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• Knowledge of Law in the Hungarian Population Today and a Half Century Ago – A Comparative Analysis based on Kálmán Kulcsár’s Empirical Survey of 1965

  11-28

  György Gajduschek

  Balázs Fekete

  Views:

  205

  Knowledge of law is certainly one component of legal culture. Due to the support of the Hungarian Research Funds (OTKA) the authors of this paper carried out a comprehensive empirical analysis of this issue in Hungary. In doing so they strongly relied on Kálmán Kulcsár’s findings and insights stemming from his pathbreaking studies half a century ago.

  The empirical study was carried out by the Szonda Ipsos Market and Opinion Research Institute in the framework of an omnibus questionnaire survey with a random sample of 1000 people in 2013. Thirteen questions essentially similar to certain questions used by Kulcsár in 1965 (for instance: Have you ever read a bill or an act? Have you ever participated in a judicial process? Who or which body enacts a bill in Hungary?) were posed in order to provide a possibility for the comparison of the actual results and those of Kulcsár.

  We found that the general level of knowledge of law had increased substantially in the past decades. Knowledge related to constitutional law is the prominent example of this growth and it can definitely be coupled with the functioning of the democratic political system in the last 25 years. However, except from constitutional law, the growth of legal knowledge is due almost solely to the increased level of education and not a generally improved legal consciousness of the society.

• Some Labour Law Aspects of Psychological Contract Theory

  50-69

  Kristóf Tóth

  Views:

  201

  The aim of this paper is to present the central-topics of psychological contract theory, focusing on the relevant labour law contexts. The main research method used is an examination of relevant studies, articles and monographs on the topic, a secondary analysis of empirical research data systematically compiled by the authors, and an exploration of the main labour law aspects and contexts. The difference between an employment contract and a psychological contract is that while the former is a written, legally binding contract, the latter is a theoretical, abstract construct that contains the mutual and implicit expectations of the parties. A psychological contract therefore falls into the category of "extra-legal" contracts, but in certain cases, especially in the event of breach of contract, it may have legal relevance.

• Towards a European Legal Scholarship. Recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) on the Development of Education and Research

  54-61

  Péter Sólyom

  Views:

  102

  The German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) in 2012 published its study „Perspectives of Legal Scholarship in Germany. Current Situation, Analyses, Recommendations”. The recommendations are preceded by empirical and quantitative descriptions that provide information on the current situation of legal study and research in Germany. The document emphasizes the importance of cooperation between theoretical and practical part of the legal education. The report considers that students should acquire the ability of critical approach to legal prac- tice instead of memorising the substantive legal rules.

• The main factors influencing the level of the knowledge of law

  71-95

  György Gajduschek

  Balázs Fekete

  Views:

  172

  The paper deals with the level of legal knowledge among the Hungarian population measured with a representative survey asking questions regarding the knowledge of certain constitutional, civil, administrative and procedural legal rules releant in everyday life. Our findings are compared to a research carried out in 1965, using the same questions. Furthermore we analysed the relationship of knowledge level as a dependent variable with (i) socio-demographic (gender, age, education, etc.), (ii) media consumption (some 30 written, electronic and internet-based items), (iii) interaction with the legal system (read a law, consulted with a lawyer, participated in a trial) and (iv) civic activity. We found that the level of education is crucial, and interaction with the legal system has some additional significant impact, too. All other independent variables seem to have less significance or no impact at all. The relative strength of explanatory variables has largely changed in the past decades and in some cases even the direction of impact altered (for example women seem to be more educated about the law nowadays, in a sharp contrast to the 1965 data.)

• Textual Empiricism and Analytical Legal Doctrine: Legal Analysis Sub Specie Linguae

  105-125

  László Blutman

  Views:

  111

  In the article the author outlines the basics of a legal methodology (called textempiricism and analytical legal doctrine), which is consistently language-oriented and empirical. It rests on a relatively simple, seemingly obvious assertion: in order to qualify as scientific proposition, legal propositions need to correlate to authoritative legal texts as empirical linguistic facts. This stance defines the necessary starting point for and primary direction of legal research as well as the terms of legal theorizing, or the methodological foundations of the critique of general legal statements.