Peter Polt is stepping down as chief prosecutor after more than two decades in the role, three years before his mandate was due to end, to take up a seat on the Constitutional Court, an institution already stacked with figures loyal to Viktor Orban.

With this strategic, pre-emptive move, Hungary's veteran leader aims to entrench his illiberal system even in the event of a change in power in 2026. Polt's departure paves the way for the appointment of his loyal former chief of staff, Gabor Balint Nagy, whose nine-year term will run until 2034.

The change also allows Orban to strengthen his grip on the Constitutional Court, which currently has only 12 of 15 seats filled. Besides Peter Polt, Fidesz caucus has nominated former Defence Minister Csaba Hende for the post.

Polt (69), a criminal lawyer, joined Fidesz in 1993, but quit two years later after taking up a deputy position to the ombudsperson. He was first appointed chief prosecutor in 2000 and served until 2006. His reappointment in 2010 by the two-thirds Fidesz majority in Parliament essentially gave him unlimited power as chief prosecutor. His term was extended to nine years in 2011, and he was re-elected for another nine-year term in 2019.

Over the years, many viewed him as the government's "punching bag", absorbing public and political criticism in controversial corruption cases, and he earned the label "the bullet shield of Fidesz". Polt rarely made public appearances, avoided press interviews, and typically communicated via written statements or through the press department.

Critics argue that Peter Polt's long tenure as Hungary's chief prosecutor has been defined by selective inaction in politically sensitive cases and a consistent reluctance to pursue high-level corruption involving figures close to the government. 

Following the first Fidesz cabinet between 1998 and 2002, and even more notably after Viktor Orban's return to power in 2010 with a parliamentary supermajority, Polt ensured that potentially damaging investigations did not result in indictments.

He held exclusive authority over which corruption cases advanced to court. Under his leadership, only a handful of politically sensitive cases ever saw trial, leading critics to accuse him of serving as a legal firewall for the Orban regime.

As Transparency International Hungary's legal director Miklos Ligeti said earlier, that "misconducts above department-head level barely register on the radar of prosecutors and criminal investigators."

During a two-year stretch between 2018 and 2020, the opposition Democratic Coalition submitted 86 formal inquiries, of which he forwarded 21 as potential complaints, but not a single case progressed to a full investigation.

Data by investigative news site Atlatszo.hu shows that complaints involving official corruption were dismissed at three times the previous rate after Polt's return to the post in 2010.

Early in his second term, Polt initially expressed openness to Hungary joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), but later reversed his position, citing concerns about national sovereignty and the EPPO's professional standards, a move widely seen as another layer of protection for the governing party.

The European Commission's 2024 rule-of-law report noted persistent political influence over the prosecution and "undue interference" in individual cases.