Peter Hack, a legal scholar and former liberal MP, told the committee that the problems plaguing the profit-driven bailiff system had been foreseeable from the start.

He cited conflicts of interest, as bailiffs prioritised maximising their own profits over impartial enforcement of the law, along with a lack of mechanisms to protect debtors and a failure of meaningful state or judicial oversight over bailiff activities.

Speaking about Hungary’s post-1990 legal reforms, Hack said the country could not be "shut down" for reforms after the transition. He noted that the bailiff law was passed months before the 1994 elections, adding in response to a question that weak parliamentary and government expertise had left the system vulnerable to lobbyist influence.

He called for a fair and efficient bailiff system that respects all parties’ interests and personal circumstances. He argued that the lack of objective external control had allowed the chamber of bailiffs to exploit the system.

Mate Szabo, a former ombudsman, said that turning the system profit-oriented had been a contradiction. He said that during his term from 2007 to 2012, there had been no consistent judicial practice in handling enforcement cases, no state control over the sector, and the left-wing government had only responded to inquiries by saying new regulations were under development.

Szabo noted that the Hungarian Chamber of Bailiffs had lacked a uniform procedure for handling complaints, adding that he believed it "did not even feel the need for one".

He said the bailiff system was one of the financial areas where citizens were most vulnerable, particularly after banks exploited Swiss franc-based lending following the end of state-subsidised housing loans under the Socialist-liberal government. He noted that foreign currency lending had left broad social groups in dire straits, with "no help from politics or society at the time".

Recalling his 2007 investigation as ombudsman, he said they had faced "resistance from the bailiff corps", which sought to avoid dialogue.

Zsuzsanna Fiszter, opposition Our Homeland's policy advisor on debt collection and credit matters, said a reform of the system could not be delayed. She called for a more humane and fairer system to replace the current one, with corruption eradicated. The only solution, she said, would be absolute state control.

Fiszter proposed making bailiff offices state-run, with staff selected through public application processes and competitive salaries. She suggested oversight could be exercised either directly by the courts or by tax and customs authority NAV.

She also proposed creating a separate fund for victims of debt collection procedures, financed not by the budget but by contributions from the financial institutions involved.

Parlt cmmttee to hear 65 former officials over bailiff system abuses

A parliamentary committee investigating abuses in Hungary's bailiff system will hear 65 people, including a string of former ministers and state secretaries, according to a list approved on 23 September.

Laszlo Toroczkai (opposition Our Homeland), the committee's chairman, said some will be asked to give oral testimony, while others are required to submit written statements.

Those to be summoned include former justice ministers Peter Barandy (1998-2002), Ibolya David (2002-2004), Tibor Draskovics (2004-2006), Tibor Navracsics (2006-2010), Jozsef Petretei (2006), Laszlo Trocsanyi (2014-2019), Bence Tuzson (2023-2024) and Judit Varga (2019-2023), as well as Antal Rogan, the former minister who headed then prime minister Viktor Orban's cabinet office, Gyorgy Schadl, the former head of the Hungarian Bailiffs' Chamber, and Pal Volner, a former parliamentary state secretary at the justice ministry.


Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881.

Photo: https://vh.mbvk.hu/

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