Chief Prosecutor of Hungary

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AppointerNational Assembly on the nomination of the President
Inaugural holderSándor Kozma
Prosecutor General of Hungary
since 11 June 2025
Office of the Prosecutor General
ResidenceBudapest
AppointerNational Assembly on the nomination of the President
Term length9 years
Inaugural holderSándor Kozma
Formation1872
WebsiteChief Prosecutor's Office

The Prosecutor General (Hungarian: Legfőbb ügyész) is the official charged with prosecuting cases at a national level in Hungary. The Prosecutor General is elected by a qualified majority of the parliament to 9-year terms (formerly 6 years), has a fixed office budget, and has no government oversight. The Office of Prosecutor General has evolved into a separate branch of the government of Hungary since 1989.

List office-holders

The independent pillar status of the Hungarian public accuser's office is a unique construction, loosely modeled on the system Portugal introduced after the 1974 victory of the Carnation Revolution. The public accuser (attorney general) body has become the fourth column of Hungarian democracy only in recent times: after communism fell in 1989, the office was made independent by a new clausule XI. of the Constitution. The change was meant to prevent abuse of state power, especially with regards to the use of false accusations against opposition politicians, who may be excluded from elections if locked in protracted or excessively severe court cases.

To prevent the Hungarian accuser's office from neglecting its duties, natural human private persons can submit investigation requests, called "pótmagánvád" directly to the courts, if the accusers' office refuses to do its job. Courts will decide if the allegations have merit and order police to act in lieu of the accuser's office if warranted. In its decision No.42/2005 the Hungarian constitutional court declared that the government does not enjoy such privilege and the state is powerless to further pursue cases if the public accuser refuses to do so.

Crown Prosecutors

No. Name Term of Office
1. Sándor Kozma 1872 1896
2. Jenő Hammersberg 1896 1902
3. Ferenc Székely 1902 1910
4. Jenő Pongrácz 1910 1923
5. Ferenc Vargha 1923 1930
6. Lajos Halász 1930
7. István Magyar 1930 1934
8. Endre Gáll 1934 1935
9. Ferenc Finkey 1935 1940
10. Zoltán Timkó 1940 1944
11. László Mendelényi 1944

Prosecutors General

No. Name Term of Office
12. József Domokos 1945 1953
13. Kálmán Czakó 1953 1955
14. György Nonn 1955 1956
15. Géza Szénási 1956 1975
16. Károly Szíjártó 1975 1990
17. Kálmán Györgyi 1990 2000
18. Péter Polt 2000 2006
19. Tamás Kovács 2006 2010
20. Péter Polt 2010 2025
21. Gábor Bálint Nagy 2025

Structure

References

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