. Such proceedings do not infringe the right to fair trial, as – in addition to the Prosecution Service – the defendant and the defence counsel may also request to have a trial if they do not agree with the penal order.
Similarly to the previous years, the international relations of the Prosecution Service have remained excellent.
The cooperation with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is worth special mentioning. In 2021, OLAF made two judicial recommendations to the Prosecution Service of Hungary. In both cases, the recommendations were evaluated in already ongoing investigations. OLAF is increasingly making judicial recommendations in cases which are already under investigations in our country. The number of judicial recommendations sent to the Prosecution Service of Hungary by OLAF is constantly decreasing every year. It can be established that every judicial recommendation is followed by an investigation in Hungary. The latest annual report of OLAF for 2021 shows that the Prosecution Service of Hungary filed indictment in 67% of OLAF cases in the last five years. This number shows an outstanding result, since it is almost the double of the EU average of 35%. It is an important development in this context that in February 2022, the Prosecution Service of Hungary and OLAF confirmed their already excellent cooperation in an administrative cooperation arrangement.
We have managed to establish a good working relationship with the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) too, in April 2021. As a result of the previously started negotiations, the Prosecutor General of Hungary was the first and has so far been the only one among the non-participating member states to sign a working arrangement with the Chief Prosecutor of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
Dr. Péter Polt pointed out that in addition to the pandemic, the consequences of the war that started in February this year and the energy crisis are also making our everyday lives difficult. In this regard, the Prosecutor General emphasized that "the leadership of the Prosecution Service is working to ensure that the organization can adapt to the changing circumstances as quickly as possible, the conditions of the professional work be ensured and all our colleagues can feel the strength and security which the organization that is more than 150 years old can provide. The key to our success is working together and supporting each other."
The English extract of the report is available here: http://ugyeszseg.hu/en/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ogy_beszamolo_2021.pdf