Overview
- The Hungarian parliament voted to install Pál Sonnevend as a constitutional judge on Monday with 138 yes votes while Fidesz and KDNP deputies staged a boycott.
- Sonnevend fills the seat vacated by Csaba Hende after a new 12‑year service limit and a revived 70‑year age cap from Magyar's constitutional changes automatically ended Hende's eligibility.
- Amnesty International criticised the speed of the nomination process and said Magyar relied on single‑party decisions without broad expert or political consultation.
- Magyar's package also creates a National Office for Asset Recovery and will force the departure of other senior judges, including court president Péter Polt, in the coming months.
- Viktor Orbán and his allies have called the removals illegal and will mount constitutional challenges while the dispute raises the prospect of sustained domestic opposition and wider international scrutiny of Hungary's institutions.