Petra Polonkai

Petra Polonkai, the first Hungarian to complete the barrister-at-law degree at the King’s Inns, told Irish Legal News that the rule of law situation in Hungary is “getting worse and worse”.

A former president of the National Judicial Council of Hungary, Tamás Matusik, last month wrote in the Verfassungsblog that Hungary is “on the verge of a full-scale judicial capture”.

An open letter written and circulated by Ms Polonkai appeals to Irish barristers and judges to show “support and solidarity with Hungarian judges who are fighting to preserve the independence and integrity of their profession”.

Hungarian judges and judicial staff have organised an independent, non-political demonstration tomorrow, Saturday 22 February 2025, which is modelled on the mass protests staged by Polish judges five years ago.

“I know from judges in Hungary, by talking to them, that disciplinary procedures are being started against them for speaking out against the system,” Ms Polonkai said.

She added: “Currently, the president of the Supreme Court is somebody who had never set foot in a courtroom ever before. The mind boggles.

“Sometimes I talk to people here and they ask: how is this even possible in an EU country? But it is possible, and it’s still happening.”

Chief Justice András Zs. Varga was appointed in 2020 as Hungary’s top judge through a parliamentary vote, despite the public opposition of the National Judicial Council on the basis he had “never performed any judicial activity and has no courtroom experience”.

He has since sought to undermine the independence of the disciplinary courts for judges, known as “service courts” in Hungarian law, according to Judge Matusik.

Ms Polonkai, who moved to Ireland in the 2000s and called to the Bar in 2024, said: “I think in Ireland — and I don’t meant to stereotype people — but I think we tend to forget how lucky we are that we have freedoms that people don’t have in Hungary.

“Hungary is only a three-hour-long plane ride away. It’s still within the EU, it’s in central Europe… It’s the same EU law we share.”

Even short statements of support from Irish lawyers and judges can help to bring international attention to the situation in Hungary and “keep it on the EU agenda”, she said.

She added: “We are very, very lucky here [in Ireland]. Long may it last.”