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The divided trial system of the New Code of Civil Procedure in the light of the Act I of 1911
88-96Views:84n my paper, I dealt with the divided trial system, because in the Conception of the New Code of Civil Procedure arised the idea, that the first-instance procedure will be regulated by the divided trial system. During my studies, I researched the trial system of the Act I of 1911, and I analyzed the sentencing practice in this era.
First, I presented the matter of the trial system, as well as the two dominant trends in Hungary relating to the creation of civil action. The difference between the two trends, that distinct mesne process creates the civil action. According to one of them, the civil action is created when the defendant gets the statement of claim, or, on the other hand, when the defendant submits countermotion.
In the next chapter, I intended to present the point of intersection of action, which legal institution separates the first-instance procedure to pre-trial hearing and the trial on the merits.
After this chapter, I reportedtheresults of sentencing practice and cametotwoconclusions. Ontheonehand, thepre-trialhearinghangedfirefor a longtimebecause of theappealproceedings. Ontheotherhand, thesentencing practice wasnotconsistent, becausethecourtsused an incorrectterminology. Thecourtsdismissedtheproceedingsbeforethesubmission ofcountermotion, butaccordingtotheAct of 1911 themesneprocess of creating a civil actionwastosubmit a countermotion.
Inconclusion, I thinkthe divided trial system of the New Code of Civil Procedure will be totally different than the divided trial system of the Act of 1911.
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Texas Shoot-out and other security clauses in the Syndicate (Shareholders) Agreement
118-129Views:68The shareholders agreement is considered a typical contract. This agreement is concluded by and between the members of the company in order to establish the rules of the cooperation among them, their behaviour towards and expectations from each other in connection with the company.
The agreement is often used in the practice, since its flexible construction enables to rule various types of transaction. For example, in Hungary there is a growing tendency i.e.the major investments and joint venture agreements are being established in the frame of a shareholders’ agreement.
On the other hand, drafting such a contract is a complex procedure. This type of agreement is not governed by specific law, therefore the general rules of the contract law may be linefore. Furthermore the shareholders’ agreement is located at the borderline between the civil and company law, and in a given case it might be complicated to enforce the provisions of the agreement. For example, if the member breaches the voting provision outlined in the shareholders’ agreement, then the resolution passed upon the contract breach cannot be challenged.
Due to lack of a specific law, the practice created the adequate legal securities to ensure the enforcement of the cooperation structure outlined in the shareholders’ agreement.
As the first analysed security, the purpose of the buy-out clauses (Russian Roulette, Texas Shoot-out, Dutch Auction, Put-Option, Call-Option) is to ensure the company’s permanent operation, if there is an insoluble dispute among the members, which obstructs the decision making, and consequently the operation of the company, as well. The concept of the buy-out clause is to settle the dispute in the way of taking over the participation of the involved member by another member.
The exit clauses (Drag Along, Carry Along) aimed to encumber or to unburden the step out from the company. The entitled person is able to sell the shares of the remaining members to the buyer, or to oblige the seller to sell his own and the entitled person’s participations jointly to the buyer.
The takeover clauses’ (Control Flip Over, Swiss Clause) duty is to enable the enforcement of the corporate legal obligations outlined in the agreement. If a member fails to fulfil his obligations, the entitled person may acquire his participation, which will enable him to pass the necessary resolution in the members meeting (general meeting). After the voting, the “seller” is entitled to buy back his participation at the same price.
If the members want to exclude acquiring participation by third persons in the company without their approval, there are adequate securities to be specified in the shareholders’ agreement (for example the right of first refusal, option right).
By the specific type of shareholders’ agreement the creditor makes investments in the company and becomes member in order to secure the transaction. If the company or the original owners of the company breach the contract, they will be held individually liable till the limit of the investmented amount.
The shareholders’ agreement is an efficient option to rule major transactions, and with the help of the securities described in this study, the investor could feel his money in safe. On the other hand, there are still a lot of questions to be answered. For example the compliance of these securities with the strict provisions of the law. It is the duty of the practice to reveal the answers.
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Fragmentation and changes in Hungarian succession law
81-103Views:226The right to inherit is recognized in the Fundamental Law, the detailed substantive legal rules are laid down in the Seventh Book of the Civil Code. In recent years, the legislator has formulated rules of substantive succession in other legislation beyond our private law code (the Civil Code). According to the Registered Partnership Act, the rules applicable to the spouse apply mutatis mutandis to the registered partner, which means that the registered partner is also a legal heir. The special rules for the acquisition of ownership of agricultural and forestry land by succession by will are laid down in the Land Traffic Act (Act CXXII of 2013). On 1 January 2023, a new law will enter into force (Act CXLIII of 2021), which will supplement the succession law provisions of the Civil Code in the case of joint legal intestate succession of undivided common ownership of agricultural land by several heirs. The designation of a public body to represent the State in succession matters is provided for in a separate ministerial decree. The present article analyzes how all these complex, fragmented regulations make it difficult to enforce the law and the extent to which it hinders the speedy execution of probate proceedings. The present article criticizes the fragmented regulation and proposes the integration of the rules of the separate laws into the Civil Code, as this could contribute to a more efficient application of the law.
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Jurisdictional Constants and Doubtful Questions in Recent Hungarian Jurisdiction of Damages for Non-Pecuniary Loss
Views:55Since 1992, date of Constitutional Court’s decision No. 34/1992, certain rules cannot be found in Hungarian Civil Code. There is only a part of a sentence that gives right to any injured person to claim damages in case of personal injuries. More than 10 years after the cassation we are able to look through the legal practice in connection with damages for non-pecuniary loss. The recent re-codifying process plans a brand new institution to substitute and follow damages for non pecuniary loss: pain award. To establish a decent regulation of pain award, jurisdiction of the last decade cannot be neglected. This essay aims to gather typical and crystallized methods of judgements in certain cases, which could be seen as essential and accepted unwritten rules of jurisdiction concerning this field of damages.
One of the most difficult problems to solve is the question of amount. This field of damages for non-pecuniary loss is always problematic, because all of the cases are different. Although there are similarities between cases if we examine just damages themselves, but due to the difference of human personality it is almost impossible to give exact phrases and rules to help our judges. We can say that highest amounts are generated by assaults against physical integrity and life. Examination during a legal procedure concentrates on the stress caused by the injury, number of injured rights, age of the injured person and the durability of the harm. If the injured person contributed to the injury, it generates reduced amount of damages.
Method of compensation is really simple for the first time. Hungarian legal system knows two different types for the method of damages: in kind or in money. Former one is inapplicable for non-pecuniary losses. If we compensate in money, there are two solutions: injured person can get the whole sum immediately or we can choose allowance as well. The adaptation of allowance is rather small in Hungary, in spite of the advantages this legal institution could offer. It does not mean res iudicata, so it is flexible and offers opportunity to adjust to changed circumstances in the future: both duration and amount of allowance could be changed.
It is an interesting question whether personal circumstances of the misdoer could be examined when calculating the amount of allowance. The answer is not unambiguous. Civil law focuses on compensation for the injured party, not the punishment of the misdoer. In spite of this essential lemma, it is necessary to take into account the solvency of the defendant, if we want the plaintiff to get the adjudged amount really.
Youth is not the only reason of allowance, sometimes old age could be a well-based legal ground for application of this method of compensation as well. It is really important to examine the personal circumstances of the injured party to choose between these two methods: which one serves the aim of compensation, moderation of lost joy of life the most.
Civil Code precludes the possibility to apply both methods together for the same plaintiff. In my opinion the solution of German Civil Code (BGB) should be considered. BGB allows both methods together. It means that possibilities could be wider and fit better to the actual case and its circumstances.
Although obligation of damages has two parties traditionally, in a legal procedure of damages for non-pecuniary loss this bipolar situation can be proven false. On the part of the misdoer it is an interesting question what kind of damages can be blamed the state. In Hungary we can meet rules order the responsibility of the state in the field of medical damages or damages for unlawful arrest and illegal imprisonment. Amounts of damages are the highest in these situations.
On the part of the injured person an often argued problem the position of secondary victims’ claims. These claims are always problematic, because personality rights belong closely to the person himself and there is no possibility to inherit them. Hungarian Civil Code admits compensation for relatives only in case of injuring reputation of a dead person. There are several decisions in which courts admit these claims on the ground of their sui generis base. It is a decent solution, but because of the uneven jurisdiction it needs codifying.
We can say that there are a lot of jurisdictional constants in Hungary in connection with damages for non-pecuniary loss. These are easy to collect and most of them are able to be codified in a strictly non-taxative style. But this examination showed that doubtful questions can also be found in Hungary especially the application of allowance, claims of secondary victims. To arrange these problems, starting point should be jurisdiction itself.
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Thoughts for emptying real estate – litigation or non-litigation procedure –
Views:151In many cases, owners have problems recovering their rented or arbitrarily occupied real estate. News often report difficult situations in connection with the evacuation of real estate. More instructive cases have also drawn attention to the severity of the problem. The study describes the rules for (litigation and non-litigation) court proceedings for the evacuation of real estate and does not deal with the enforcement procedures ordered by a notary.
The possibility to initiate emptying real estate non-litigation procedure - according to Vht. 183rd-184th § - is not well known widely. According to most people, almost the only possible way to reclaim the real estate is to litigate, although the possibility of initiating the non-litigation procedure has been provided for years, provided the conditions of the law are met. Emptying of real estate in non-litigious procedure is possible in the case of real estates by arbitrarily occupied real estates, fixed-term tenancy agreemens of residential premises and other non-residential premises, as well as other types of properties specifically designated by law.
The study presents the possible ways of carrying out the real estate evacuation, the enforcement procedure following the litigation procedure and the enforcement procedure initiated on the basis of a court non-litigation procedure, focusing primarily on proceedings commenced after 1. January 2018. The study deals with the legal background to the non-litigation and litigation procedure, the order for enforcement, the issuing, the service of an enforceable instrument, the possibilities provided by law in the event of non-execution, the short presentation of remedies. It also deals with some of the innovations introduced by law CXXX of 2016 on Civil Procedure Rules, suspension of enforcement, as well as the applicability of the eviction moratorium in each case. In the emptying of real estate, debtors often face criminal law. The most frequent criminal cases during the emptying of the real estate are presented in the study too (breach of seal, assault on a public official).
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The impact of inflation on private law relationships
45-72Views:209Not for decades have we seen price rises in Hungary, or in Europe and the world in general, such as those faced by the developed world in 2022. Inflation in Hungary was 24.5% in December 2022 and in January 2023, the indicator stood at 25.7%. This article provides a summary of the key concepts related to inflation, going beyond a definitional approach to inflation to cover its types and the most important principles and methods of measuring it. Economic foundations fundamentally determine private legal relations and legal institutions. In such a situation, crisis legislation is triggered, primarily in areas that have the greatest impact on the functioning of the economy and on consumers' daily lives. The present article reviews those important civil law structures and the rules governing them in the Civil Code and other statutory and governmental regulations, the content of which is justified to be amended in a persistent inflationary environment, but which have not been the focus of the legislator so far, emphasizing the need to adapt private law norms to the changed economic environment. The article examines those legal acts in which the legislator has set out in the text of the act data referring to value or price, nominally defining and quantifying in concrete terms the price or value that plays a significant role in a given private legal relationship. This type of legislation, however, does not take into account the changes in value relations at all, so that in an inflationary environment, the price and value figures nominally fixed in the private law norm are not adapted to economic processes, i.e. they are not in line with the current price level determined by economic fundamentals. The author outlines proposals and regulatory techniques for amending the law to adapt these legal provisions to the changed price and value conditions.
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Considerations on legal remedies in Romanian civil proceedings
Views:75In the system of the Romanian Code of Civil Procedure the legal remedies that can be exercised against judgements are: the appeal, the second appeal, the appeal for legal contest in annulment and review. The appeal is the only ordinary remedy, while all the others are classified as extraordinary remedies.
The reasons for which the legal remedies may be exercised vary depending on this qualification, which means that the appeal is applicable for any dissatisfaction of the parties, whereas the second appeal, the legal contest in annulment and the review may be exercised only for reasons explicitly defined by the law.
The extraordinary legal remedies cannot be exercised as long as one may lodge an appeal.
A legal remedy can be exercised against one judgement only once, if the law provides the same term of exercising the legal remedies for all existing grounds on the date of declaring that specific remedy.
The judgement is subject only to the remedies provided by the law, under the respective terms and conditions, regardless of the particulars of its statement of reasons.
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Contract law effects of the Digital Single Market Strategy on the Hungarian civil law
108-120Views:126The necessity of framing contract law fulfilling the expectations of the digital era is among the main purposes of the Digital Single Market Strategy, that has been introduced by the European Committe in 2015. Within the Strategy two directive proposals have been presented: the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects concerning contracts for the online and other distance sales of goods. These include the concept of conformity with the contract, the meaning of which raises several questions to be answered regarding the Hungarian legal system.
My treatise focuses on the investigation of the criteria of conformity with the contract with special regard to the definiton of the directive proposals. In the first place I outline the elements of conformity with the contract, then I attempt to create a comprehensive definition of it. Thereafter I analyse the rules of the Hungarian Civil Code that are connected to the category of the conformity. Furthermore, I investigate the necessity of the integration of the conformity with the contract into the the Hungarian civil law. Finally, I present a future legislative concept that could be regarded as a possible way of adaptation of this legal category.
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The polluter pays principle in the Hungarian civil law, with special regard to the liability for hazardous operations
89-106Views:86The polluter pays principle is one of the basic principles of international environmental law
mentioned directly firstly only in 1972, however the principle were declared in 1929 in the
well-known Trail Smelter Case. The polluter pays is an economical principle, and in the
meaning of this principle the costs of pollution shall be shared between industrial companies
and consumers. Taking into consideration that after applying this principle price of products
will be higher than before, industrial companies shall reduce their pollution in the interest of
their (and their products’) competitiveness. Seeing the development of the principle in EU
level, the polluter pays were mentioned first time in the first „programme of action of the
European Communities on the environment” adopted in 1973. However it is questionable
what polluter, pollution, obligation of polluter and costs of pollution mean exactly, and for
this reason this principle cannot be applied automatically.
In this study I try to examine how the polluter pays principle works in the Hungarian national
law, especially in the Hungarian Civil Code. For this reason I examine the applicability of
Article 345 of the Hungarian Civil Code („Damages Originating from Hazardous
Operations”), with special regard to the case-law of the Hungarian civil courts. I also try to
introduce the possibilities and obligations of the public prosecutor in environmental issues. -
Civil law claims in the context of drone flight
Views:174The technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are most commonly known as ‘drones’, is one of the most rapidly developing field of modern science. That is largely owing to the fact that drones are used in more and more fields of economy, from architecture and media to agriculture and logistics, etc. According to predictions of the European Union, the drone industry may have an income of € 10 billion annually, by 2035, and could create about 100,000 workplaces as well.[2] In addition, the number of hobby drone users is also increasing quickly, with millions of registered drone users in the United States of America alone.[3]
The nature of drones, namely the fact that these devices can soar up to 30 or more metres in the air and carry out different kind of operations (including taking photographs) by an operator on the ground may cause a lot of conflicts between drone operators and people not taking part in the operation. However, these conflicts, are unlikely to be solved without legal interference, which makes it necessary for both lawmakers and organizations applying the law to prepare for these situations in order to be able to give proper answers to the problem.
In my research, I have indicated the development of drones in a historical context and also specified the classification of drones, which allowed me to outline those types that are relevant to the subject matter. I also presented the legal background of drone flight in force, on the level of the EU legislation and also gave an insight to the previous, Hungarian legislation. Then, I started to identify those legal claims that can be especially relevant on the terrain of civil law, and concluded three main claims can be named: liability for damages, infringement on personal rights (right to one’s image and, in particular) and the civil tort of trespass to land.
I analysed all of these claims separately and in connection with each other, and found interesting problems that could have huge relevance in a legal dispute before a court. I intended to support my findings and arguments with opinions from legal scientists, court decisions from Hungary and abroad, and legislative solutions from abroad. At the end of my writing, I concluded that the described problems, and the solution that is given to them, are indeed crucial, because they will most definitely affect the way people can use drones, and neither too strict, nor too loose rules are appropriate to decide upon the subject.
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Prevailing regulation of the termination of parental control under the Civil Code
12-18Views:175Being a judge practicing on the area of the law of crimes I rarely come across with the need to apply civil law. Nevertheless, a handful legal concepts may be applied also by criminal courts. One of these concepts is the termination of parental control. Before turning to relevant case analysis in my study, I focus on the principle of the "child's best interest" which is referred to under article 3 of the New York Convention on the rights of children and which has a general fundamental applicability in respect of all provisions of the Convention. This principle must apply not only in civil, but also in criminal proceedings and generally in all types of proceedings irrespective of the area of law such proceedings fall under. Special emphasis is attributed to the legal consequences of terminating parental control and to the distinction of cases where the termination of parental control by the court is mandatory and where such a decision is made in the discretion of the court. I pay separate attention to cases where the court has convicted the parent of a crime committed wilfully against the convicted person's own child and in which cases the convicted person is sentenced to prisonment and as a result of these the criminal court has competence to order the termination of parental control. I address also some issues relating to matters of proof and evidence in connection with crimes of domestic violence. Finally, I explain the nature of a child-focused jurisdiction through the presentation of the Hungarian system which ensures to respect and to give effect to the rights of children to the maximum extent possible. The ability of providing special treatment for children in court proceedings is of the utmost importance.
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Civil UAV on the horizon, Simply Toy or New Abnormally Dangerous Activity?
88-107Views:112The reason why We have chosen this topic for my research is that new technologies have appeared in our environment, particularly the unnamed aerial vehicle. In Hungary, similarly to some other countries, there is a gap in the legislation concerning the use of UAV.
The UAV technology raises many questions because these vehicles can be used for several reasons. It is necessary to analyse in depth the legal environment of UAV and to change our perspective because it is not enough to consider the legal context; technical and other aspects have to be taken into consideration as well.
Most academic sources concerning the usage of UAV focus on the military use of UAV. In my research I focus on the topic from the aspects of civil law; the reason for this is that I consider the legal restrictions concerning the ordinary vehicles used for everyday purposes not for governmental ones.
The main goal of our paper is to study how the usage of UAV can be legally controlled. This question is important because the number of these vehicles are gradually growing which leads to several legal issues, for instance privacy or tort.
In our research We have analyzed the international laws and regulation plans, the international laws, draft legislation. The „abnormally dangerous activities” that appear in the title of the paper is only a call for attention to evaluate the liability in the civil law.
The other aim of our paper is to make a proposal to set up a work group who is going to work out the regulations in detail. Legislators and researchers could participate in the work group, among whom are technical and legal professionals as well.
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Thoughts about claims of secondary victims for moral damages
Views:48On the very swampy field of damages for non-pecuniary loss there is a special problem called claims of relatives. These claims are also known as claims of secondary victims or third parties. In this legal situation the injury itself hurts not the claimer himself. The claimer has non-pecuniary or moral loss because of his connection with the injured person. He is not the direct and suffering subject but the one who has a loss in his personal rights.
In Hungary the question is whether these claims can be permitted or not. During the changing structure of damages for non-pecuniary loss in the second half of the 20th century, this problem fitted to the actual judgement of moral damages. Now days the question is a little bit easier: in almost every decision courts admit the right of relatives to claim damages for an injury against there beloved relative, but in most of the cases they demand that plaintiffs has to demonstrate manifested losses not only the infringement of their personality rights.
In this essay beside the Hungarian jurisdiction I examine German, French, English, Belgian and Dutch legal points of view too. The most interesting and – in my opinion – the one that can be useful for the upcoming new Hungarian Civil Code is the Dutch system.
Dutch Civil Code limits the possibility of ‘third parties’ to claim damages for non-pecuniary loss as a result of the injury or death of another person. In typical cases the plaintiff would like to claim compensation because he suffered mental illness from witnessing the death of another person, namely a relative. This claim is not awarded by Dutch courts because of the prohibition of Civil Code, but the interpretation of the mentioned provision lives restrictively in jurisdiction. We can find two situations when the claim of third parties can be awarded. First of all, the claimant can only claim for damages, caused by a mental trauma because of being witness of an injury against another person, if he can establish that the aggressor (defendant) also committed an unlawful act vis-à-vis the claimant himself, which resulted in the trauma. It is really difficult to be demonstrated because of the causation required by BW. The process to verify that the aggressor, who committed an unlawful act against another person, causes the trauma is almost impossible in some cases. The second chance of the secondary victim to claim for compensation is if he verifies that the trauma amounts to physical or non-physical injury. If this is the case, the claimant can get compensation of his pecuniary loss (such as cost of medical treatment) and non-pecuniary loss on the basis of his non-physical personal injury.
A famous case in Dutch case law is ‘Taxi bus case’. A 5-year old little girl was riding her bike close to her home, when a taxi bus overruns her. The bus actually rides over the girl’s head. The mother was immediately warned by one of the neighbours and found her daughter with her face turned to the ground. First, the mother called the ambulance hoping that the girl was still alive. When the mother tried to turn her daughter’s head to look her in the face, she experienced that her hand disappeared into the skull of the girl. The mother noticed that the substance next to her girl’s head was not, as she considered, her vomit, but appeared to be the girl’s brain itself. The mother suffered severe mental illness because of the shock of this sight and the realization. Dutch law is consequent in the question that there is no claim for non-pecuniary damages subsequent to death of a relative. Taxi bus case was the first when Dutch Supreme Court awarded the right to compensation of non-pecuniary damages to somebody who lost his relative. The decision contained that the act committed towards the child, must also be regarded as tortuous towards the mother. The Court emphasized that there was a distinction between the consequences of the child’s death, for which no non-pecuniary damages may be awarded, and the consequences of the confrontation with the accident, for which damages may indeed be awarded. The mother received 14,000 Euros for non-pecuniary damages. This case shows that although in principle the plaintiff has a right to claim compensation for the exact damages he suffered, the courts are free to assess the damage in a more abstract way, if that corresponds better to its nature.
Examining this case it is obvious that extra conditions are demanded to claim for non-pecuniary damages because of the loss of a relative. Only the fact of losing a close relative is not enough for a successful action. There have to be special circumstances, which demonstrate that the unlawful act made a direct effect to the plaintiff, who became the primary victim.
The English solution is interesting because not only the relatives have right to claim but almost anybody who can verify a close relationship with the injured person. In my opinion this system ensures a more coherent and logical jurisdiction, because during the examination of authorization not only a legal fact – being a relative of the injured person – establishes the right to claim but a real emotional relationship.
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A new draft of classification of claims: Reinstating of Bankruptcy Rules in the Provisional Judicial Rules
66-77.Views:121After the failure of the Hungarian Independence War of 1848-1849, the neoabsolutism which was the ruling of the Franz Joseph I from 1851 to 1860 reformed the Hungarian legal system. The emperor aimed at legal unification of Austrian Empire therefore he introduced the Austrian codes to Hungary. In 1860 the Austrian emperor eased the absolutistic government attitude with the issuing of the October Diploma and restored the Hungarian jurisdiction and public administration system which functioned before 1847. He charged the Lord Chief Justice, gr. György Apponyi who was recently appointed by him with the realisation of this restitution. That’s why Apponyi summoned a meeting for the Hungarian lawyers in 1861 which called the Conference of the Lord Chief Justice. This assembly specified the material and procedural law for the Hungarian courts.
In this paper I examine the effect of this conference on the bankruptcy law, and I present the provisions of the Conference of Lord Chief Justice concerning bankruptcy law and the driving forces of the regulation based on the assembly’s records. The conference put into force the first Hungarian Bankruptcy Act (Act 22 of 1840) instead of the Austrian provisional bankruptcy procedure. The Hungarian literature typically includes about this regulation that the assembly only adjusted material and procedural rules of the Bankruptcy Act to the requirements of the civil era. I demonstrated with archival sources and views of conference’s participants that the modifications generated bigger changes in the Hungarian bankruptcy practice. In addition, the first appearance of the deed of arrangement without bankruptcy proceedings in Hungary was connected to the neoabsolutism of which the Hungarian lawyers expressed their opinions.
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Certain private law aspects of the law on the transfer of agricultural holdings
65-97Views:76In this study I will examine the law on the transfer of agricultural holdings, focusing on the provisions that can be related to private law. The aim of the law was to facilitate generational change in the field of agriculture, and I believe that farm transfer contracts can be an effective tool for the transfer of agricultural holdings, but it is not yet known to what extent they will be used and to what extent they will be able to fulfil the hopes placed in them.
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Skócia és Anglia – reform a tisztességtelen kereskedelmi gyakorlatok terén
35-42Views:74After the implementation of the 2005/29/EC Directive on unfair commercial practices (hereafter: UCPD) in the United Kingdom is has been discovered that the misleading and the aggressive practices are targeting many people. Some of them moreover damage the reputation of the traders who act legally, and the reputation of the market.
So, the Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission for England and Wales want to create a new system on remedies. Because of this aim the two commission started a consultation in April, it ended in July.
Presently, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (hereafter: CPRs) – which was one of the regulations which have implemented the rules of the UCPD – contains rules on the liability for unfair commercial practices, and - according to the rules – the realization of the practices is an offence.
But in respect of civil law the rules don’t have unity: the rules of misrepresentation are applied in the case of misleading practices, but in the case of aggressive practices there aren’t rules.
The two commissions want to create a new consumer protection act, which will complete the rules of the CPRs. In this act there will be two levels of remedies:
- on the first level the main aim will be the restoration of original condition (before the contract)
- on the second level the main aim will be the compensation.
The commissions hope that after the reform the following will be:
- because of the clearer rules the claims will become more successful
- because of the clearer rules the traders’ - who are acting legally - costs will decrease
- the costs of the organizations – which are dealing with consumer protection – will decrease after the reform, and the proceedings of them – perhaps – become more successful.
The two commissions will publish the data from the consultation in March 2012.
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Thoughts about the latest modification of the Hungarian Act on Copyright
Views:79The Act LXXVI of 1999 on Copyright was amended by the Act CVLV of 2005 with effect of 15 April 2006 in compliance with the provisions of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights (hereinafter: “Enforcement-Directive”). The Enforcement-Directive concerns the measures necessary to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights (copyrights, patent, trade marks, etc.). The Member States of the European Union had to provide for the proportionate measures and procedures needed to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights covered by the Enforcement-Directive. The amended and supplement provisions of the Hungarian Act on Copyright provide efficient shelter for the authors from the infringement of copyright law on the one hand and provide legal (procedural) guarantees for the potential infringers on the other hand.
There are some new provisions which can be applied against the infringers not only by final judgment but also as provisional and precautionary measures. When a judicial decision has been taken finding an infringement of copyright or neighbouring right, the judicial authorities may serve the infringer with an injunction aimed at prohibiting the continuation of the infringement. The judicial authorities can serve the alleged infringer, or the intermediary whose services are being used by a third party to infringe a right, with an interlocutory injunction intended to prevent any impending infringement of copyright or neighbouring right, or to forbid the continuation of the alleged infringements of copyright or neighbouring right, or to make such continuation subject to the lodging of guarantees intended to ensure the compensation of right holder. The judicial authorities can be empowered to require the applicant to provide any reasonably available evidence to their satisfaction with a sufficient degree of certainty that the applicant is the right holder and that the applicant’s right is being infringed or, that such infringement is imminent. The judicial authorities may order the publication or seizure of bank, financial or commercial documents. The judicial authorities may order the recall, at the infringer’s expense in appropriate cases, of the goods which have been found to infringe copyright or neighbouring right and may order that the goods which have been found to infringe the right, as well as the materials and implements used primarily for the creation or the manufacture of the goods in question, be disposed of outside the channels of commerce, without any compensation being due. It can be also ordered, that the decision be displayed and published in full or in part in the newspapers or in the internet designated by the right holder.
The most efficient protection against the usurpation can be satisfied by the parallel regulation of the civil and criminal law. The next steps to be done by the European Union are the criminal law provisions. Besides the regulations, consistent jurisdiction is necessary, in which the courts should play an important role.
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The role of interest in civil processes
42-46Views:260The study reviews the enforcement of various interest-related claims in civil litigation and their special litigation rules, emphasizing that there are few specific norms in the Code of Civil Procedure from a procedural point of view compared to the enforcement of pecuniary claims. The study compares the interest provisions of the Act III. of 1952 and the Act CXXX of 2016, and seeks to provide adequate answers to enforcement issues arising from regulatory gaps. The article states that the law generally sets out some specific procedural provisions for contributions to be enforced together with the principal claim, which are also subject to interest as a contribution to the principal claim. The number of purely interest-specific provisions in our current law is negligible. The analysis covers the following specific legal provisions concerning interest: the amount in dispute, appeal against the interest provisions of the judgment at first instance, the admissibility at second instance of an increase of the claim for payment of interest, the admissibility of an application for review only of the provisions of a final judgment concerning interest. The study evaluates trends in court practice through analysis of ad hoc court decisions. The author states that uniform and coherent case law is in the best interests of the claimants based on clear legal provisions.
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A büntetőjogi mediáció gyakorlati aspektusai
1-12Views:105Mediation is a conflict-management method designed to achieve restorative justice (offenders should assume responsibility and pay the penalty for their deeds, with the greatest emphasis on reparation of the victim, and the affronted community should be conciliated). This method may be applied to solving a variety of disputes or conflicts (e.g. disputes involving neighbours, families, couples, and companies).
The mediation technique has already been used in the fields of civil law, family law and employment law. From 2007 onwards, it can also be applied in criminal procedures. According to Article 221/A of the Code on Criminal Procedure (Act XIX of 1998) the mediation process may be used in criminal procedures dealing with certain offences against the person, property or traffic offences if the crime is punishable with no more than five years imprisonment, and the offender has made a confession during the criminal investigation. -
Domestic partnerships on the basis of the current judicial practice and the draft version of the new Civil Code
Views:47An examination of the statistical data reveals that the number of marriages concluded has significantly decreased in recent years, accompanied by an increase in divorce cases. In a parallel way, there is a growing number of domestic partnerships.[1]
This study surveys the judicial practice of this field in the past two decades with the intention of attempting to describe and shed some light on the essence of domestic partnership in Hungary by way of discussing some of the most important cases and the relevant provisions of law. In view of the fact that preparation for the codification of the new Civil Code is now under way and new rules are expected to enter into force in 2 or 3 years, the changes anticipated in this area are also briefly addressed in the study. Since the Proposal intends to change the current legal provisions in three areas, special emphasis was laid on these, namely:
1. Under certain conditions, as defined by law, alimony may be awarded to a formal domestic partner.
2. Continued use of the place of residence earlier shared with the former domestic partner is possible also after the termination of the domestic partnership.
3. A former domestic partner may request that the property relations be settled after the termination of the domestic partnership.
[1] Domestic partnerships were first surveyed in Hungary in the 1970 census: the number of such relationships, which was 62 thousand in 1970, doubled by 1990, and increased by nearly four and half times by 2001. As a result of these developments, 74% of the 2,869,000 families counted were based on a married couple. Ten years before this proportion was still 80%, while three decades ago it was as high as 88%. (Népszámlálás [Census], Vol. 2001, no. 19. “Family types, family forms”, KSH, p. 17).
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Historical overview of liability for materail effects and warranty regulations
13-24Views:160The liability of material effects and warranty are classic legal institutions of civil law and they are both important in the field of consumer law. The present study essentially considers the regulatory system of these jurisdictions in Hungary.
The review starts with the private-law cases, developed at the begining of the 20th century, wich legislative provisions finally remained outside of scope. Then the Code Civil of 1959 and the Code Civil of 2013 are assessed in the review. The study does not cover the examinition of the provisions of the lower level of legislation, such as the „ warranty based on legislation compulsorily”.
The essay focuses mainly on identifying the specifities, potential shortcomings and the shortcomings of the regulatory models used in our country. It also seeks to find the points of turn and the points of motivations, of legal policy that have made significant changes in the lives of the legal institutions.
On the bases of this reasoning, the next tematica is observed in the test. The first large structural element is described in a description of the 1900s, 1913 and 1928 private-law codices, wich have shown a significant similarity in terms of the legal institutions.
Then it follows with the introduction of Code Civil of 1959. The point of view of the legal intitutions the code was modified only two times during its long term. The first modification was in 1977, the secound in 2003 with regard to the harmonisation of European Union law.
Finally comes the summary of the current Code Civil, wich has enacted some innovations in the aspect of the topic. Altough previous legislation wich based on the harmonisation has not been required significant reforms.
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Rethinking principles of civil procedure - expectations and experiences:
118-127.Views:195The central topic of the present study is certain features of the principles re-regulated during the codification of the Hungarian Code of Civil Procedure. It can be said that the number and content of the principles have also become more concentrated as a result of codification.
The Act CXXX of 2016 on the Code of Civil Procedure (hereinafter “CPC”) brought a number of conceptual changes, which can also be observed in terms of principles. The principles chapter of the CPC has been renewed, some principles that are not yet known in Hungarian civil procedure law have been laid down. The present study reviews these changes and also seeks to take a position on the content of the principles, with a separate examination of the Principle of Concentration of Proceedings, which has also been identified as a priority objective by the legislator.
The paper analyzes the academic debates on the principles and attempts to answer whether the experience of the period since its entry into force has met some of the expectations for the reform of the principles. The study examines the changed regulations that have led to opposing views in the literature.
An important topic of the study is that, in line with the divided structure of the proceeding, the court's intervention activities have also changed. This change can also be observed in the principles, as the Principle of Court's Obligation to Intervene has emerged as a new principle. Some features of the Principle of Truth-telling and Principle of Good Faith are also analyzed.
The study seeks to shed light on the fundamental issues of civil procedure through foreign examples, in which certain elements of German legislation are mainly mentioned.
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Questions around prescription by title
81-89Views:388In this paper I am willing to introduce different aspects of the new institution of the Hungarian civil law, the so-called prescription by title. This young way of acquiring property was a novelty in the field of law and jurisprudence, and a novelty for entities as well. The law of property contains the most important and fundamental rules of private law, this is the reason why it is always ultimately important that the legislator and the exact purpose of the legislation has to be as clearly defined as possible, since this is what ensures the security of property transactions and guarantees the freedom and protection of one of the most ancient social institutions, property. By its unique nature, prescription has always been the subject of legal disputes, thus the arguments above are cumulative.
The aim of this paper is to present the regulation of prescription by title, its dogmatic features, draw parallels with its ancestor in Hungarian legal history and an unusual foreign example, examine some relevant aspects of judicial practice and finally attempt to compose a possible alternative regulatory technique.
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Family businesses and shareholders' agreements - possible links
99-124Views:77The concept of a family company is not defined in current law. In the case of companies in which members of a family have a decisive influence, it allows only a formal approach. However, in addition to the formal approach, the substance of the company, the specific nature of family interests and values, justify an examination of the company from other points of view, which allow not only the long-term commercial economic activity but also the specific nature of family relationships to be examined on the basis of company law. It is therefore of the utmost importance that family companies should reflect family relationships, the need to operate intergenerationally and protect the family nature of the company, and ensure the family's long-term prosperity. The combination of the formal and substantive elements makes it possible to conclude that family companies are special legal entities in which a particular family community has a decisive influence, has and represents specific interests and values, among which the protection of family assets, the aim of intergenerational operation and the safeguarding of the long-term well-being of family members are to be highlighted. The Civil Code provides for multiple means of achieving these interests, in addition to the classic instruments of company law, including the possibility of shareholders’ agreement.
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Liability for dameges caused by a person of lack of discretionary power
92-101Views:180The new Hungarian Civil Code also modernizes the non-contractual liability law in several aspects. Even if the so-called general clause of non-contractual liability reamains unchanged, its contstitutive elements are regulated in detail in the new Civil Code. The new Code also introduces some new provisions with regard to liability for dameges caused by a person of lack of discretionary power. The objektive of this survey is to present these changes and to examine its possible impacts on judicial practice.