Dr. Pál Völner (born 30 November 1962) is a Hungarian jurist and politician, a former

member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the represen ...

(MP) for

Komárom Komárom (Hungarian: ; or ; , later ; ) is a city in Hungary on the south bank of the Danube in Komárom-Esztergom County. Komárom fortress played an important role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and many contemporary English sources r ...

(

Komárom-Esztergom County Komárom-Esztergom (, ; ; ) is an administrative Hungarian county in Central Transdanubia Region; its shares its northern border the Danube with Slovakia. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties of , , and and the Slovakian Nitra Regio ...

Constituency IV) from 2010 to 2014, and for

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

(Komárom-Esztergom County Constituency II) from 2014 to 2022. He served as Secretary of State for Infrastructure in the Ministry of National Development between 2 June 2010 and 5 June 2014. He was a vice-chairman of the parliament's Economic Committee from 2014 to 2015. Völner served as Secretary of State for Justice from 9 October 2015 to 8 December 2021.

Professional career

Völner was born in

Győr Győr ( , ; ; names of European cities in different languages: E-H#G, names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia region, and – halfwa ...

on 30 November 1962. He finished his secondary studies at the

Benedictine High School of Pannonhalma The Benedictine High School of Pannonhalma (Hungarian: ''Pannonhalmi Bencés Gimnázium és Kollégium'') is an independent Roman Catholic boarding school for boys, one of the most distinguished secondary schools in Hungary, led by and situated ne ...

in 1981. He earned a degree of law at the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

of the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

in 1988. he completed a course at the Law Training Institute of the same university in 1990. He started his professional career as a legal rapporteur in the Pest County branch of the Office of Taxation and Financial Control (APEH) in 1988. He was a legal adviser at the Eternit works in the asbestos factory in

Nyergesújfalu Nyergesújfalu (; ) is a town in Komárom-Esztergom County, Hungary, in the Central Transdanubia region. The city, located near the river Danube, is an ancient site of habitation. It was located on the Crumerum, a major Roman trade and military r ...

from 1988 to 1990. He worked as a lawyer in Nyergesújfalu between 1990 and 1998. He opened his own law firm there, functioning in this capacity from 1998 to 2006.

Political career

Völner was a member of the local representative body of Nyergesújfalu from 1998 to 2010, as a member of the

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

. He was elected a member of the Komárom-Esztergom County Assembly during the

2006 Hungarian local elections Local elections took place in Hungary on 1 October 2006 amidst a period of protests and demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. In many cities, demonstrators urged people not to vote for the MSZP candidate at the ...

. He served as president of the county assembly from 2006 to 2010. Völner was appointed president of the local branch of the Fidesz in Komárom-Esztergom County in 2006. He presided the branch in

too since 2015. From 2006 he was the president of the Komárom-Esztergom County Enterprise Development Foundation and the chairman of the Regional Development Council. He was a member of the Central Transdanubia Regional Development Council and the Local and Regional Congress of the Council of Europe. From 2007 he was the president of the Regional Integrated Vocational Training Center. Völner also served as president of the Hungarian National Shipping Association (MAHOSZ) from 2015 to 2021. Völner was elected a Member of Parliament for Komárom (Komárom-Esztergom County Constituency IV) in the

2010 Hungarian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 11 and 25 April 2010 to elect the members of the National Assembly. They were the sixth free elections since the end of the communist era. 386 Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected in a combine ...

. He served as Secretary of State for Infrastructure in the Ministry of National Development between 2 June 2010 and 5 June 2014, during the

Second Orbán Government The second government of Viktor Orbán or the Government of National Cooperation (in Hungarian: ''A Nemzeti Együttműködés Kormánya'') was the Government of Hungary from 29 May 2010 to 6 June 2014. Orbán formed his second cabinet after his ...

. He was elected MP for Esztergom (Komárom-Esztergom County Constituency II) in the

2014 Hungarian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 6 April 2014. This parliamentary election was the 7th since the 1990 first multi-party election. The result was a victory for the Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority, with V ...

. He functioned as vice-chairman of the Economic Committee from June 2014 to October 2015, also presiding its Subcommittee for Transport from November 2014 to October 2015, and was also a member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development and Competitiveness in the same period. Völner was appointed ministerial commissioner for the development of Komárom-Esztergom County in June 2015. He was installed as Secretary of State for Justice in October 2015, replacing

Róbert Répássy Róbert Répássy (born 18 May 1968) is a Hungarian lawyer and politician who has been the Secretary of State for Ministry of Public Administration and Justice (since 2014 Ministry of Justice) from 2 June 2010 to 8 October 2015 and since 11 Decem ...

. He functioned in this capacity in the

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

and fourth Orbán governments. Völner was re-elected MP for Esztergom during the

2018 Hungarian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 8 April 2018. The elections were the second since the adoption of a new constitution, which came into force on 1 January 2012. The result was a victory for the Fidesz– KDNP alliance, preserving ...

. He resigned as secretary of state in December 2021 amid a corruption scandal. He was succeeded by Róbert Répássy.

Corruption charge

The so-called "Schadl–Völner case" began in early 2021, when the

National Defense Service National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NVSZ) began to eavesdrop on a corrupt official of the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV). In early December 2021, the

Attorney General's Office The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It ...

initiated the waiver of Völner's immunity on suspicion of bribery. According to the suspicion – abusing his supervisory, official and administrative powers – Völner regularly accepted millions HUF from , the president of the Hungarian Court Bailiffs Chamber (MBVK). The case has twelve suspects at the time the immunity was initiated. Völner resigned as Secretary of State for Justice on 8 December 2021. In a press release sent through his lawyer after his suspicion, Völner said he was cooperating with the authorities to investigate. However, he retained his position as a Member of Parliament and a member of the Fidesz parliamentary group until the end of the parliamentary term in May 2022. On 14 December 2021, the parliamentary immunity of Pál Völner was waived. He then voluntarily testified before the Central Investigative Prosecutor's Office. According to the statement of the Prosecutor General

Péter Polt Péter Polt (born 6 September 1955) is a Hungarian politician and lawyer who has been serving as the president of the Constitutional Court of Hungary since 2025. He was the Chief Prosecutor of Hungary from 2000 until 2006 and between 2010 and 202 ...

, Völner's act raises a well-founded suspicion of accepting an official bribery committed in a criminal association, in a business-like and continuous manner, by a senior official otherwise abusing his official position for advantage.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volner, Pal 1962 births Living people Eötvös Loránd University alumni Fidesz politicians 20th-century Hungarian lawyers Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2014–2018) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2018–2022) People from Győr 21st-century Hungarian lawyers