Brussels, 27/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The Hungarian minister for justice, Tibor Navracsics, has complained to the Irish minister, Alan Shatter, about statements he regards as “outrageous” made by Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding. In an interview to a German newspaper this month, she said that a decision by the Irish judiciary not to extradite a national to Hungary was related to the state of the legal system in the country. Hungary is calling on the Irish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers to respond firmly to these comments, according to a report in the Irish Times.
Last June, the Irish Supreme Court decided not to extradite an Irish citizen to Hungary. The person in question is accused of the deaths of two children in a road accident in 2000. The man was sentenced to 3 years in prison in absentia. In the interview, the Commissioner asserted that she was not surprised by this decision because it was taken at a time when many decisions made in Hungary had created serious questions regarding the independence of the Hungarian judicial system. The Hungarian minister said that this statement was “scandalous and absolutely unacceptable”. The minister believes that the commissioner should not link her personal opinion to the decision taken by the Irish Supreme Court.
Reding organised an expert meeting this summer (Commission, Hungary and Ireland) to analyse the case and the matter was resolved last October during a Justice Council meeting at which Shatter indicated that he was unable to oppose the decision by the Irish court without running the risk of undermining the independence of the institution.
Sources close to the commissioner have, however, deplored the attempt to use a “tragic” case for political purposes at the very moment that the Commission is again launching a probe into the situation in Hungary (amendments to the controversial constitution were adopted on 11 March by the Hungarian parliament, against the opinion of the Council of Europe, Ed.). There appears to be a concerted attempt to divert attention from the real problems in Hungary. “Whether we like this decision or not by the Court in Dublin, the facts are as they stand” and this decision has to be accepted, which is clear proof that the principle of the independence of the legal system is being respected. (SP/transl.fl)