Chambers or Panels? – (Un)ambiguity in the Administration of Hungarian Courts?

The paper aims to analyze how, through case allocation, court administration affects the right to a natural judge, an important component of the right to a fair trial. For this purpose, it reflects on the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Fundamental Law of Hungary, the Hungarian Court Organization and Administration Act, and their practical implementation. The research examines the case allocation schemes of administrative divisions of general courts and highlights their deficiencies. Besides, it addresses how the supervisory powers of the Hungarian central court administration over court executives could ensure that case allocation schemes observe the right to a natural judge. The conclusions also emphasize the importance of heads of jurisdiction reporting on their managerial activity to users of justice.