According to the annual report of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) published in 2023, out of the cases where OLAF issued judicial recommendations to Hungary, two cases were indicted whereas one was dismissed between 2019 and 2023. Criminal investigations are ongoing in fifteen cases, and no decisions closing the investigations have been made yet. Each OLAF judicial recommendation is followed by an investigation in Hungary.
The OLAF report 2023 found that, out of the cases where OLAF had addressed judicial recommendations to Hungary between 2019 and 2023, indictments had been filed in two cases whereas the investigation had been dismissed in one case, which accounts for 67% of the cases. This rate is an outstanding achievement, as the EU average for cases ending with indictments is 37%. There are fifteen cases where decisions by the national judicial authority are pending (“decision pending”).
This latter category has been misinterpreted by some media outlets, and their articles contain statements that do not reflect reality.
Although no such legal obligation exists, at the instruction of the Prosecutor General Dr. Péter Polt, the Prosecution Service of Hungary orders an investigation into each case opened upon OLAF’s recommendation, and where the investigation has already been ongoing, OLAF’s recommendations are attached to the investigation files and are assessed as a part thereof.
In each case where a judicial recommendation is evaluated as a “decision pending” according to the OLAF report, an investigation is ongoing in Hungary. Contrary to the misinterpretation published in some media outlets, a “decision pending” does not refer to not making a decision about the judicial recommendation itself, but rather to not making a final decision about the outcome of the investigation in which the judicial recommendation is assessed. The OLAF’s report shows accordingly the numbers of dismissals and indictments in cases where decisions were taken by the national judicial authorities.
In 2023, OLAF issued two judicial recommendations to the Prosecution Service of Hungary. Following one of the judicial recommendations, the Hungarian authorities ordered an investigation, while the other recommendation was used and assessed in an ongoing investigation.
In 2023, the courts issued final judgements of conviction, in accordance with the indictments, in three cases where indictments had been filed previously.
The Prosecution Service of Hungary and OLAF closely cooperate by holding regular meetings at both managerial and expert levels. In February 2022, OLAF and the Prosecution Service of Hungary also signed an administrative cooperation arrangement to formalise their excellent cooperation.