Pest Central District Court of Justice
The History of the Court

At the end of the 19th century the Hungarian justice system underwent a process of radical reform. To build the foundation of a unified court system, a network of county courts was established under Act XXXII of 1871.
In the interest of creating a system of uniform administration of justice, the idea of consolidating the five district courts of Budapest was born as early as the turn of the century.
Following the adoption of Act XXV of 1913, the Central Royal County Court of Budapest was called into existence as an integrated legal forum to consider civil cases exclusively. For the adjudication of all criminal cases in the capital, the independent Criminal Court of Budapest was estabilished.
The structure housing the Central Royal County Court of Budapest at 25 Markó street was erected based on plans by the architect Ferenc Jablonszky. According to the original plans, the building completed on August 1, 1914 was to have four stories but, acceding ot the demands of influential politicians and ministry officials, and mindful of future needs for expansion, an additional floor was added. The approved plans called for a building with a floor area of over 32 thousand square metres and a total of 324 offices, among them 87 courtrooms and 108 chambers reserved for judges.
Working with limited resources, the architect conceived of a structure housing the court of first instance as having a Spartan design, while using the best and most durable materials available at the time. Accordingly, the eclectic building presenting a robust exterior and lacking excessive embellishments, features primarily the characteristic elements of neo-Romanesque architecture.
As stated in the original plans, the vaulted and glasscovered hall located in the centre of the building was meant to serve as the “collecting basin of the public seeking legal redress”.
According to the functional organisation of the court at the time, all trials started at this point as chief judges' chambers and courtrooms opened onto this central foyer.
For reason of economy already mentioned above, in the design, decoration and furnishing of the interior the architect was guided by the principles of simplicity and necessity.
Courtrooms were furnished uniformly, where the judge's bench and a highbacked armchair were placed on a dais. The clerk of the court sat next to the judge, while at each end of the judge's bench, attorneys sat behind facing tables. The chambers were also equipped with the same oak furniture; along with a desk, a bookcase and three armchairs, a file-stool, a small writing table and a coat-rack provided additional comfort.
Despite practical considerations and an emphasis on durability, the simple design hides a number of intriguring solutions. These include the tiles used in hallways, supplied by the Zsolnay Porcelan-Fayence Company renowned across Europe. Floors were covered with polished marble-mosaic tiles, walls with glazed tiles and doors were framdd in cast marble. Special features include the central time pieces an a light-signalling system. In the heyday of the institution, a precision pendulum-clock stood in the office manager's room, which kept time synchronised electronically with all 130 clocks installed in court rooms, clerks' rooms and the main lobby. The light-signalling system served to advise attorneys (who would often gather and wait in an empty courtroom) of the exact time when their case would come before the judges. The system allowed a precise rotation, calling only those whose presence was needed at any specific stage of the trial.

Over the intervening decades, the Budapest Central Royal Court underwent a number of structural reform. From the mid-1950s, the administration of justice was decentralised again. Soon after, however, centralising tendencies gained predominance and the local district court with jurisdiction over the city's central districts operated on the left side of the Danube as Pest Central District Court. In the final stage of the centralisation process, January 1, 1984 the 17th District Court lost its independence as well when its was attached to the central districts. As a result, the jurisdiction of the Pest Central District Court extended to several Budapest districts (i.e., districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16 and 17), and continues to operate in the same structure to this day. The population of these districts exceeds 800 000, explaining the exceptionally high number of civil and criminal cases coming before the court.