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• Expropriation in the new Hungarian civil law codex

  Imre Andorkó

  Views:

  130

  The expropriation is a neglected legal institution in the Hungarian law, especially in the civil law. Although the expropriation usually appears in the civil law codes of the European states, it is ambiguous of the aspect of the civil law. However, it cannot be ignored that the civil law aspects of the expropriation are very important.In the civil law literature the expropriation is discussed either as the original way of acquisition of property or as the limit of the public property relations.My lecture is about the theoretical problems of the expropriation in the system of civil law. This article will provide an overview of doctrinal opinions about expropriation law in the delayed codification and in the new Hungarian civil law codex.

• The Hungarian system of sanctions in connection with copyright law comparising to directive 2004/48 EC about validation of intellectual property right

  Tibor Kiss

  Views:

  85

  Copyright law is a relative young area of civil law. Intellectual property and creations ensure the revelation of human personality. The infringement of these rights became general with the development of technology. From the beginning copyright law tried not only circumscribe the possibilities of unrestricted use but ensure effective protection to authors with exact sanctions.

  In the essay I examine the international and Hungarian regulation against usurpation demonstrating all sanctions and opportunities. Not only one area of law gives protection to these rights. Civil law, criminal law and administration law has different sanctions for infringements.

  On 29th April 2004 2004/48/EC directive has been accepted about validation of intellectual property rights. The explanation of this directive is that different regulations in member states endanger the unified internal market. The directive consists of the rules of proceedings and sanctions.

  In this study I present the development about system of sanctions form an international and from a Hungarian perspective. I examine all types of sanctions concerning to the field of civil law and try to analyze functions and aims in connection with them. The effectiveness and history of these legal institutions are also presented in the study.

  Comparing the directive and the Hungarian copyright law it can be said that despite of all circumstances the Hungarian law has to be improved especially on the field of proceedings and temporary arrangements. These rules are specified compared to the ones in the Hungarian civil procedure, so judges have to take care of these differences.

• Non-competition agreement

  20-28

  Alex Ember

  Views:

  242

  The “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.

• 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.

• Előreláthatósági klauzula a szerződések jogában

  Andrea Csécsy

  Views:

  70

  The essay is about the clause of foreseeability in connection with damages for breach of a contract. This seems to be a constant problem throughout the history of law how and when it is reasonably to limit the amount of damages in case of breach.

  The general principle of full compensation originates in the main purpose of private law, restoring the violated financial situation. At the same time in business relations it often happens that damages occurred as consequences of breach highly exceed the contractual interest of the party and generate indirect damages independent from the violator’s influence. This is considered to be the starting point of the dilemma about restricting the damages availably for compensation.

  Full compensation and its relation to breach of a contract occurred in the Hungarian jurisprudence many times. Miklós Világhy suggested the reconsideration of full compensation in contract law in 1971. Attila Harmathy also suggested the implementation of foreseeability clause in the rules of contract law as the ‘best possible way to treat business relations between the parties’.

  Due to the historic and social differences various forms of foreseeability are known in the legal systems.

  The study examines the development of foreseeability, its first codification in the French Napoleonic Code Civil, its application in the law of the USA and some significant sentences of English courts. The first application of foreseeability was in the infamous Hadley v. Baxendale case, in which an English court worked out the meaning of contemplation rules. In the case of Victoria Laundry Ld. v. Newman Industries Ld. (1949) the court defined the meaning of foreseeability. According to the sentence of the case damages are limited to those that were foreseeable for the party at the time of entering a contract. The study also analyzes the German model of restricting damages of breach. The German theory ensures the possibility of exoneration for the violator if the other party failed to give proper information about the unusual danger of breach in the particular case. If the entitled party acted intentionally, the German law accepts exoneration. The essay demonstrates the adequate causality conception of the German law. This theory states that an act can only be the probable cause if – due to the normal and reasonable procession – it is able to cause such consequence. In our opinion foreseeability gives a stricter and much better solution of restricting damages with a more objective measurement for the obliged party on how to calculate his behavior in a certain contractual relation. The amount of risk can be predicted if the rules of damages for breach are based on foreseeability rather than adequate causality.

  The new Hungarian Civil Code plans to establish objective liability in contract law. The only exoneration can be the successful reference to unavoidable external cause. Beside this stricter liability the new Civil Code also introduce the possibility of limitation in damages, the application of foreseeability clause. This seems to be a significant preference for the obliged party. As in the Hungarian legal history foreseeability clause was never used, it is an essential question how judicature will interpret the rule in practice. In our opinion for an adequate application of the new clause it is necessary to take a closer look at the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the Principles of European Contract Law (PECL) and the interpretation in the American and English case law. This study tries to give some help for it.

• The syndicate agreement

  45-57

  Krisztina Nagy Barna

  Views:

  232

  Before the new codex of civil law the law of business associations was cogent, that is why the syndicate agreement became a popular contract again. Yes, I would like to emphasize again, because in the past decade, after the commercial law became valid, this type of agreement and cooperation, what was regulated by the syndicate agreement was well known in the Hungarian civil law. Namely this commercial law had a provision, which said, that every occasional associations i.e. civil association or consortiums, are actually civil associations not business associations. The bottom line is, they are contractual collaborations, with one purpose, to make profit. If someone comes to make this kind of cooperation/collaboration, it has to be regulated by a syndicate agreement.

  After the WWII, the syndicate agreement was not popular. By the time when the first law of business association entered into force, this type of cooperation reached high popularity, because of the cogent rules, in respect of the private limited company. This is the reason why the syndicateswith vote became so popular,and they will be after a dispositive civil codex.

  First I would like to present syndicate agreement of company law, second I would like to give a brief overview about the syndicate agreement of public law.

• Controversial Elements of Civil Law in Local Government Regulations

  2-11

  Zsuzsanna Árva

  Judit Szabó

  Views:

  132

  Local 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.

• A general overview of the article 6 paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights based on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

  Orsolya Rónai

  Views:

  121

  The most important human rights were firstly defined by the French Declaration from 1789. These rights are called as first generation rights, because they guarantee the most important civil and political rights of people. The states mostly act passive in order to protect them. They create acts on their protection, special mechanisms for enforcing them. We can state that every field of law is based upon them and helps protecting the human rights.

  The right to a fair trial is a first generation human right. Its regulation scheme is very complex; therefore it is a hard and a complex task to define the importance and the key functions of this right, because the laws on it are varied. Besides civil procedural law, international law, EU-law and – within national legal systems – constitutional law has also been dealing with the right to a fair trial.

  In the field of international law many international and regional treaties exist on the enforcement of procedural rights. In my paper I examined the European Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter: ECHR). The ECHR is an international treaty on the protection of human rights. It was born under the auspices of the Council of Europe in 1950, Rome. From 1959 its control mechanism is the European Court of Human Rights.

  In my paper I examined the proper interpretation and the actual application of the ECHR art. 6. par. 1based on the work of the international court.The article 6 of ECHR is about the right to a fair trial. In par. 1 the Convention gives a list of the most common features of a fair trial: (1) a fair and public hearing; (2) with a reasonable time; (3) the tribunal must be established by law and must meet with the requirements of independency and impartiality; (4) and finally the judgement shall be pronounced publicly. It enshrines the principle of the rule of law, upon which such a society is based and built.

  The first chapter deals with problem of the interpretation of the article. I tried to give the most convenient statements, which I defined upon the case law of the ECHR. After the question of interpretation is answered, the third chapter tries to give an overview of the applicability of article 6.In this section I cited many cases of the ECHR, because the Court has been developing the question of applicability in its case law. It is because it considers the Convention as a living-organism, so the article 6. needed to be interpreted again and again during these decades.

• Simplification of civil procedures in the European Union, the regulation of small claims procedures in particular

  Anna Nyilas

  Views:

  41

  Introduced 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.

• Atypical Contracts in Hungary and Serbia

  1-16

  Tekla Papp

  Attila Dudás

  Views:

  107

  The paper analyzes the notion and types of atypical contracts, primarily in the Hungarian and
  Serbian law, but also in wider, European perspective. The analysis sheds light on the different
  terms used in different legal systems to denominate contracts that do not fit explicitly into the
  range of nominate contracts, that is into the range of contract-types envisaged by the civil
  code or code of obligations, respectively. According to the Hungarian legal literature, all civil
  law contracts are divided into two main groups: nominate and innominate contracts. The
  former group is further divided into the categories of typical and atypical contracts, while the
  latter into the categories of mixed contracts and de facto innominate contracts.
  The authors conclude that there is a tendency in Europe, both in the jurisprudence, the
  legislation and the application of law, to create a unified and coherent law of contracts, which
  affects the range of atypical contracts as well. Most notably, the Draft Common Frame of
  Reference, the normative proposal of the Study Group on a European Civil Code and the
  Research Group on EC Private Law (Acquis Group), contains model rules on franchise, timesharing,
  commercial agency and treatment contracts, just as rules on electronic commerce, on
  the one hand. The legislation of the European Union, on the other, aims at the highest possible
  level of harmonisation of laws which, from the aspect of protection of consumers and
  competition law, affects the range and statutory content of atypical contracts. Finally, the
  paper refers to a series of decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union that tackle
  certain features of the atypical contracts, whereby the Court in the determination of issues of
  contract law applies a rather functional approach.

• Lack of Balance In Contract Law: the State as Contractual Party

  Ágnes Enikő Béky

  Views:

  291

  Contractual relations mean balanced cooperation between the parties. Right and obligations on both sides are equal. This seems to be a classic essential of contracts. As of many among the terms and condition in contract law, special situations clam for a different perspective. This essay is about a unique problem in contract law that origins from the ancient dilemma about the role of the state in private law relations.

  State as a sovereign has original power and hierarchic connection to citizens. In the field of constitutional law, public administration law, criminal law it is necessary to transfer certain right to the state and allow it determining one-sided obligations that cannot be changed in a particular relation. The theory of state immunity failed in the 20th century in private law. Since jurisprudence makes a difference between the role of the state as a merchant and a sovereign, we cannot maintain the old immunity rights of the state anymore.

  In the essay we examine three specific questions in connection with state participation in contracts. The first part of our study analyzes the strange legal arguments in a famous Hungarian case, called the Subway case. In this case the reasoning of the Supreme Court denied the balanced elements in a private contract and accepted a redefined theory of state immunity in private relations. Although there is a strong political content in the story and right after the criticized decision the Hungarian Civil Code was modified to clear the facts, we want to prove that even today state participation can cause interferences in the coherent theory of contracts.

  A specific contract type is examined in the second chapter of the essay, the concession agreement. This contract is far from the balanced theory of party positions due to its unique nature and content. We emphasize many different aspects in mixing private and public law nature of provisions and rules. Concession agreement is an excellent example to demonstrate extra-rights on the side of the state.

  Finally we spare some words on authority contracts in which state authorities can manage debates in public administration procedures with using the private law nature of contracts.

• Thoughts about software as a patent

  Mihály Petkó

  Views:

  56

  I’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.

• Thoughts on the successions of the business shares

  János Dúl

  Views:

  94

  The 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.

• 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.

• The downing of flight MH-17 over Ukraine: analysis from the perspective of the Chicago Convention on international civil aviation – Summary

  Zoltán Papp

  Views:

  83

  This paper addresses the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 in 2014 from the perspective of the Chicago Convention on international civil aviation. Two issues are closely examined namely the applicability of Article 3bis on prohibiting the use of force by states against civil aircraft to the specific case and States’ obligation to close the airspace to civil aviation over conflict zones.

  If the assumption of the Joint Investigation Team is correct in that flight MH-17 was shot down from a territory held by separatist groups it will be a legally challenging task to prove the necessary link to Russia requried by international law to determine state responsability for the breach of Article 3bis. The fact that the International Court of Justice has never delivered a judgement on merits concerning aerial incident cases due to the lack of jurisdiction does not advance the prospect for a reassuring conclusion of the case concerning flight MH-17 from the perspective of international aviation law.

  The obligation to close the airspace by the state exercising sovereignty over the airspace over conflict zones is not spellt out explicitly in the Chicago Convention. States responsible for the airspace should however close their airspace if the airspace in question is not safe for civil aviation. The critical question remains whether the state responsible for the airspace has all the relevant information at its disposal when making the complex decision about closing the airspace. In case of a non-international armed conflict non-state actors are not obliged under the Chicago Convention to share aviation safety related information with the enemy state responsible for the airspace under international law over the conflict zone.

  It is hereby proposed that binding regulations should be adopted either in the field of international air law or humanitarian law to the effect that during an armed conflict non-state actors co-operate in information sharing for the sake of guaranteeing the safety of (international) air traffic.

• Monist theory in copyright law of Hungary

  Mihály Petkó

  Views:

  71

  Examining 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.

• Civil law notaries within the organization of Roman Catholic Church

  55-65

  Henriett Nagy

  Views:

  113

  The current, traditional Latin-type civil law notaries do not exist within the organisation of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the ecclesiastical “notary” and the concept, function and activities of the civil law notary may be related, and even made parallel, which may support the idea of some common origin or development. My article discusses the reason why we may still speak of persons having quasi notarial competence within the church. Also, it purportsto describe the diplomatic mission of the Vatican, the tasks of the embassy, touching on the issue of legalization as well; moreover, it draws a parallel between the ecclesiastical clerk and the civil law notary from the aspect of civil legal principles, such as impartiality and independence, comparing them also in terms of appointment and similar elements concerning attestations. It covers the rules governing the preparation of instruments and the certification of copies in more detail, as well as the procedural function of the ecclesiastical clerk, the similarities concerning archives and the custody of documents, and finally presents the issue of removability and termination of office.

• 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.

• Thoughts about the new directions of European contract law

  Ágnes Enikő Béky

  Views:

  58

  On the field of contract law the European Union started a wide legislative effect at the end of the 20th Century. Despite of the originally economic and public legal goals of the Communities recently the competence of the EC institutions conquest a major field in the area of private law. To ensure the fast and non-problematic acceptance of these directives concerning to contract law EC chose two important solutions. Most of the directives focus on the neglected area of the so-called atypical contracts (hawk contracts, e-commerce contracts, leasing contracts, factoring contracts, etc.). As these contractual forms were born in the hands of business actors, most of the European civil codes do not deal with them in an explicit way. As a gap of law this area is the best approach to create unified legal institutions in all Member States’ legislation. The other relevant factor is the law of consumer protection. This is not only a fashionable topic in Europe but a rather underdeveloped issue in – especially – the new Member States. Almost all legal institutions in the EC directives in connection with contract law contain a strong link to protecting customers. As and indirect effect, these new institutions (such as consumer’s right to withdrawal) found their ways in the national codes to be flagships applicable for all consumer contracts. This essay contains thoughts about these relevant changes in approaching contract law from the rather unique EC perspective.

• Enforceability of the civil law in connection with organ donation, the lack of legal framework

  Nóra Kiss

  Views:

  62

  Developments in the last centuries in the fields of pharmacy and surgery have had a beneficial effect on the treatment of various diseases and injuries. As a result these two areas have attracted the support and admiration both of the scientific world and the general public.

  The examination of the effects of taking part by human beings has become unavoidable in the healing process. This relationship is unusually complex regards scientific opportunities and fragile in respect of people’s defencelessness.

  Important legal background material is available today relating to organ transplantations. It must be recognized, however, that this legal corpus has been a long time in the making and is still taking shape even today. Although people are trying to establish suitable legal framework for medical law, there are still some weak points and „prejudices”. Nowadays it is necessary to make an attempt at reconciling medical science and law not forgetting about the fact that their approaches are different.

  Medical law is not just about damages. Informing about the topic, the rights and the possibilities, preventing the trials: all of these things are more important. First of all, this is a life-saving procedure and money can not „repair” the problem in that case. Although it sounds cliché, it is true: you can not replace the unpurchasable organ by money. On the other hand, this should be a teamwork between the donors and recipients. They have to cooperate. The „job” of the law – which tries to be objective while it makes rules- should be to consider both views.

  It is well-known that the waitinglists are very long. What is the reason? What kind of solution is able to make the waiting-time shorter? These are very serious questions but the efficient transplantation is the most important. Transplantation is one thing and surviving it is another. And top of all that there is the problem of the „tragedy of the transplantation”: it is often said that donors have no rights. Which should/ can be preferred : the right to live or the right to voluntarism?! Can you decide which system (opt-in or opt-out donation system) gives better solution?!

  Giving a right answer is not so easy. Opt-out system may increase the level of available organs but it does not mean necessarily that there will be more organs for donation with absolute certainty. That is why you can not say simply that the „donor-licence” is a bad idea. There are lot of „ingredients” you should consider: technical developments, public education and last but not least social acceptance. According to the law in the opt-out system doctors should not ask the relatives about their opinions but it is said they usually do it. Is this an efficient system?!

  In my opinion an effective „dialogue” is needed -not only between law and medical science but between the organ donation systems, too- for the sake of a „flexible” legal background which can take part actively in our everydays in the 21st century. 

• Regulatory issues of intellectual property rights

  27-33.

  György Csécsy

  Views:

  166

  The study finds that the regulation of intellectual property is dominated by civil law rules. The old Civil Code expressed the correlation with the law of intellectual property and regulated the legal protection of know-how, however, the legal material could be found in the separate legal acts organically related to it. The new Civil Code, Act V of 2013 is no longer entitled as intellectual property rights but “copyright and industrial property rights”, and know-how has been protected as a form of trade secret. The homogeneous nature of copyright is broken by Act XCIII of 2016, which provides for collective rights management. In the field of industrial property protection, the most problematic legal institution was know-how. The LIV Act of 2018, which was born after the rules of the new Civil Code, opens a new chapter in the regulation of know-how. In this connection, the law transposes Directive 2016/943/EU into the Hungarian law. The legislator therefore chose the solution that it has incorporated the new conceptual approach, legal institutions, and rules of procedure for the protection of business secrets into national law not by creating them in the Civil Code but by creating new legislation. In this way, the private secrets of natural and legal persons will continue to enjoy the protection of personal rights, while trade secrets and know-how will enjoy protection based on the logic and sanction system of intellectual property protection.

• Act on Business Advertising Activity and the protection of inherent rights under Hungarian civil law

  Tibor Kiss

  Views:

  115

  There 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.

• The comparison of the civil law liability for the actions of courts and the civil law liability of attorneys in view of the standard of attributability

  128-148.

  Zsolt Zsurzsa

  Views:

  158

  It is a basic requirement of society that those who are infringed upon in exercising their rights, may enforce the sanctions of the infringement in a judicial process. This process is mainly executed by state courts in most legal systems, which are supposed to settle legal disputes by interpreting the relevant laws, and by taking the relevant case law into consideration. However, this is a complex process that requires professional legal knowledge from the parties. Attorneys are meant to be those professionals, who help people seeking justice to obtain their respective compensation, and also with other problems requiring legal expertise. The attorneys shall also execute this ask to the best of their knowledge. In some cases, however, this legal enforcement process may fail, which may result in the person seeking legal advice or compensation to lose its opportunity to pursue its claim permanently.
  This case might happen as a result of the actions or omissions of courts, or that of attorneys. In these cases, it is logical that the liability of these two actors of justice for the parties’ damages may be decided upon by assessing the quality of work that has led to a person suffering material damages. It would be easy to assume that the standard for the reasonable conduct for both actors is very high. However, apparently the standard for the reasonable conduct of courts seems to be a lot lower than that of attorneys in the judicial practice. In practice, only in case of the most severe infringements of courts may the injured parties receive compensation for damages, while a lot less severe infringement – or even quite the same infringements – may result in the attribution of the attorney’s liability.
  I intend to analyze this difference in the civil liability of the two actors in the light of the legal background, legal practice and the different tasks of courts and attorneys as well as the reasons of this phenomenon, and form an opinion on whether it can be justified or this practice should be discouraged. To do so, I analyze the relevant Hungarian judicial practice and legal science, and cite some foreign examples as well.

• Mortgage and credit guarantee registry

  15-26

  Fanni Ferenczi

  Views:

  172

  Analyzing th esystem of mortgage we must reach back to the Roman Law. At that era it had been possible to pledge liabilities, rights and moreover aggregated asset, property. Mortgage is a long term institute of Hungarian Private Law as well. Paragraphs 251 – 269 of Act IV of 1959 on the Civil Code of the Republic of Hungary regulates mortgage in the Law of Obligations, placed among collaterals. In the last two decades the old Civil Code of the Republic of Hungary has been modified twice. Act V of 2013on the Civil Code of the Republic of Hungary weakens but definitely rewritten the principles of lending. Regulation of mortgage and the system of chattel mortgage registry has significantly changed. Several novelty has been introduced therefore the system of chattel mortgage registry was reformed too. Detailed regulations of credit guarantee registry in Act CCXXI of 2013 and Act 18/2014. (III. 13.) KIM has also been accepted correspondingly to the previous changes.

• 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).