Budapest: Hungary's parliament elected veteran jurist and former Supreme Court President Andras Baka as the country's new president on Tuesday, bringing a former European human rights judge to the country's highest state office. Baka, nominated by Prime Minister Peter Magyar's ruling Tisza party, was elected with 140 votes in the Hungarian parliament.

According to Anadolu Agency, Baka's term as Supreme Court president ended early after he publicly criticized judicial reforms. Born in Budapest in 1952, Baka studied law at Eotvos Lorand University in the Hungarian capital from 1973 to 1978 and received a doctorate in law. He began his academic career as a research assistant at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Political and Legal Sciences in 1978. His academic work included constitutional law, human rights, and minority rights.

Baka later became professor of constitutional law at Hungary's National School of Public Administration and served as director general and president of its board. His career also took him to Strasbourg, where he served as Hungary's judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from 1991 to 2008. After 17 years at the European Court, Baka returned to Hungary's judiciary and was elected president of the Supreme Court by parliament on June 22, 2009, for a six-year term due to expire in June 2015, but ended more than three years early. In that capacity, he also served as president of the National Council of Justice, giving him a central role in the administration of Hungary's judiciary.

Baka became a prominent critic of several judicial reforms introduced after former Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party returned to power in 2010. Between February and November 2011, he publicly criticized several legislative changes affecting the judiciary, including a move to lower the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 62. Baka raised concerns about the reforms in his professional capacity as president of the Supreme Court and National Council of Justice. His six-year mandate as Supreme Court president ended on Jan. 1, 2012, more than three years before it was due to expire.

The move followed constitutional and legislative changes under which the Kuria became the legal successor to the Supreme Court and new eligibility requirements were introduced for its presidency. Under the new rules, the president of the Kuria was to be elected by parliament from among judges appointed for an indefinite term who had served for at least five years as a judge, while service as a judge at an international court was not counted. The requirement meant Baka's 17 years at the European Court of Human Rights did not count toward his eligibility to head the Kuria.

Baka nevertheless remained in Hungary's judiciary, serving as a chamber president in the civil section of the Kuria. He challenged the premature termination of his mandate before the European Court of Human Rights, the institution where he had previously served as a judge. In June 2016, the ECHR's Grand Chamber ruled that Hungary had violated Baka's right of access to a court and his freedom of expression. "The dissenting judges concluded that the premature termination of the applicant's term of office had weakened the guarantees for the separation of powers, had been contrary to the prohibition on retrospective legislation, and had breached the principle of the rule of law and the right to a remedy," the judgement document said.

The court found a causal link between Baka's public criticism of the judicial reforms and the premature termination of his mandate. It also found that the premature termination had a "chilling effect" on other judges and court presidents who might participate in public debate about reforms affecting the judiciary. His election as president brings Baka to Hungary's highest state office more than a decade after the legal battle over the premature termination of his Supreme Court mandate. Hungary's presidency is a largely ceremonial position, though the head of state has limited powers concerning legislation and constitutional review, with Baka's election coming as Prime Minister Peter Magyar's government pursues broader institutional changes following the end of Viktor Orban's premiership.