BackIt is adequately ensured that the Hungarian Bar Association takes effective action against lawyers who infringe their obligations, but the Ombudsman is concerned that time limits for proceedings are lacking. Máté Szabó Ombudsman considers that a new regulation ordering the fining of lawyers also constitutes a danger for legal certainty.
Nevertheless the Ombudsman has expressed his concerns that the provisions in force do not set a time limit either for the conduct of the preliminary inquiry preceding the ordering of possible disciplinary proceedings against lawyers, or for the closing of the disciplinary proceedings themselves. The lack of time limits presents a danger for the fundamental right to due process of both citizens making a complaint against lawyers and of lawyers subject to proceedings. The Hungarian Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has also found that the rules governing the openness of hearings in disciplinary matters are impossible to comply with in practice. Hearings are public in principle; however, in practice they are mostly held in camera because lawyers subject to proceedings may, on the one hand, enforce their personality rights, and, on the other, attach such documents and communicate such data in the course of the disciplinary proceedings which may be covered by lawyers’ professional secrecy.
A new regulation provides for automatic fines for mistakes committed by lawyers in the course of their proceedings, but it does not ensure a possibility to consider the circumstances of the objections raised against the activities of lawyers. This violates the principle of legal certainty. The Ombudsman has also pointed out that the legal practice of company courts is not uniform, and mistakes and omissions entailing fines are in general determined by court clerks without a university degree. Consequently, the amendment does not provide fully objective criteria for those objective and automatic sanctions – says the Ombudsman. According to the Commissioner the new system does not serve the aim set out in the official statement of reasons, i.e. the aim of preventing certain companies from becoming dummy corporations, or that of calling to account the owners of certain fraudulent enterprises not operating in good faith.
The Commissioner has proposed that the Minister of Public Administration and Justice should review the Act on Lawyers and initiate the amendment of the contested provisions.
Source: Commissioner for Fundamental Rights
