BUDAPEST, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Most of Hungary's left-of-center opposition parties met in Budapest on Wednesday to discuss undoing justice-administration and judiciary-related changes.
The parties included the Socialists, currently the most popular opposition party, Together 2014, a grass roots movement and the Democratic Coalition headed by former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, as well as other smaller parties.
The LMP green party, which holds 15 seats in the Hungarian Parliament, also joined the meeting.
Participants told a news conference that they had agreed to restore the full authority of the Constitutional Court, which was clipped by the Fidesz-led government, with the caveat that no justice could be appointed to the high court who in the previous four years had been a member of the government or held a high government office, or had been a Member of Parliament or an official in any political party.
Hereby, they agreed to restore the right of the Constitutional Court to choose its own chief justice.
They also agreed to subordinate the office of the prosecutor general to the Justice Ministry and restrict its activities to criminal proceedings. It currently is required to report to parliament, but is not under parliamentary authority.
The group voiced its view that the prosecutor general must be a justice administration professional and not a politician, given that, in their opinion, prosecution authorities were under covert government influence.
The meeting also agreed to restore the mandatory retirement age for judges to 70, which was cut back to 65 by the government.
In addition, participants said that the autonomy of the ombudsmen for minority rights and the environment had to be restored, along with the position of data protection ombudsman.
Going back home: A standing journey
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