Search
Search Results
-
Thoughts about software as a patent
Views:45I’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.
-
The importance of the internationalisation in the higher education
Views:141The internationalisation of the Hungarian higher education has a crucial role in the overall operation of the Hungarian higher educational system. The increasing presence of the international students at the Hungarian universities can alleviate the negative impact of the demographic decrease of the secondary students’ number in the country and can help the higher educational institutions to secure their needs in order to sustain their operation – mostly in an economic way.
Several dilemmas emerge with the internationalisation of the higher education globally. One of these problems is the provision of the equal access to international higher education. If the equal access is not provided – and honestly this is the actual situation in most of the countries – than the differences in the social background of the students can have a great impact on the international education possibilities. Those students who have the possibility to study abroad can earn that much benefits during their education which is unavailable for those students who can only learn in their home countries. This tendency with respect to the cultural reproduction theory can widen the gap between the different social groups and so called social classes based on economic but not knowledge or talent differences.
One of the most important elements and prerequisites of the successful functioning of the international higher education is the effective and suitable legal background. Hungary as a member state of the European Higher Education Area and of the European Union have several benefits from its memberships because this institutional and legal background will make the diplomas issued by Hungarian universities accepted in several countries. The international comparability of the knowledge incorporated by the Hungarian diplomas can be granted by the harmonisation of the different acts and the legal systems of the member states. The Hungarian results on this field are impressive.
Based on these information we can analyse the importance of the international higher education in case of the labour market. One of the leading occupation tendencies in the 21st century is the internationalisation of the labour market. The companies are trying to employ the best workforce available on the labour market and the lack of suitable workforce pushes them to find the suitable employees abroad – or on the domestic universities and they have much more possibilities if international students are also studying there.
-
The Hungarian system of sanctions in connection with copyright law comparising to directive 2004/48 EC about validation of intellectual property right
Views:76Copyright 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.
-
The Abolitionist Tendency in Hungary: the History of Capital Punishment between the Sixties and the Eighties
Views:80The capital punishment was poena ordinaria throughout the history of Hungary. Nevertheless, it was applied most frequently not in the Middle Ages, but in the 20th century. There have never been so many legal executions in our country, than during the World War One and Two, however in lack of reliable statistical data the precise number of the death penalties is not known even in recent years. There were numerous death penalties imposed in the Fifties as well, mainly in the years of retaliation after the Revolution of 1956. Only in 1961 did the situation get back to normal, when implementation of martial law stopped for good and all. In this year the Parliament of the People’s Republic of Hungary passed the Act V of 1961 on the Criminal Code that permitted the infliction of the death penalty for altogether thirty-one criminal offenses (for nine crimes against the state, two crimes against peace and humanity, eight military offenses and twelve common offenses), but this sanction in no cases was qualified as compulsory, the judge had the possibility to impose an imprisonment sentence for 10-15 years in each times. The Criminal Code’s Amendment, the Law Decree No. 28 of 1971 reduced the number of the crimes punishable by death to twenty-six, although a new capital felony, seizure of aircraft, was introduced as well. In 1978 a new Criminal Code, namely the Act IV of 1978, was drafted in which death was also ordered for twenty-six offenses, of them for a new one, Act of Terrorism. Meanwhile the number of the death penalties carried out persistently decreased (in the Sixties there were 129 executions, in the Seventies there were 47 and in the Nineties there were 32). However, the process of the abolition actually started only in 1983 when a conference was organized by the Hungarian Lawyers Alliance to discuss the future of the capital punishment in the Hungarian criminal law. Nevertheless, the Hungarian abolitionist movement gained strength in deed when the League Against Capital Punishment was formed in 1989. In the subsequent year the League asked the newly established Hungarian Constitutional Court to declare the death penalty unconstitutional on the ground that it was contrary to the right to life protected by Article 54 of the Hungarian Constitution. Eventually this happened in 1990 by Constitutional Court Decision No. 23-AB of 31 October 1990. From this time the practice of capital punishment is irrevocably forbidden in Hungary.
-
The polluter pays principle in the Hungarian civil law, with special regard to the liability for hazardous operations
89-106Views:84The polluter pays principle is one of the basic principles of international environmental law
mentioned directly firstly only in 1972, however the principle were declared in 1929 in the
well-known Trail Smelter Case. The polluter pays is an economical principle, and in the
meaning of this principle the costs of pollution shall be shared between industrial companies
and consumers. Taking into consideration that after applying this principle price of products
will be higher than before, industrial companies shall reduce their pollution in the interest of
their (and their products’) competitiveness. Seeing the development of the principle in EU
level, the polluter pays were mentioned first time in the first „programme of action of the
European Communities on the environment” adopted in 1973. However it is questionable
what polluter, pollution, obligation of polluter and costs of pollution mean exactly, and for
this reason this principle cannot be applied automatically.
In this study I try to examine how the polluter pays principle works in the Hungarian national
law, especially in the Hungarian Civil Code. For this reason I examine the applicability of
Article 345 of the Hungarian Civil Code („Damages Originating from Hazardous
Operations”), with special regard to the case-law of the Hungarian civil courts. I also try to
introduce the possibilities and obligations of the public prosecutor in environmental issues. -
A new draft of classification of claims: Reinstating of Bankruptcy Rules in the Provisional Judicial Rules
66-77.Views:116After the failure of the Hungarian Independence War of 1848-1849, the neoabsolutism which was the ruling of the Franz Joseph I from 1851 to 1860 reformed the Hungarian legal system. The emperor aimed at legal unification of Austrian Empire therefore he introduced the Austrian codes to Hungary. In 1860 the Austrian emperor eased the absolutistic government attitude with the issuing of the October Diploma and restored the Hungarian jurisdiction and public administration system which functioned before 1847. He charged the Lord Chief Justice, gr. György Apponyi who was recently appointed by him with the realisation of this restitution. That’s why Apponyi summoned a meeting for the Hungarian lawyers in 1861 which called the Conference of the Lord Chief Justice. This assembly specified the material and procedural law for the Hungarian courts.
In this paper I examine the effect of this conference on the bankruptcy law, and I present the provisions of the Conference of Lord Chief Justice concerning bankruptcy law and the driving forces of the regulation based on the assembly’s records. The conference put into force the first Hungarian Bankruptcy Act (Act 22 of 1840) instead of the Austrian provisional bankruptcy procedure. The Hungarian literature typically includes about this regulation that the assembly only adjusted material and procedural rules of the Bankruptcy Act to the requirements of the civil era. I demonstrated with archival sources and views of conference’s participants that the modifications generated bigger changes in the Hungarian bankruptcy practice. In addition, the first appearance of the deed of arrangement without bankruptcy proceedings in Hungary was connected to the neoabsolutism of which the Hungarian lawyers expressed their opinions.
-
A short study on Danish Act on Names
Views:32In 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.
-
Comparison between the requirements of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Hungarian judicial practice in terms of equal treatment and/or the breach of thereof in the field of labor law
Views:236Employment and occupation are crucial to ensuring equal opportunities for all and in large measure contribute to the full participation of citizens in economic, social and culture life. However, many cases of discrimination have been identified in the field of employment and the labour market.
In this study I try to examine how the equal treatment works in the EU Law and Hungarian national law, and I try to present the case-law of the European Court of Justice and the Hungarian Courts in this area. The first part of the study deals with the definition of key concepts (direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment), and include its legal background – with respect to the directives of the European Parliament and the Council, and the Hungarian legislation. The second part tries to describe the legal concept of indirect discrimination, mentioned as justification (statutory derogation, objective justification). And finally I try to present the special burden of proof, which is used in discrimination cases.
-
The autonomous country-towns of the Hungarian Plain in the Turkish times
69-74Views:52My essay is on the development of autonomy of the country-towns and the changes of their relationship with the Hungarian county, the land lords, and the Turks. My research is based on the analysis of original account books of Debrecen and Nagykőrös. The situation of these towns was special in the 17th century, among other things, because of their geographical location. Debrecen situated at the border of the three big powers and Nagykőrös placed inside of the Turkish Empire. Later the country-town leaders were able to pay the cost of autonomy. The county administration system disappeared in the Turkish territory, but the functions of it were continued. For example the assembly of Pest county was hold in Fülek which was outside of the county. The administrative bodies of the counties worked according to the old Hungarian regulations. Turkish ruling was considered temporary. It was hard to keep contact between the county and the towns. It was one of the reasons of establishing municipal self government. These towns regularly paid tax to the Hungarian land lords and a higher amount to the Turks. The land lords who escaped from the Turkish territory were still in power. The towns paid the tax to the lords in a lump sum. The lords didn’t exercise their power. The town leaders recognized this situation and reached economical and later political autonomy that was very expensive. After the end of Turkish ruling the counties (re)expanded but the local self governing system was maintained.
-
Jurisdictional Constants and Doubtful Questions in Recent Hungarian Jurisdiction of Damages for Non-Pecuniary Loss
Views:54Since 1992, date of Constitutional Court’s decision No. 34/1992, certain rules cannot be found in Hungarian Civil Code. There is only a part of a sentence that gives right to any injured person to claim damages in case of personal injuries. More than 10 years after the cassation we are able to look through the legal practice in connection with damages for non-pecuniary loss. The recent re-codifying process plans a brand new institution to substitute and follow damages for non pecuniary loss: pain award. To establish a decent regulation of pain award, jurisdiction of the last decade cannot be neglected. This essay aims to gather typical and crystallized methods of judgements in certain cases, which could be seen as essential and accepted unwritten rules of jurisdiction concerning this field of damages.
One of the most difficult problems to solve is the question of amount. This field of damages for non-pecuniary loss is always problematic, because all of the cases are different. Although there are similarities between cases if we examine just damages themselves, but due to the difference of human personality it is almost impossible to give exact phrases and rules to help our judges. We can say that highest amounts are generated by assaults against physical integrity and life. Examination during a legal procedure concentrates on the stress caused by the injury, number of injured rights, age of the injured person and the durability of the harm. If the injured person contributed to the injury, it generates reduced amount of damages.
Method of compensation is really simple for the first time. Hungarian legal system knows two different types for the method of damages: in kind or in money. Former one is inapplicable for non-pecuniary losses. If we compensate in money, there are two solutions: injured person can get the whole sum immediately or we can choose allowance as well. The adaptation of allowance is rather small in Hungary, in spite of the advantages this legal institution could offer. It does not mean res iudicata, so it is flexible and offers opportunity to adjust to changed circumstances in the future: both duration and amount of allowance could be changed.
It is an interesting question whether personal circumstances of the misdoer could be examined when calculating the amount of allowance. The answer is not unambiguous. Civil law focuses on compensation for the injured party, not the punishment of the misdoer. In spite of this essential lemma, it is necessary to take into account the solvency of the defendant, if we want the plaintiff to get the adjudged amount really.
Youth is not the only reason of allowance, sometimes old age could be a well-based legal ground for application of this method of compensation as well. It is really important to examine the personal circumstances of the injured party to choose between these two methods: which one serves the aim of compensation, moderation of lost joy of life the most.
Civil Code precludes the possibility to apply both methods together for the same plaintiff. In my opinion the solution of German Civil Code (BGB) should be considered. BGB allows both methods together. It means that possibilities could be wider and fit better to the actual case and its circumstances.
Although obligation of damages has two parties traditionally, in a legal procedure of damages for non-pecuniary loss this bipolar situation can be proven false. On the part of the misdoer it is an interesting question what kind of damages can be blamed the state. In Hungary we can meet rules order the responsibility of the state in the field of medical damages or damages for unlawful arrest and illegal imprisonment. Amounts of damages are the highest in these situations.
On the part of the injured person an often argued problem the position of secondary victims’ claims. These claims are always problematic, because personality rights belong closely to the person himself and there is no possibility to inherit them. Hungarian Civil Code admits compensation for relatives only in case of injuring reputation of a dead person. There are several decisions in which courts admit these claims on the ground of their sui generis base. It is a decent solution, but because of the uneven jurisdiction it needs codifying.
We can say that there are a lot of jurisdictional constants in Hungary in connection with damages for non-pecuniary loss. These are easy to collect and most of them are able to be codified in a strictly non-taxative style. But this examination showed that doubtful questions can also be found in Hungary especially the application of allowance, claims of secondary victims. To arrange these problems, starting point should be jurisdiction itself.
-
Constitutional processes, a comparative study of the Hungarian constitutional processes (1989-2011)
Views:145In my research paper I study the Hungarian constitutional processes. The subjects of my analysis are three periods, namely the change of the political system in 1989, the constitutional attempts from 1994 to 1998, and the constitutional process between 2010 and 2011.
The processes are examined on the basis of the two notions: “legality” and “legitimacy”. Under the concept “formal legality”, I mean the legal validity of the constitutional process; i.e. whether the constitutional process takes place in accordance with the current legislation. The concept of “legitimacy” has two aspects. On the one hand, empirical legitimacy investigates whether the citizens de facto accept the constitution and value it as respectable independently of the normative motives of its acceptance. On the other hand, normative legitimacy examines whether the constitution is based on justifiable principles and whether it might be considered as legally binding.
The constitutional process in 1989 - aimed at establishing a democratic transition – took place within round-table discussions of the representatives of the old system and the strengthened opposition. As a result of the radical changes, the democratic Constitution was established in Hungary and the multi-party system also developed. The outcome of the discussions was the general supervision of the Constitution. Formally, there was only an amendment to the Constitution in 1989; however, as regard its content, a completely new norm was established.
Since the change of the political system in 1989, the idea of creating a new constitution emerges again and again in the Hungarian public life. In the course of the elections in 2010, a party alliance (in which both parties represented the same political line) reached the required two-thirds majority in the Parliament, and aimed at establishing a new constitution. The result of the constitutional process is a completely new constitution (both the form and the content of the previous constitution were changed).
All things considered, it can be stated that the amendment to the Constitution in 1989 was accepted lawfully by the Parliament of the old system, i.e. the constitutional process was legal, and in a normative sense, a legitimate Constitution was created. In 2011, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország Alaptörvénye) was adopted on the basis of the procedure determined by the Constitution in 1989, i.e. the constitutional process was legal, though; the present research paper highlights some elements of the constitutional process that might be criticized. At present, the legitimacy of the Fundamental Law of Hungary is controversial from both sociological and normative perspectives.
-
Discrimination or value creation? – The real value of the wages in the Hungarian public work programme
Views:118The aim of this paper is to scrutinise the wages in the Hungarian public work programme – probably the most controversial anomaly of the Act CVI of 2011 on public work and the modification of the act on public work and other acts. Furthermore, the study analyses the effectivity of the value creation in this programme and exposes the passive sight of the public work.The paper identifies the public work programme as a hybrid contract of the Hungarian labour law and detected the social side of this kind of legal instrument of the active labour market policies. The research also focuses on Order no. 3175/2016 of the Hungarian Constitutional Court and highlights the discriminative dangers of the wages. To emphasize my opinion I set the European Pillar of Social Rights in the middle of the research and concluded that the national regulation is not even enough to create effective reintegration to the primal labour market. In my opinion, to increase the effectivity of this program, we need to use the principles of the Social Pillar and the national labour law system. The conclusion of the paper can be a possible way to highlight the value creation in the public work programme.
-
The Notarial Examination of the Order for Payment Requests
14-20Views:1212010 marked the opening of a new chapter inthe more than 120 years history of the Hungarian order for payment procedure. Breaking with the Hungarian traditions, the notaries became competent to carry out these procedures instead of courts. The Hungarian Chamber of Civil Law Notaries established an accessible web-based computerised system for support of procedures. The registration of requests, the assignment of cases to notaries and the administrative handling of cases are carried out through this electronic network. The legislator’s aims when modified the regulation of this legal instrument was to reduce the duration of order for payment procedures and the workload of courts. In this paper I give an overview of the content of order for payment requests and of the practical experience of the notaries in connection with the examination of requests.
-
Contract law effects of the Digital Single Market Strategy on the Hungarian civil law
108-120Views:124The necessity of framing contract law fulfilling the expectations of the digital era is among the main purposes of the Digital Single Market Strategy, that has been introduced by the European Committe in 2015. Within the Strategy two directive proposals have been presented: the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects concerning contracts for the online and other distance sales of goods. These include the concept of conformity with the contract, the meaning of which raises several questions to be answered regarding the Hungarian legal system.
My treatise focuses on the investigation of the criteria of conformity with the contract with special regard to the definiton of the directive proposals. In the first place I outline the elements of conformity with the contract, then I attempt to create a comprehensive definition of it. Thereafter I analyse the rules of the Hungarian Civil Code that are connected to the category of the conformity. Furthermore, I investigate the necessity of the integration of the conformity with the contract into the the Hungarian civil law. Finally, I present a future legislative concept that could be regarded as a possible way of adaptation of this legal category.
-
A „távollétes ügyek” egyes elméleti és gyakorlati kérdései a büntetőeljárásban
Views:56The 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.
-
Domestic violence in a literary work (Zsigmond Móricz, It is nice and good at the end of the world)
66-76Views:500In my study I am going to present a rather complicated issue, namely a few problems of domestic violence based on a less-known short story by the Hungarian writer Zsigmond Móricz. I chose this story because it is still relevant today, it could even be set in 2017, as it basically depicts domestic violence in its complexity. This story by Móricz proves that the phenomenon of domestic violence is not at all new, given that in the beginning or the middle of the 20th century we can see the same complex social problem which present-day criminal law has to face. Hungarian society 50 or 100 years ago was not exempt from domestic violence either. We may also claim that the factors enhancing domestic violence were even stronger than today. The story aligns several dimensions of domestic violence, as it shows examples of both child and wife abuse. I am going to analyse the crimes depicted by Móricz according to the criminal laws effective today, and I just tangentially touch upon the judgment of the offences in the age of writing. This way, first I analyse the questions of child abuse, focusing on the right of punishment, which is still relevant in today’s criminal system as a cause for miscarriage. Then I present a detailed analysis of the bearing of case of partner abuse in the framework of violence in relationships, which exists in Hungarian criminal law since 2013.
-
Thoughts about accessory private prosecution
Views:68In Hungary the new code of criminal procedure established a new legal institution to the Hungarian legal system: accessory private prosecution. This kind of private prosecution gives opportunity to the afflicted person to continue penal procedure in case of negative sentences from investigation authorities. If the prosecutor or the investigation authority stops proceeding or the prosecutor sets aside, withdraws formal accusation, afflicted person can substitute them during a penal procedure and has a right to claim the continuation of it. Our valid code does not limit the field of crimes this legal institution of accessory private prosecution can be applied. But there are some strict reasons, which limit this right of the afflicted person. If the investigation authorities neglected formal accusation because of childhood, death, prescription, clemency, prohibition of ne bis in idem, accessory private prosecution cannot be applied.
Pros of accessory private prosecution can be found in the rights of afflicted persons. Criminal power of the state cannot be absolute, so we have to give the right for the injured to judge whether he insists on taking the responsibility of the perpetrator despite the opposite opinion of public bodies. This legal institution can help omissions of prosecutors to be remedied. Practicing this right depends on the stadium of the procedure. During the investigation period or the period of formal accusation reasons for accessory private prosecution are different.
According to the new rules of the code, applying an advocate in the procedure is an obligation for the afflicted person. This regulation ensures that the structure of penal proceedings cannot be changed basically. In a normal procedure there is always a professional expert, the prosecutor on the side of accusation. That is why the code does not permit accusation without applying an advocate.
Costs are interesting question in case of accessory private prosecution. In popular action procedures costs are paid by the state. When the afflicted person practices the right of accessory private prosecution, state pays in advance, but if perpetrator is acquitted or the court stops proceeding, costs should be paid by the private prosecutor himself. There are some rules to ease this burden for the afflicted person: if he has bad financial capacity and he can certify this circumstance, court can authorize him not to pay for the fee of the advocate.
There is a special question in connection with accessory private prosecution: representation of the state. In these procedures the afflicted person is the state or one of the state bodies itself. There are two points of view to answer the question: who is authorized to represent the state as an accessory private prosecutor during a penal procedure. First we have to make difference between the injuries: if the injury is against the state while practising public authority, the injured party is the state itself. But if the injury hit the state as a civil legal entity, a possessor, the right to claim is in the hand of that public body, which was entrusted to handle the injured property. This theory means that in case of injuries against the public author state, only the prosecutor can represent it, so there is no chance for accessory private prosecution.
The other solution for this problem has its starting point that in every crime against public property, accessory private prosecution can be applied. In this case the state can be represented by that part of it, which has interest. Although there are no jurisdiction in this question, because accessory private prosecution was established by the new code from 1st July 2003 after fifty years into the Hungarian legal practice. According to the regulations of the code, we can find the following sentence: afflicted person is whose right or legal interest was hurt or endangered by the crime. Analyzing this definition the argument can be read previously is decent for those situations, when we would like to find the legal representative of the state as an accessory private prosecutor.
Accessory private prosecution is a good solution that fits to the new directions of law development, to increase rights of the afflicted person. Naturally, time needs to become a well-adopted legal institution in Hungarian legal system after half a century silence.
-
Thoughts on the successions of the business shares
Views:73The 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.
-
Right to the fair trial in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights against Hungary, with special regard to the requirement of reasonable period of time
31-41Views:123As for the right to a fair trial sanctioned by the convention, our most determining deficiencies arise regarding the compliance with a reasonable period of time. Despite of the relatively small number of the Hungarian infringements of the European Convention on Human Rights, the expectation of sufficiently efficient dispositions eliminating the prolongation of the judicial procedures applies for Hungary as well.
In general, it can be concluded that the Hungarian legal system provides the basic human right to fair trial. This claim is supported by the low number of infringements in Hungary. In this study I sought to present the data related to the Hungarian cases proceeding at the European Court of Human Rights, as well as elementswarranting the emergence of the right to a fair trial assured by Article 6, together with the aspects during the monitoring of the cases of the prolongation of the judicial procedures respected by the Court of Strasbourg. Finally I aimed to delineate the aforesaid apropos of a representative and an exceptional case in respect of the practice of the Court as well.
-
Előreláthatósági klauzula a szerződések jogában
Views:57The 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.
-
Expropriation in the new Hungarian civil law codex
Views:115The 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.
-
Patent Law Contract and its effects in Hungarian Law
Views:43Significant changes have happened on the field of intellectual property law in the last few years. The emphasis placed on the material relations and economy became stronger. These changes caused that creations of the man came into the limelight. Of course the legal background became also very important.
We can feel the re-regulation of this legal field. Legal institutions became regulated in new Acts to be adjusted modified circumstances. There were several causes of the necessity of these changes. First of all, the new economic and social environment after the change of the regime claimed to modify the legal materials. On the other hand the international environment changed rapidly and it is still in progress. So the Republic of Hungary had to face with the obligations that are stated in international treaties and we had to put a strong emphasis on our member status in the European Union: EU regulations and directives. By now we can tell that re-codifying this area is over, we can only expect to small modification in the near future.
Modifications in most of the cases prepared for the future. But it does not mean that we can count on a very crystallized legal material. In the dynamically developing world of IP law it is not rare to use smaller modifications. We have to examine the legal practice too, that helps us finding the correct way in the fast changing economical and social relations. Performing the harmonization duty, legislator could not always take into consideration the national significances, legal practice. The lack of examining these circumstances can cause modifications in the legal material.
The Patent Law Treaty adopted at Geneva on June 1st, 2000. The provisions of the Treaty and the Regulations shall apply to national and regional applications for patents for invention and for invention and for patents of addition, which are filed with or for the Office of a Contracting Party. The Patent Law Treaty became applicable on April 28th, 2005.
Hungary joined the Treaty at the beginning, because of the need in 2008 to change the Hungarian patent law. The Treaty suggests the European Patent Convention, however in many ways it is the complementary. The Treaty gives types of applications permitted to be filed as international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, divisional applications of the types of applications referred to in item.
Earlier the rules of Hungarian patent law were complicated, the process of registry was less favorable for the patentee. The harmonization of process rules effects that the patentee cannot lose his patent rights. The new rules introduce an electronic process in patent law, which makes the process easier, cheaper, and faster. But not all the procedures became electronic: only the lodgment of petition. In the future that should be better to reach electronic procedure on every level.
The harmonization of patent rules means liberalization, the notification will be easier and faster, which effected growth in the trust of business. Process rules need more harmonization in the future, and hopefully the final goal will be one global process at in all member states of the European Union.
-
The Hungarian Regulation of Domestic Partnership and The Domestic Partnership Registry
29-35Views:168In 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.
-
Az élethez való jog néhány jogelméleti kérdéséről
65-73Views:109Nowadays in vitro fertilisation raises relevant controversies at the point of view of jurisprudence as well. The distinct approximations of in vitro embryos, such as to be considered as personae or objects, are also resources of several theoretical and pragmatical questions. It is essential to give a compendious summary about what kind of jurisprudental environment had been contributed to the intrumental comprehension of human embryos too, otherwise it is difficult to understand the scientific quandaries connected to the subject correctly. Merely thereafter the international and the Hungarian regulation of in vitro embryo’s status seems to able to be dissected, in particular the case-law of the Hungarian Constitutional Court related to the right to life and the constitutional funds of the oncurrent re-regulation in our country.
-
Higher education autonomy debates, questions and answers from the perspective of public administration (science)
27-48Views:63Although university autonomy has always been at the centre of international and Hungarian academic research, in Hungary the issue of higher education autonomy has mostly been examined in the legal literature in connection with legislative changes. Starting from 2020, several Hungarian universities have also started to change their models, which also meant a change of maintenance. These changes generated sharp social, political and legal debates, one of the central issues of which was autonomy.
However, higher education autonomy was not only a dominant issue in the Hungarian narrative, as the debates gained new momentum when the issue was placed in an international context at the end of 2022. The justification for the unique distinction of the Hungarian system has also raised many questions in the academic literature, especially in the light of the international concept of autonomy and in comparison, with other European examples, such as the Dutch. This paper questions the justification of this distinction by analysing the international concept of autonomy and examines the Hungarian legal processes from the perspective of the management of the maintenance of autonomy and compares them with the Dutch example.