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• Functions and interpretation of principles in the German contract law

  Andrea Csécsy

  Views:

  52

  To describe the functions of principles we can say that all of them are fundamental basis of an area of law. They declare or solve concrete debates between the parties. If there is a problem with interpreting of a rule in the civil code, judges has this helping hand. In Germany the development of principles in the field of contract law has a really unique historical root. At the time of BGB’s birth, the German Civil Code did not accept any exculpation under the rule pacta sunt servanda. Moral philosophers acknowledged that a contract as private interest of the parties needs special protection from the state. It is not only a personal relationship, because self welfare leads to welfare of the public. The law has to regulate this field and give instruments of protection for both parties to ensure peace and equality in the field of public relations and moral.

  After the First World War, Rechtsmark (German currency) had its deepest point in its history. The inflation was so high that the performance of a contract made before the war was absolutely unfair for the supplier. For the cost of one galloon gas anyone could buy the entire stock after the war. There was a too late and too small reaction from the state for this situation. An Act had been accepted in 1925 about revalorization. The main fault of this Act was the strict and very small applicability in the field of contracts. The regulations of it were applicable only for contracts with large economic potential.

  German jurisdiction had to solve the problem. The most difficult part of this process was how to dissolve the strict paradigm of pacta sunt servanda. Oertmann, a German legal expert created the collapse of the foundation of the transaction. It meant that changed circumstances deprive the contract from its ground, the need of the party. Anybody who signs a contract has a need and tries to create all conditions of that specific contract to harmonize with his or her needs and interest. In case of an essential change of circumstances this interest modifies and the original transaction became tremendously onerous for him or her. The doctrine of Oertmann was insisted on pacta sunt servanda, so after the change of circumstances the whole contract failed.

  Jurisdiction in Germany accepted Oertmann’s doctrine with a completion. Judges vindicated the right for themselves to modify the contract to be suitable for the new interests of the parties. This modification meant the implementation of clausula rebus sic stantibus into German contract law. It became applicable worldwide in the field of long term relationship of the parties.

  In this essay I examine not only the development of these contractual principles in Germany but the effectiveness and functions of them. I describe and define the legal interest of regulating contracts and what is the connection between private and public interest in the field of the law of contracts. As a defect of the contractual procedure non-performance and other breach of a contract have special importance in civil law. Good faith is a basic principle of civil law in Hungary too and in most European civil codes. The interpretation of German good faith theory (Treu und Glauben) is significant from the viewpoint of the judicial modification of contracts. In case of clausula rebus sic stantibus if the party wants to ground his or her claim, he or she has to prove the good faith as a moral standard to be an exculpation under the heavy burden of pacta sunt servanda. The conclusion is that in Germany the basic element of private contracts is not the consent of parties but good faith of them. The socially excepted moral appears through the requirement of good faith of the parties. The law has to ensure that in any period of a contractual relationship this good faith exists.

• Problems of globalization examining the development of local governments

  Tamás Horváth M.

  Views:

  55

  In Hungary almost every reform has its reference to the integration in the west, especially European Union. The explanation for failures is the difficulties of adjustment. The dilemma is what kind of reasons result this problem: is it a national feature or the original distress of Hungary. We can say that the root of it is the problem of following patterns. The origin of these patterns are from the western world but these patterns needed years or sometimes ages to reach the present situation. It was an organic development.

  In our modern world we can find plenty of legislative elements of globalization, unifying and harmonizing rules and institutions. Most of the international economic organizations make every effort to harmonize economic institutions, but the example of European Union shows that borders are not as simple as it seems. This harmonization and unification has to surpass it to a wider perspective (e.g. administration, public education, telecommunication or private law institutions, etc.).

  In the study I examine the development of self-governing and local governments. In Hungary over the last years – since the birth of self-governing – many changes could be found. Reforms followed reforms. According to a survey the most important fields of reforms are the following:

  • decentralization
  • privatization
  • decreasing the role of public sector
  • reform of the law for public servants
  • information technology
  • financial and budgetary management.

  Reforms of local governments are part of the globalization especially in those countries where change of the regime has happened. To reach the desired western pattern some lemmas are necessary:

  • constitutional state
  • territorialism of state
  • guaranteed financial sources
  • stability from the perspective of economy and policy.

  These foundational criterions are spread by international organizations like NAFTA, GATT, WTO, IMF, WB, OECD or EU itself. Plenty of recommendations exist on this field for administration and local governments. The Council of Europe has a basic document, the Charta of European Local Governments.

  If we examine the problem closer we can see that in spite of every recommendation or regulation, local governments are in trouble for example in Hungary. There are exact rules or principles to ensure the liberty or free space for them, but financial problems always exist.

  In the essay I analyzes the way of following patterns in typical countries and try to show how hard is to introduce a pattern from a moment to another that has prestigious past.

• Enforcment of the right to personal liberty in Bűnvádi Perrendtartás

  Zsanett Szabó

  Views:

  87

  In this study, first of all I am dealing with the question, how the right to personal liberty prevails in the Bűnvádi Perrendtartás, however at the beginning I would like to introduce how the law for the personal liberty formed and how it appeared in Hungary and in the international documents, so in the British, American and French law as well.

  The most serious barrier of the personal liberty is the criminal law, so i find it especially important to examine that for this reason what kind of safeguards were placed into the Bűnvádi Perrendtartás.

  In general it can be said that the most important guarantees of the personal liberty are found in the principles of the criminal law, for example presumption of innocence, and through this it prevails in the Bűnvádi Perrendtartás' system.

  Firstable the limitation of the personal liberty has to be looked in the coercive measures, so I studied the pre-trial detention institution, that besides the basic principle what kind of safeguards were brought in by the legislature.

  In the end, it can be said that the right to personal liberty influences the whole Bűnvádi Perrendtartás, and in the cases where there were limitations, they always solved it with a safeguard.

• Alternative procedures in labour law disputes in the light of the basic right to turn to a court

  Zsolt Nádházy

  Views:

  88

  Thanking to the fact that numerous European countries have become more democratized, and to the practical experience based on common law legal system, from the middle of the XXth century some of the continental legal systems have begun to apply alternative procedures for solving disputes between parties, such as facilitation, arbitration or mediation. We can stress two important common features of these solutions. Firstly, if parties apply these ways, they can avoid the traditional judicial way (or, if the result of the chosen method is not satisfactory, these ways can be considered as the preliminary step before the judicial way). Secondly, these procedures have appeared firstly in labour law.

  As we emphasized, applying these solutions parties try to avoid the judicial way, for this reason in this study we try to introduce the relationship between these methods and the basic right to turn a (traditional) court. Expert’s opinions in connection with these processes are very different, we introduce only the two farthest standpoint: on the one hand these ways can speed up the procedure between parties, and can increase the efficiency of it, and parties can agree with each other by amicable way. On the other hand, applying these ways some of the basic rights (for example the principle of independence of courts and the right of fair trial or the principle of contradictory) will be decreased.

  In this study we try to examine the problem determined in the title, on the basis of the rules of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the Constitution of Hungary. But, we have to examine not only the right of fair trial and turning to a (traditional) court, but the monopoly of courts in connection with solving legal disputes (as constitutional principle) in details. We utilize the orders of the Hungarian Constitutional Court as well as the theological and practical experience of these procedures. We have to emphasize that from the different alternative dispute-solving mechanisms we examine not all of the models, but only the model of New York, because only the procedures follow these model are relevant for us in this study.

• Overview of the Case-Law of Article XX of the Basic Law of Hungary with an Outlook for the UN Indicator of Direct Applicability

  25-37

  Bernadett Falusi

  Views:

  170

  The right to health as a human right still faces the dilemma of justiciablity. In order to overcome this obstacle, the qualitative indicator of ’direct applicability’ was introduced within the monitoring mechanism of the International Convention of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2009. This seems to be potential as a next generation indicator in the legal aspect of realization of the right to health according to László Buza, who declared that the programmatic norms of international human rights law are in need to be evaluated to reach the status of real norms. In this respect, I made research into the Basic Law of Hungary with particular attention to Article XX within the practice of the Hungarian Constitutional Court. Besides the tenth anniversary of the acceptance of the Basic Law, the recent practice of the Constitutional Court has not been reflected in state reports yet. This research is further based by the statement of the Constitutional Court, namely it is committed  in examining the relevant international and regional legal and policy aspects. To the aim of research, I investigated the ’direct applicability’ indicator as interpreted so far by the Constitutional Court and its obstacles with particular focus on the right to health and right to health care, supplemented with the aspect not indicated in state reports.

• Some Thoughts on Participation of Civil Organisations in the Process of Policy- and Law Making in Hungary

  10-26

  Ádám Rixer

  Views:

  104

  Among the tools of including the concerned elements of society into the decision making processes the government operating since 2010 rather prefers the non-legal ones (i.e. those which do not constitute direct obligations for the government); rather solutions outside of the legal system are put into focus. Therefore the so-called national consultation, which – among others, such as sectoral, professional and other negotiating forums – introduced in Hungary a previously unknown political technique: within two years – in ordinary mail – each citizen received two surveys with possible answers to choose from, furthermore, – as a method not really used before in Hungary – an information booklet was sent to all citizens with the right to vote which presented the newest pieces of legislation.
  Looking beyond political slogans and pathetic forms it may be well observed that the government expects from the method of crowdsourcing – which may be considered traditional in other countries – as well as from different online consultations and the introduction of new means (surfaces) of information the establishment and deepening of discussion (cooperation) with society. Among the new means of information we shall mention that the government of Hungary created its websites civil.kormany.hu and kozhasznusag.kormany.hu related to the civil sector (in broader sense about legislation related to the civil sector). The websites – according to the intentions of the government– are part of the process of changing the attitude aimed at with the new act on the civil sector (Act CLXXV of 2011 on right of association, non-profit status, operation and support of NGOs), through which the government wishes to establish transparent connections with the civil sector.
  In Article 7 of the new Act CXXX of 2010 on legislation the two basic form of social compromise are described, general negotiation and direct negotiation. The former one provides opportunity for sharing opinion on the website of the organisation publishing concepts, drafts (in a way which obliges the organisation which asks for the opinion, e.g. through confirmation obligation or through preparing summaries on the merits), while the latter one allows the concerned minister to directly request persons and organisations to give opinion. A specific form of direct negotiation – creating obligations on the side of the minister – is the institution of strategic partnership, the framework of which is settled in a thorough agreement. One material weakness of the regulation, however, is that Article 13 paragraph (2) of the act only lists in an exemplary way those with whom such partnership may be concluded, by mentioning forms of organisations (e.g. church, trade union, civil organisation).

• Legal relations in German partnership under the Civil Code

  Veronika Szikora

  Views:

  62

  Partnership 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.

• The new civil law regulation on associations in the mirror of Constitutional Court Rulings

  Zsófia Kaprinay

  Views:

  106

  After 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.

• Authority of the review of Self Government regulations by the Curia of Hungary with a Special Emphasis on case-law

  63-74

  Enikő Bene

  Views:

  61

  The Council of Self-Government Affairs of the Curia of Hungary, which was established in 2012, has the power to review judicial norms beside the Constitutional Court of Hungary in order to abolish the collision between them. The division between the issues of the collision is determined up on the fact whether the question is statutory or a constitutional. The specific interpretation of the Curia and its consistent, conceptual statements that have already been made, leads to the conclusion, that such an institution was created that is able to promote the autonomy of the legislation of self-governments in the right direction. This is the issue that I would like to focus in my paper the most, and to examine what are those most important and conceptual statements, which are also important from a practical perspective. I extended my observation particularly on the legal standards regulating the basic rules of coexistence, where I examined the standards in respect of the most common dilemmas from a case-lawpoint of view.