“The Tisza group has just held a secret vote to make one of its most important decisions so far,” the prime minister said.

The ruling party’s deputies agreed that “Baka’s person is the strongest guarantee for restoring the real dignity of the institution of the president of the republic, and its ability to unite the nation and serve as a counterbalance to the parliamentary majority at any time,” Magyar said.

Hungary’s Parliament must elect a new president after the 17th amendment to the Fundamental Law ended Tamás Sulyok’s mandate as head of state.

Baka was born Dec. 11, 1952, in Budapest. In 1973, he began his studies at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University, where he earned a doctorate in 1978.

From 1978 to 1990, he worked as an academic researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Legal and Political Sciences. Between 1990 and 1998, he served as director of the College of Public Administration.

Starting in the 1980s, Baka taught as a visiting professor at several universities in the United States and was invited as a lecturer to France and Germany. In 1988, he earned his Candidate of Sciences degree in political and legal sciences and was awarded the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Youth Prize for outstanding scientific achievements.

Following the democratic transition, Baka served as a nonpartisan MP for the Hungarian Democratic Forum from 1990 to 1991. During this period, he served as secretary of the human rights, minority and religious affairs committee and led the human rights working group of the Hungarian Democratic Forum’s parliamentary group.

In 1991, Baka resigned his parliamentary seat after being elected a judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, where he served until 2008.

From 2008 to 2009, he was presiding judge of the Budapest Court of Appeals.

On June 22, 2009, after three attempts, Parliament elected Baka head of the Supreme Court for a six-year term. In that role, he also served as head of the National Judicial Council (OIT), which oversaw the central administration of the courts.

Baka’s term ended Dec. 31, 2011, due to transitional provisions of the new Fundamental Law, which took effect Jan. 1, 2012. The Supreme Court was succeeded by the Kúria, while the roles of president of the Kúria and head of judicial administration were separated.

The administrative powers of the dissolved OIT were transferred to the head of the National Judicial Office (OBH). Baka was excluded from seeking re-election as president of the Kúria because of a new legal requirement stipulating five years of judicial practice in Hungary, which he did not meet.

Unable to seek legal remedy in Hungarian courts because of the constitutional-level legislation, Baka turned to the ECHR.

In May 2014 and June 2016, the ECHR ruled in his favor in both its first-instance and final appeal judgments, finding that Hungarian authorities had violated Baka’s right to freedom of expression.

The court also ruled that Baka had suffered a human rights violation when he was prematurely removed from office through legislation.

After his removal, Baka continued his career as a senior judge at the Kúria.