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Simplification of civil procedures in the European Union, the regulation of small claims procedures in particular
Views:35Introduced to reduce obstacles to the free movement of goods and persons, judicial cooperation in civil matters has become part and parcel of the new European area of justice. Creation of this area is meant to simplify the existing legal environment and to reinforce citizens' feeling of being part of a common entity. The Conclusions of the Tampere European Council state in this respect that “in a genuine European Area of Justice individuals and businesses should not be prevented or discouraged from exercising their rights by the incompatibility or complexity of legal or administrative systems in the Member States.”
At present, the judicial cooperation in civil procedures is based on the Hague Programme, adopted by the 2004 Europen Council in Bruxelles.The Hague Programme requires that the Commission should translate the Hague objectives into concrete measures. To this end, the Annex to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the. European Parliament on the Hague Programme, consists of an Action Plan listing the main actions and measures to be taken over the next five years, including a specific set of deadlines for their presentation to the Council and the European Parliament.
The chapter dealing with this area is named „Strengthening justice”, and it includes amongst others the following tasks:
- Specific Programme on Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters (2007)
- Support by the Union to networks of judicial organisations and institutions (continuous)
- Creating a „European Judicial culture”
- Evaluation of quality of justice (Communication - 2006)
- Creation, from the existing structures, of an effective European training network for judicial authorities for both civil and criminal matters (2007)
The European Union has set itself the objective of maintaining and developing the European Union as an area of freedom, security and justice in which the free movement of persons is ensured. For the gradual establishment of such an area, the Community is to adopt, among others, the measures relating to judicial cooperation in civil matters needed for the proper functioning of the internal market.
The Community has among other measures already adopted Council Regulation (EC) No 1348/2000 of 29 May 2000, on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters; Council Decision 2001/470/EC of 28 May 2001, establishing a European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters; Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters; Regulation (EC) No 805/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004, creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims; Council Directive 2002/8/EC, of 27 January 2003, to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes by establishing minimum common rules relating to legal aid for such disputes; Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003, of 27 November 2003, concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) 1347/2000; Regulation (EC) No 805/2004, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004, creating a European Enforcement Order for uncontested claims; Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council creating a European order for payment procedure; Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Small Claims Procedure.
The disproportionate cost of litigation for small claims has led many Member States to provide simplified procedures for claims of small value which are intended to provide access to justice at a lower cost, thus influencing one of the three factors that determine the rationales in dispute resolution. The details of these procedures have been investigated and documented in detail in studies prepared for the Commission. The evidence from these reports suggests that the costs and timescale associated with the domestic simplified measures, and thus their use and utility to claimants, varies widely. A 1995 study for the Commission found evidence of how costs of cross-border claims were significant compared to the size of most potential claims, and that these costs varied substantially between Member States. The total costs of pursuing a cross-border claim with a value of € 2.000 was found to vary, depending on the combination of Member States, from € 980 to € 6.600, with an average quoted figure of € 2.489 for a proceeding at the plaintiff’s residence. The study also showed that due to different and conflicting costing rules part of the costs have to be paid even by successful plaintiffs.
On 20 December 2002, the Commission adopted a Green Paper on a European order for payment procedure and on measures to simplify and speed up small claims litigation. The Green Paper launched a consultation on measures concerning the simplification and the speeding up of small claims litigation.
The European Small Claims Procedure is meant to simplify and speed up litigation concerning small claims, whilst reducing costs, by offering an optional tool in addition to the possibilities existing under the laws of the Member States. This Regulation should also make it simpler to obtain the recognition and enforcement of a judgment given in a European Small Claims Procedure in another Member State, including judgements which were initially of a purely domestic nature. In order to facilitate the introduction of the procedure, the claimant should commence the European Small Claims Procedure by completing a claim form and lodging it at the competent court or tribunal. In order to reduce costs and delays, documents should be served on the parties by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, or by any simpler means such as simple letter, fax or email. The procedure should be a written procedure, unless an oral hearing is considered necessary by the court. The parties should not be obliged to be represented by a lawyer. The court should be given the possibility to hold a hearing through an audio, video or email conference. It should also be given the possibility to determine the means of proof and the extent of the taking of evidence according to its discretion and admit the taking of evidence through telephone, written statements of witnesses, and audio, video or email conferences. The court should respect the principle of an adversarial process. In order to speed up the resolution of disputes, the judgment should be rendered within six months following the registration of the claim. In order to speed up the recovery of small claims, the judgment should be immediately enforceable notwithstanding any possible appeal and without the condition of the provision of a security. In order to reduce costs, when the unsuccessful party is a natural person and is not represented by a lawyer or another legal professional, he should not be obliged to reimburse the fees of a lawyer or another legal professional of the other party. In order to facilitate recognition and enforcement, a judgment given in a Member State in a European Small Claims Procedure should be recognised and enforceable in another Member State without the need for a declaration of enforceability and without any possibility of opposing its recognition. Since the objectives of the action to be taken namely the establishment of a procedure to simplify and speed up litigation concerning small claims, and reduce costs, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.
The European Council underlines the need further to enhance work on the creation of a Europe for citizens and the essential role that the setting up of a European Area for Justice will play in thisrespect. A number of measures have already been carried out. Further efforts should be made to facilitate access to justice and judicial cooperation as well as the full employment of mutual recognition. It is of particular importance that borders between countries in Europe no longer constitute an obstacle to the settlement of civil law matters or to the bringing of court proceedings and the enforcement of decisions in civil matters.
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New Tendencies in EU Law on Air Passenger Rights
1-9Views:118egulation (EC) No 261/2004 depending on the circumstances of the travel disruption, requires air carriers to: provide passengers with assistance, such as meals, refreshments, telephone calls and hotel accommodation; offer re-routing and refunds; pay a flat-rate compensation of up to €600 per passenger, depending on the flight distance; and proactively inform passengers about their rights.
Under the Montreal Convention (as translated by Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 into EU law), a passenger may be entitled to compensation in case of mishandled baggage (but with a limit of about €1200), except if the airline can demonstrate it has taken all reasonable measures to avoid the damages or it was impossible to take such measures. Airlines often fail to offer passengers the rights to which they are entitled in instances of denied boarding, long delays, cancellations or mishandled baggage, in particular under Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 ("the Regulation") and Regulation (EC) No 2027/97. Case law has had a decisive impact on the interpretation of the Regulation. The Commission Communication of 11 April 2011 reported on the varying interpretation being taken on the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, due to grey zones and gaps in the current text, and the non-uniform enforcement across Member States. Furthermore, it is difficult for passengers to enforce their individual rights. With regard to Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, the European Parliament asks the Commission to propose a clarification of the passengers' rights, in particular the notion of ‘extraordinary circumstances’. On 13 March 2013, the European Commission made a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 establishing
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common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights and Regulation (EC) No 2027/97 on air carrier liability in respect of the carriage of passengers and their baggage by air. This paper takes a closer look at this proposal. The proposal aims to improve enforcement by clarifying key principles and implicit passenger rights that have given rise to many disputes between airlines and passengers in the past; and by enhancing and better coordinating the enforcement policies carried out on a national level. Issues covered by the proposal are the following.Definition of "extraordinary circumstances"
Right to compensation in case of long delays
Right to rerouting
Right to care
Missed connecting flight
Rescheduling Tarmac delays
Partial ban of the "no show" policy
Right to information
Handling of individual claims and complaints
Better take into account the financial capacities of the air carriers
Ensure better enforcement of passenger rights with regard to mishandled baggage
Adapt liability limits in accordance to general price inflation
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The Right to Information Self-Determination after the General Data Protection Regulation
Views:301Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), became effective on 25 May 2018. With the regulatory form the legislator raised the regulation of the right to the protection of personal data within the European Union to a higher level. The legislative act has a fundamental impact on the legal systems of the member states showing various differences from each other. Further, it can be stated as a general experience that the right to the protection of personal data and the nature of such right are less known either to those affected or to the data controllers. The new legislative act and the penalties with increased amounts [Article 84 of the GDPR] demand the elaboration of a study understandable for laics, too. Finally, as a result of the General Data Protection Regulation, the institution system ensuring the protection of personal data has fundamentally changed, so, therefore, it is also necessary to examine the authorities of the member states and the Union, as well.
The study primarily approaches the occurring problems from the practice side. Accordingly, the examination conducted by the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) against Google is described, as the first significant penalty imposed based on the General Data Protection Regulation.
The first part of the study is intended to present the right to the general protection of personal data. The historical part addresses in details the major elements of the historical development of data protection and the development of its contents, with particular regard to the appearance of the right to information self-determination based on the so-called “census-judgement” of 1983 of the BVerfG (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany). Finally, this part touches upon the theories defined in connection with the historical generations of the right to the protection of personal data. After the historical part the study addresses the peculiarities of the right to the protection of personal data, paying particular attention to separation from the neighbouring legal areas.
The second part is intended to present the prevalence of the right to information self-determination according to the GDPR. It is the institution system protecting personal data that has undergone the most significant change. The Work Group under Article 29 has been replaced by the Data Protection Agency set up based on the GDPR. Setting up the Agency, enlarging its scope of authority and its stronger independence from the executive powers of the Union can, by all means, be evaluated positively. As regards the security of personal data, the practice, major directives and opinions of the Work Group under Article 29 have been examined. It is a significant step forward that the GDPR has made the sphere of special personal data more specific, promoting by this the increase of the extent of protection. It is important that, as a general rule, the Regulation forbids controlling special personal data. The definition of the concept of personal data is an essential condition for understanding the regulation. In addition to the principles of controlling personal data, the legal fundaments of data control have particular significance, with special regard to the consent and the data control necessary for performing the contract. In my view, the consent is a legal fundament of auxiliary nature for data control, which is also supported by the opinions of the Work Group, too. Granting the consent and the individual excluding circumstances occurring in connection with this, were examined on a case-by-case basis. In my opinion, the automated decision making process and the regulation of profile creation are one of the most cardinal issues of the GDPR. The way in which profiles are created, their use and the permissibility of such use are discussed in details. In my view, the regulation of the GDPR is deficient as regards the automated decision making process and the profile creation. The decision making necessary for performing the contract is not separated sharply enough, and it is not necessary for this. In my opinion, in respect of this latter sphere of cases the GDPR is not strict enough and may easily serve as a basis for misuse on the part of data controllers. In my view, granting the consent should be made stricter in respect of creating profiles and the introduction of the (contradictable) legal presumption of refusal would also be desirous.
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Non-competition agreement
20-28Views:228The “agreement on non-competition” is essentially the extension of the protection of the basic economic interest of the employer. While during the employment relationship several labor law provisions protect the interest of both parties, the “agreement on non-competition” is designed to protect the employer’s interests after the termination of the relationship. This means – in return for financial compensation – the former employee needs to refrain from any kind of business competition against his/her former employer. This necessarily involves financial compensation and may have several restrictions, such business or geographical area or time.
The previous Labor Code did not specify for detailed regulation of the issue and the law remained rather vague. It merely referred to the fact that parties – based on their own free will – may enter into such agreement. However the new Labor Code contains explicit regulations under title XVIII of the Act as “Particular Agreements Related to Employment”.
The “agreement on non-competition” belongs to the field of employment law. Unlike the previous Labor Code that categorized this possible agreement as of purely civil law in nature, the new Labor Code declares it to belong under the scope of the Labor Code. The previous regulation even ordered the provisions of the Civil Code to be applied to such agreements however the new legislation brought a conceptual change.
The currently effective regulation provides for a 2-year limitation on such conduct on the employee’s part that would create competition with the employer. The exact amount of the consideration payable for this obligation remains to be decided by the parties however the Labor Code suggests that it shall be based on how difficult the applied restrictions make it for the employee to find another job with his qualifications and experience. As a basic limit the law provides that the amount shall not be less than one-third of the base wage payable for the same period of time.
The “agreement on non-competition” is not to be confused with similar legal institutions. The paper points out two close similarities in the legal system. One being the employee’s obligation of confidentiality; this prevails after termination of the employment relationship as well without any time or similar restrictions and even without any financial compensation. The other one is the so called “non-compete” agreement from the field of competition law. This is applicable after takeovers where the seller shall refrain from engaging into business in the same area as the buyer.
In the field of labor law the time period for the “agreement on non-competition” is up to the agreement of the parties however the new law invokes an upper limit of two years that is following the termination of the employment relationship. This is a decrease from the previous regulation that provided for a period of three years. The agreement can be modified by the consent of both parties just like the employment contract or civil law agreements.
In case of violation of the agreement three cases are to be analyzed. The first is the case of the employee breaching the provisions of the contract. In this case the employee is liable for damages towards his/her former employer. The provisions of the new Civil Code and those of the Labor Code are to be applied to the damages. In the second case the employer may request an injunction to prohibit the employee from any conduct breaching the agreement while the third case involves the breach of the agreement on the employee’s part for which the rules of the Civil Code and the Labor Code are to be applied as well.
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Thoughts about software as a patent
Views:47I’m presenting in my study the Hungarian software’s legal system. The Hungarian law system is protecting the software in the copyright law, like a literary property. This resolution given more latitude for the author, but it has many problems of the evidence, because not registred the property – like the patent – cause the author’s being can prove difficultly.
In the patent law has not problem with the evidence thanks for the state register, but the legal process longer and costly more money. Primarily the Hungarian patent law is protecting the industrial, technical property. The software not an exclusively industrial, technical produce, there is closer the literary property about the author’s intellectual work.
The protection of the Hungarian copyright is cheaper and faster than the protection in the area of patent law, and it covers more contract liberty for the partners. The Hungarian civil law is based upon the monist conception in the field of intellectual property. This means that pecuniary and personality rights are indivisible. In spite of this competition on the market prefers contracts that ensure exclusive, unambiguous rights. This area of law claims contracts suit to these conditions.
The personal rights in the Hungarian copyright are remaining for the author, also the pecuniary rights. But - thanks for the successful software’s lobby - in this question the regulation diverged: the pecuniary rights may be transferring for the users, costumers. This regulation is better (cheaper, an easier) for the buyers under the Hungarian regulations of patent law.
In Hungary a lot of software contract was established under the British legal system. The Hungarian legal culture accepted and using these contract forms. The Hungarian regulation concerning to the software questions is dualist like the British one. The pecuniary rights can be transferred free, just the personality rights belong to the author.
The users can buy the rights need for using and it gives enough defense as a shield. The author’s interests are not sweating because of the personality rights stay under his domain.
In my opinion the question is whether the Hungarian legal defense equally serves the author’s and the users’ interests. The process in patent law is longer, needs more money for supporting the protection and there are some conceptual problems between the software and the patent ideas. The new regulation is not reasonable.
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The Rules concerning Compensation for Expropriation in Hungary
Views:177The regulation of expropriation law is indicative of the sound of rule of law. It shows how the state treats vulnerable groups, and people adversely affected by expropriation. In this paper I will give a short overview of the rules concerning compensation for expropriation, from the inception of expropriation law, right up to 2014. I pay particular attention to the characteristics of the regulation in the socialist era between 1948, and the regime change in 1989/1990. I expand on how Hungary tried to free itself of the burdensome heritage of the socialist regulation of that law, after the regime change of 1989/1990. Then I review the current status of legal regulation concerning compensation for expropriation that gives me a great opportunity to and explain suggestions de lege ferenda.
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Controversial Elements of Civil Law in Local Government Regulations
2-11Views:124Local governments may establish legal relationships governed by civil law in numerous ways, for example, through the creation of associations, various institutional agreements or they can also do so by means of enacting regulations. In line with the stipulations of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, local governments may adopt regulations on two legal bases: if authorized by law or if they want to regulate a local public affair; however, the regulation may not contradict any higher form of legislation. While in the first case it is not only the right but also the obligation of local governments to enact regulations that can even be sanctioned, in the second case it is almost completely optional. The scope of public affairs regulated by local governments is rather broad. While the smaller local governments typically limit their activities to the regulation of the most urgent matters, the larger local governments enact regulations in a wide range of issues also due to the volume of their responsibilities. In many instances a part of these regulations does not remain within the framework of supremacy but also includes numerous elements of civil law. These could include matters related to parking or municipal housing, as well as problems in connection with public services. Norms regulating peaceful public coexistence represent a separate subject area as in many cases they wish to regulate legal relationships pertaining to privacy. In the case of the latter issue, the clause stating that the local regulations shall not contradict any higher form of law is especially central, as it necessitates the extensive knowledge of civil and in some cases even constitutional law to ensure that such a regulation is enacted that fully complies with the laws.
This paper introduces and examines those local government regulations that include elements of civil law also and which typically cause problems, with special emphasis on the rules of peaceful public coexistence. Some of these problems are revealed within the scope of legal supervision practiced over local governments, while in other cases the body reviewing the regulation acts in response to citizens’ initiatives.
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Legal relations in German partnership under the Civil Code
Views:51Partnership under the civil code is a harsh institution in Hungarian legal system. Despite of this fact, most of the European countries apply this legal entity a lot as a background for other, more complicated corporate forms. In my essay I demonstrate those rules in German Civil Code (BGB), which show the importance and opportunities of these partnerships.
If we would like to describe the essentials of partnerships under the Civil Code, the most important question is the legal relations from both inner and external point of view. Internal relations mean an obligation between the parties, who form this partnership. It is natural that we can find both rights and commitments between founders. This is a contract but BGB says that all parties have equal rights and commitments in the same partnership. As a general rule of the Code, it is permissive, not cogent. BGB has basic regulation for operating such a partnership, but can be useful if founders live with this permissive opportunity and shape special rules for their partnership, which fit to their aims, functions, different financial potential of the parties.
There is a chance for founders to neglect building a whole structure and organization for their partnership, if they want to operate it as an inner partnership, without external relations, focusing only for the rights and omissions between the parties.
From all contract that establishes a partnership under the Civil Code membership rights follow. These rights cannot be transferred. A distinction can be made between administrational, common business management and financial rights. Rights to common business management can consist of right to information, right to supervision or the most important right to vote. Financial rights gather typical rights such as right to dividend or liquidity proportion. These rights are social omissions from the viewpoint of the partnership itself, as these are for the interest of the parties.
The most important omissions of the founders are financial contribution to establish the partnership. This regulation results from that partnership is to promote common aim of the founders, and to achieve this, all of them have to make available pecuniary or non-pecuniary assets. According to a special rule of BGB, over against the other corporate forms, members of the partnership have no omission to increase or complete their assets.
Management of the partnership is not only a right but an obligation too. A special omission is that all members and founders have to be loyal to the partnership. Because of the strong partnership character of this corporate form, this means that members have to keep the interest and aim of the partnership in view. They all are responsible for achieving the aim of the partnership and nobody can sit as a beneficiary. Loyal members have to keep secrets in connection with operating the partnership and of course the sudden obligation to inform the others of all events and experiences, which are in tight connection with the partnership and the interests of the parties. If any of the members breach these obligations, rules of damages can be applied in BGB.
Assets of the partnership are special, because no separated corporate assets form. Financial and non-pecuniary contribution becomes the assets of the community of members. It is undividable and common. But these common assets are strictly separated from the private assets of the parties. Rights for profit and deficit are equal, but this permissive rule allows different regulation in the contract. The only cogent sentence is the prohibition of societas leoniana, i.e. nobody can be precluded of profit and deficit.
External relations mean the representation of the partnership. In this case the most important law is the contract itself. In case of disagreement between the parties, there is a helping rule of BGB: members can act as a body. If we take into consideration the rules of liability, we can say that because of the lack of legal capacity of the partnership, individual liability has its important role. Generally this liability is unlimited, but there is a chance to agree with the creditor to limit liability. But this limitation is only valid for that legal transaction.
Rules for partnerships under the Civil Code in Germany are more detailed and nuanced than in Hungary. Partnership is the basic type of civil law partnerships, such as limited partnership or general partnership. We have to consider that building up a more coherent regulation for these partnerships can be useful to categorize atypical corporations.
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The essential aspects of the protection of wages in Hungarian labour law’s regulation and legal practice
27-37Views:36The aim of my publication is to scrutinise the Hungarian rules concerning the protection of wages and concluding how effectively they serve the social interests of employees. Furthermore, I researched if the regulation is efficient and consistent enough to protect the employees in point of the compensation for work.
During the research, I was examining the efficiency of the protection of the employees and their salaries in practice. The other question was whether the current regulation is satisfactory enough to provide the main purposes. In order to answer these questions I was analysing the theoretical dimension and the judicial practice as well.
I concluded that even if there are some incompleteness and inconsistency in the Hungarian labour law, the regulation seems appropriate and rational concerning the interests of the employees. In my opinion, the social function of labour law serves the employees’ interests enough to give them a decent standard of living.
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A short study on Danish Act on Names
Views:34In Denmark until around 1850-1870 most ordinary people used patronymics instead of surnames, however, in 1812 the Danish government passed a law requiring families to choose a fixed surname that future generations should continue to use. In 1826 patronymics were abolished by law. It took several decades for patronymics to disappear.
Constantly changing names had given reasons for this regulation. The patronymics (as family names) were not favourable for property circumstances and registration.
Today the Danish name system bases on the Danish Act on Names. This act contains regulation of last names, middle names, first names, procedure of giving names and the changing of names, private international law relations and penal provisions.
This Danish act is very permissive, because it allows using traditional patronymics and in the same time encourages individuals to choose a new surname. So a name which is not used as a last name in Denmark can be adopted as a last name but some conditions must be effective.
In Denmark last names borne by 2,000 individuals or less are protected and cannot be adopted by other individuals. This is an unusual form in protection of names.
There is a lot of similarity between Hungarian and Danish right of name, enough to think about the first names. Either in Denmark and in Hungary a first name cannot denote the opposite gender in relation to the individual who will bear the name. There is a list of names for boys and girls, which is identical with the Hungarian list of first names compiled by Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Why can this Danish act be interesting for a Hungarian lawyer?
In Hungary the regulations of names were very scattered, so the rules were on every level of the sources of law. Since 2004 this situation is not so unfavourable, but we still do not have one unified act on names as it is in Denmark. So the Danish act can be a good example to examine how we can establish a similar unified regulation in Hungary.
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Act on Business Advertising Activity and the protection of inherent rights under Hungarian civil law
Views:98There is a significant inconsistency within the domain of enforcement of inherent rights in the Hungarian regulation. The protection of the inherent rights is based on the section 75 of Act IV of 1959 (hereinafter: „Civil Code”), which provides that inherent rights shall be observed by everyone and inherent rights are protected by law.
The lack of consistency can be led back to the difference between the provisions of the Civil Code and Act LVIII of 1997 on Business Advertising Activity. Under Section 85 of the Civil Code inherent rights may only be enforced in person.
There are two exceptions to the above rule laid down in the Civil Code:
- The legal representative of an incompetent person, or the relative or conservator of a missing person whose whereabouts are unknown shall be entitled to proceed in the protection of that person's inherent rights.
- In the case of impairment to the memory of a deceased person, the relative and/or the person having been named as the heir apparent in the will of the deceased shall be entitled to file a court action. If conduct causing defamation to a deceased person (former legal person) infringes upon the public interest, the public prosecutor shall also be entitled to enforce this inherent right.
The Act on Business Advertising Activity provides for several general advertising prohibitions and restrictions. Under Section 4 of this act advertising may not be published if it infringes personal rights, respect for the deceased or rights related to the protection of personal data. Under Section 16 of this act advertising control proceedings may be initiated upon request or ex officio. Based on the regulation of the Act on Business Advertising Activity advertising control proceedings may be requested by any person whose rights or rightful interests, or legal status is injured by violation of any provisions relating to commercial advertising activity. If the aggrieved consumer cannot be identified, or if enforcement of the claims is inappropriate considering the number of consumers injured, administrative agencies or non-governmental organizations providing for consumer interests shall also be entitled to initiate proceedings.
When the regulations of the Civil Code on enforcement of inherent rights are compared with that of the Act on Business Advertising Activity, it can be established that provisions of the latter act are not in compliance with the provisions of the Civil Code. On the basis of the decision No. 1270/B/1997 of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, the inconsistency is not significant, the different regulatory of the mentioned acts is not unconstitutional. I take the view that in order to achieve consistent regulation the Act on Business Advertising Activity should be modified by prohibiting the advertising control proceedings initiated ex officio in relation to the advertisings which infringe personal rights.
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About the GDPR – focusing on libraries and archives
63-75Views:73Nowadays data has become one of the most important value which raises the question of protecting personal data. The European Union responds to the challenge by legal instruments: since 25 May 2018 it has been obligatory for the member states to apply GDPR. In the article, first I study the novelties of GDPR. Then I examine to what extent the provisions apply to libraries and archives.
The novelties can be divided into several larger groups. Some of them belong to the data subjects (data portability, right to be forgotten, pseudonymisation), the other parts are principles like data protection by design and by default or the closely related accountability principle. The Regulation also introduces a new legal institution, the data-protection impact assessment and requires the notification of personal data breach. Concerning the expected impacts, it is clear that the Regulation strengthens the rights of the data subjects but imposes new obligations on data controllers and strengthens the role of control. GDPR is a determinative law for the undertakings and business life, and it must also be applied by libraries and archives. For archiving purposes in the public interest, however, the Regulation allows for exemptions concerning libraries and archives. The provisions require libraries and archives to identify the risks that may occur while processing personal data as well as to examine their regulations.
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Limits of advertisements concerning the length and size of them
Views:132Advertising forms are considerable parts of economic activities, the costs of which constitute a growing portion of the expenses of a given enterprise. The mass-appearance of advertisements has altered the relationship between consumers and advertisers, it has restructured consumption habits and the importance of the advertising media. Advertising law defines the restrictions that have to be observed during business and advertising activities. The regulation of advertising is characterized by an approach focusing on content. However, in some cases the legislator also considered it important to determine the form of advertising besides its content. In the case of most advertising media there are only few regulations on form. The Media Act (Act I of 1996) dedicates a whole chapter to restrictions on advertising. The most important part of the Media Act is the regulation of the way commercials can be shown. The regulation of maximum advertising time, the type of programmes which are suitable for advertising and the period of time that can pass between commercials is given priority.
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Short Analyses of Basic Definitions of Design Law According to the Practice
62-68Views:72The Committee of the European Union after the issue of the Directive 98/71/EC found that the integrity of the internal market needs an easily accessible uniform protection of designs that covers the whole territory of the Community. For this reason was issued the 6/2002 EC regulation on Community Designs. The most important definitions and the grounds for invalidity are absolutely identical in the directive and the regulation. May aim by this short essay is to interpret the main definitions of design law by analysing some published cases of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). The case law has important role in the field of design law since the requirements of protection and the grounds of invalidity contain a number of unique terms can be construed only by practice. As a consequence of the harmonised design law the practice of the Office can exercise a strong guiding effect not only on the application of community design law but national level design laws in the procedure of the national offices and courts. . 25 (1) point b) is the most used ground for invalidity in practice when a conflict with Art. 4-9. occurs. Within this point lack of novelty, individual character and prior disclosure shall be mentioned first of all. In the relation of novelty and individual character it seems of the cases that lack of novelty always excludes any further examination of individual character since individuality can be considered a narrower definition of novelty. By analyzing the overall impression produced by a design to an informed user the Office always underline that the difference must be instantly and obviously recognizable. The impression shouldn’t be based on through examination of the informed user. The invalidity division stated that any prior design in important databases on internet shall be deemed to be known by the specialised circles and can result the disclosure according to the regulation. In connection with features dictated solely by its technical function the Office stated that designs contain only elements of merely technical purpose (in this case an engine block and engine parts) specific position of such elements and the general impression of the whole enough to provide legal protection for such features. There is no ground for invalidity pursuant to this reason if the same technical function can be achieved by different design.
In my essay I focused on the most the above mentioned most relevant parts of some definitions. My future plan is to analyse the differences between the legal practice of different European countries concerning this issue.
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The new civil law regulation on associations in the mirror of Constitutional Court Rulings
Views:90After the creation of the Basic Law of Hungary, and following a drawn discussion Act CLXXV of 2011 on the Right of Association and the Operation and Funding of Civil Society organizations has come into force (hereinafter referred to as Civil Act). The Civil Act repealed a lot former provitions, thus the Act II. of 1989 on the Right of Association, the law concerning non-profit status, and the provitions related to association of the previous Civil Code. The new Act V of 2013 in the Civil Code has also brought significant changes according to associations.
The base of the rules has changed considerabely, as the permissive legislation, and the freedom of the parties has become the main line.
At present to association the Civil Act, the new regulations about the court registration of associations – such as Act CLXXXI of 2011 –, and the provisions concerning legal persons and associations of the new Civil Code should be applied.
Since the relevant legal regulation has changed, the previous judicial practice is not applicable, courts have to answer the questions among the new legal circumstances as well. However it is sure that the basis of association is the right of association which is a constitutional fundamental right. Due to these significant changes in this paper I have examined those important Constitutional Court Rulings which can be connected with the right of association, and I have tried to compare the decisions of the Constitutional Court with the new present regulation.
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The proprietary rights as the objects of contribution in kind and the occurring problems caused by the lack of unified rules
114-120Views:342According to the new Hungarian Civil Code, the funders of the legal entities have to make contributions to the authorised capital and the two forms of these contributions are the contribution is cash and the contribution in kind. The regulation states that proprietary rights can also be transferred to the capital of businness accociations, by those funders, who are entitled to demise them.
The judicial practice unanimously defined the rules in those cases, when the object of contribution in kind is a certain proprietary right, especially when the right is connected to the real estate. On the other hand, the Civil Code does not contain a list of those proprietary rights, which can be transferred to the authorised capital and unfortunately, different acts contain different lists of these rights.
The three mentioned acts are the following: the personal income tax act, the act about the fees and the accounting act. All of them contain a list of proprietary rights and some of the items are regulated by all the three of them but most of the items are different, which means it is impossible to create an accurate list of these rights. For example, the list in the personal income tax act contains only five items, on the other hand, the accounting act contains two lists and both of them are unfinised.
Because of the lack of unified rules, it is impossible to define which proprietary rights can become the objects of contribution in kind and this misfortunate situation causes a lot of unwanted indefinability and states a lot of questions.
In my essay I introduce this problem and I use a chart to illustrate the differences between the mentioned lists. In my opinion, this problem could be solved with an unified list, which is normative for every regulation in connection with the proprietary rights or the Civil Code should contain a list of those proprietary rights, which can be the objects of contribution in kind.
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Assessing of company shares in marital property sharing lawsuits
Views:121New types of assets has appeared in property lawsuits in the past 25 years, such as company shares (one of the most important kind of valuable rights). This fact made forensic experts - who deal with evaluation of these assets - to obtain additional comprehensive knowledge. The Kuria quoted that "the expert opinion is an underlying proof for the court judgment, an objective and precise means of proof, which usually affects directly the decisions of the court," and I think the date of the completion of the trial can be affected significantly.
The author of the study and writing of the addition was designed to court pointed out weaknesses in the analyzed case by case decisions perceived peer involvement draws the attention of the interested public on the company's assessment of literature on the importance of knowledge. To that aim the light of the experience gained from the analysis of the case law, above all, the study seeks to publish the company's fundamental valuation basic concepts summarize the literature on the same value in generally accepted and applied definitions and outline the applicable assessment methods. It is certain that the regulation of property relations in the new Code requires the renewal of judicial regulation of professional activity as well.
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Az autóbusszal közlekedő utasokat az Európai Unióban megillető jogok
27-37Views:119The European Parliament and the Council adopted new rules for passengers traveling by buses. The 181/2011/EU Regulation concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport developed a strict liability of bus carriers in cases of delay and cancellation. It deals with accidents, the meaning of right to information, handling of complaints, and the non-discrimination and mandatory assistance for disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility.The Regulation is entered into force on March 21st 2013. The article is about to analyze the content and the meaning of these new rules and rights passengers have when they use bus transportation.
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Monist theory in copyright law of Hungary
Views:60Examining the history of copyright law, we can distinct two significant theories. The distinction is based upon the position of entitled parties. Two separated fields can be found among the rights of the author: personal and financial rights. It is no doubt that personal rights are inseparable from the author itself, these rights cannot become objects of commercial businesses. If we look at these rights a little bit closer, we can realize that personal rights of the author do not play significant role in earning money from an intellectual product. These rights ensure the integrity and originality of works. Separating the two theories we have to focus on financial rights. Trying to describe these rights we can see that no exact definition can be given to them because of the permanent development of printing and publishing technology. Due to the monist theory it can be said that financial rights are close to personal ones, they are inseparable from personality of the author. Transcribing this opinion to the language of law it means that the decent regulation should prohibit the transfer of these rights among living persons. In the Anglo-Saxon legal system experts think that financial rights have to take part in commercial trade if we want to acknowledge the achievement of authors.
In Hungary copyright law is on the point of the monist theory. The Act refers that financial rights of the author cannot be transferred and the author has no right to abandon them. If we get a closer look at the structure of the valid Act, we can say that monist theory is not consistent. It is possible to inherit financial rights. We need this rule if we would like to harmonize the system to the time of protection. The other relevant fact of crossing the prohibition is in connection with works created under labour frames. In this case the employer gets financial rights ex lege. To find the reason of this regulation we have to examine the nature and aim of labour relations. The employer gives payment to his employee, the author to establish and create works. In this situation it is natural that the author looses his financial rights. The problem is that in Hungary differences can be found between civil and labour law. If we try to give meaning to labour relations, misunderstandings and different point of views can reveal. The other problematic factor is that the Act does not bother with the question of succession.
In my study I present the pros and cons of both theories and gather those significant practical and theoretical fields of copyright law that can be limits of monist theory. I examine special rules for special works, rules of civil and labour law in connection with authors and give a short historical overview to see what can be the main directions of future developments.
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A „távollétes ügyek” egyes elméleti és gyakorlati kérdései a büntetőeljárásban
Views:58The idea of simplification of the law of criminal procedure has been an interesting topic in the science of law for a long time. Practical necessities, namely the overburdening of the criminal courts and the new challenges of the criminal law called this concept into life. Finishing up a procedure in a reasonable time limit is a very crucial interest – as it was pointed out several times by the Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers and also the Hungarian Constitutional Court. As the international principle declared in the Human Rights says everyone has the right to plead its case within a reasonable period and it can only be achieved that way.
Because of the reasonable time limit required for a procedure, various simplifications of methods have been introduced into the national systems of criminal procedure. As a part of this process several legal institutions were introduced in the Hungarian law system aiming to accelerate the legal procedure. One of them, which is called special procedure against absent accused, is regulated by Chapter XXIV. of the Law of Criminal Procedure.
This essay deals with this special procedure in details. Firstly I show through a short international outlook how the procedure against absent accused appears in the practice of the European Council and the European Union. Hereafter a certain case is examined in details where the European Court for Human Rights considered the necessity of the accused person’s appearance. The Court established a principle if the absence of the accused had hurt the requirements of the fair trial. According to this the appearance of the accused person is necessary if it could play a role in the forming of the Court’s opinion.
Next, I examine the problems connected to the Hungarian regulations because recently serious constitutional worries have appeared related to this legal institution. As a result of this the Constitutional Court made its decision (n. 14/2004) and found many paragraphs of the then existing legal institution unconstitutional. Based on this Decision I go through in details all the problems and requirements related to this procedure. In the light of this, the regulation effective from the 1st of January, 2005 is described, which – according to my opinion – meets the requirements made by the Constitutional Court, so it is exceptional and provisional.
In the next chapter certain practical experiences of the procedure against absent accused are examined. Here it is stated that the application of this legal institution is the rarest among the legal institutions aiming the acceleration of legal procedures. I explain it by the fact that this is a relatively young legal institution and there was not enough time since it was introduced to give certain conclusions, moreover the application is limited concerning the range of individuals. As a conclusion it can be stated that the application is more common in those cases where the accused is abroad but does not stay in an unknown place. I call the attention to some problems emerged in the practice as the protection of the accused, or the delivery of the copy of indictment and summons, etc.
As a final conclusion it can be stated that using this legal institution is not so common but the importance of this will increase in the future by joining to the EU because of the easier way of crossing the boards. Hopefully the regulation, which suits to the requirements of the Constitutional Court, will be proper to gain its original aim, namely to simplify and accelerate the legal procedure.
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The Legal Aspects of the Hungarian Health Sectoral Wage Rise Through the Eyes of a Practising Labour Lawyer
Views:108My essay analyses the rules of the wage-rise in the Hungarian health service system performed in two stages in 2012 and 2013. The difficulties of applying the rules and the continuous changes in the law are presented from a practical viewpoint.
The personal and material scope of the raise in the health sector was the same circle: higher education institutions and religious institutions performing public mission that provide for in- and out-patient care. The wage-rise affected the employees having service relations with the above mentioned institutes in civil servant and commissionaire positions.
In 2012 altogether86.000 persons benefitted from the raise (67.978 of them were directly involved in the healthcare), and 95.000 persons in 2013. The Act LXXXIV of 2003 distinguishes three groups of employees regarding the continuous and retroactive (ex post facto) raise of wages: doctors, graduates, pharmacists and health workers. In the case of these groups no uniformed wage scale exists, so different rules must be applied.
The retroactive wager is in the case of the doctors depended on their salary, and the continuous rise was realized by a new wage scale. Other graduates and pharmacists gained a fixed rise. The retro active rise of the health workers was also fixed, the continuous wage rise was realized through a new wage scale and it depended whether their legal relation with the employer was established before or after the 1st of the July 2012.
The complicated and frequently inaccurate regulation was corrected by the legislator, when a uniformed wage scale was directed to each group of employees in the September of 2013. A new sectoral wage scale was applied for the doctors and the health workers, and for other graduates and pharmacists the old public wage scale must be applied.
Contrary to the uniformed regulation, there still remained legal institutions where the day/night duty, readiness, shift bonus, overtime must be specified according to the legislations in force on the 30th of June, 2012.
Summing up, the legislator finally prevented the emigration of the highly qualified specialists by the execution of the wage rise in the last two years.
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The online infringements of personality rights in the judicial practice
121-131Views:134This essay examines the judicial practice of infringements of personality rights in the online media. The purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of the protection of legal regulation.
The new media law that came into force in 2011 does not include specific measure for online media products, so it is up to the judicial practice to find a solution to tackle the problems brought forth by the differences of online and print press.
Being a legal area where the legal development activity of the judicial practice plays a significant role due to the broad framework of regulation, the joint interpretation of legislation and the practice is necessary to evaluate. Thus the evaluation of the effectiveness of the protection of personality rights is only possible with the joint examination of legal environment and judicial practice.
The starting point is the observation of the characteristics of online media and the comparison with print media through elements that can be relevant in a lawsuit.
The investigation of the judicial practice focuses on the infringement of personality law and the process of press correction, considering that these are the most frequently occurring legal actions in lawsuits.
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Thoughts on the successions of the business shares
Views:77The article focuses on the successions of the business shares which are in the Hungarian limited liability companies. There are several changes because of the new Civil Code that affected this area although we have to examine the former regulation because of the period of validity, too.
The succession law is the area of the law with whom every people has connection at least once in their life. The number of the legacies grows in which business shares can be founded because more and more people are participating in business societies.
The new method of the regulation differs from the previous. The new Hungarian Civil Code (Act V of 2013) consists of not only the “classical” civil law (for example property law, law of contracts) but the family law even the business law. Before this there were two separate laws and because of this situation we have to examine the relation of these laws and their methods of regulations.
Afterwards we study the state of the successors in the Hungarian limited liability companies. It diverges from the other companies because the limited liability companies are transitions between general and limited partnerships and joint-stock companies. There were more ideas how to regulate this company; at the end it has differences but not so significant.
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Information about the regulation of service charges in relation to the procedure of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights
19-40Views:197The article introduces the statutory regulation of service charges in relation to the procedure of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights in a complex manner, by referring to all affected parts of the statutory system providing a detailed and critical analysis, reasoning, furthermore the article also refers to the statutory dogmatic, constitutional issues, controversies, maladministration and interpreting questions related to service charges, by also making reference to the halts in consumer protection – repealing the 15% upper limit. The article presents the answer of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights and the necessary reflection to this answer. The author publishes his thorough and firm opinion, which takes into consideration consumer protection and discrimination aspects, in a usable manner for legislators and law enforcement bodies, and summarises the final conclusions, „missing items” complied in nine points.
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The Hungarian Regulation of Domestic Partnership and The Domestic Partnership Registry
29-35Views:173In recent decades, the number of the couples who live in domestic partnership and the number of children born to parents in a domestic partnership in Hungary and across Europe increased significantly. Because of these facts and reasons there was a need for a significant revision of the Hungarian regulation on domestic partnership that took place in the new Civil Code of Hungary of 2013. The notaries of Hungary have had a new role in the area of registration. In my work as a vice-notary, I often experience that couples who live in domestic partnership are entirely unconscious of the legal effects of choosing this form of living together.
In this paper I give an overview of the past and present of the Hungarian regulation on domestic partnership. I pay particular attention to the Domestic Partnership Registry conducted by the Hungarian National Chamber of Civil Law Notaries. This summary gives me an excellent opportunity to give an account of my opinion about the registry and my practical experience with the conduction of the registry.