Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government won a new term last month, independent judges on the National Judicial Council (NJC), the main body against executive interference in the judiciary, have been resigning in alarming numbers. Five NJC members have already stepped down from the 15-judge body in recent weeks. Critics say the judges are resigning under pressure from Orban's allies, and at an opportune time: the NJC is set to announce findings of an inquiry into allegations that one of Orban’s friends has packed the courts with loyalists in her role as chief of the judiciary.