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The framework for budgetary expenditure of local governments between 1993–2010 and after 2010
79-97Views:508The present study is an analysis of the budgetary expenditures of the Hungarian local governments between 1993 and 2010. One of its main objectives is the presentation of the most significant local public functions. The problem of borrowing and debt management of local governments cannot be ignored in this study. Based on the results of the study it is clear that the operational expenditures were pre-dominant meanwhile the local governments could not dedicate more money to the investment in different domains. The most important failures of the previous system were the unfavourable allocation of duties and the decreasing central support. After the adoption of the new Municipal Law, important financial changes put in place. As a tendency of the past few years it can be stated that the scope of local public tasks is narrowing (e.g. the primary education and the social security system were centralized) whilst the budgetary expenditures of local governments are decreasing. As a main conclusion the author states that the local financial autonomy was reduced during the last years.
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The Regulation of Screening of Foreign Direct Investments in the European Union
9-24Views:233This paper examines the framework and cooperation mechanisms set up by Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the Union. The Regulation merely gives a framework for the coordination of national legislation, and member states can still decide if they want to set up screening mechanisms and to screen foreign direct investments. The pandemic has accelerated these processes, and more and more European Union member states enacted legislation relating to the screening of foreign direct investments in strategic branches of the economy. The Commission has also issued a Guidance at the end of March 2020, in which it warns about the risk that the Coronavirus related economic shock might have on strategic industries, especially on healthcare related industries. At the same time, recognizing the importance of foreign direct investments for the economy, it pointed out in the Guidance the necessity to find a balance between the need for foreign capital and the protection of European Union strategic industries using appropriate screening tools.
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Opinion or statement of fact?
48-68Views:255Press correction is a special way to defend personality rights on the basis of civil law. Its main objective is that if someone states or rumours a false fact or makes a fact appear untrue about a person in a given publication, the affected person has the right to submit his claim – as soon as possible – in order to have a rectifying communication be given out in the particular publication showing which part of the injurious publication states false, unfounded facts or makes a fact appear untrue and what is the reality. If the publisher does not satisfy its duty to correct the injurious publication voluntarily, the affected person – in a short period – has the right to enforce his claim for press correction in an accelerated judicial procedure which allows only restricted production of evidence.
The most frequent question of the press correctional lawsuits is whether the content of the publication turns out to be a statement of fact or an opinion. The opinion, assessment, critique and debates about society, politics or art cannot serve as a basis for press correction. The statement of fact is a declaration about a given momentum of reality, the assertion or rumour that something has happened in a certain way or that something really exists. In opposition to the statement of fact, the opinion expresses a value judgement or critique, and false facts cannot be concluded from it even indirectly. It is hard to define on an objective basis if a declaration is a statement of fact or an opinion. As life creates a wide range of various situations, the developing legal interpretation by the judicial practice has a great impact especially as regards the distinction between a statement of fact and an opinion, the interpretation of the publication or the determination of the content and form of the press correction.
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Quantum Mechanics and Law. What Does the Failure of Environmental Regulation Teach Us?
60-82Views:226The article first of all holds that environmental regulation has failed. This is because it is too weak to prevent the overstepping of ecological boundaries by humanity. This legal regulation reflects that human behavior is psychopathological. This collective mental illness may originate from false self-identification. Therefore, the author reviews the outcomes of modern natural sciences, such as quantum physics, cosmology, and non-local consciousness research. These results give sufficient support to argue, despite the traditional paradigm of materialism, that some aspects of consciousness are not limited by the space-time continuum. Moreover, all consciousness, regardless of its physical manifestations, is part of the universal Consciousness. From these scientific results, in line with ancient scriptures, an Eternal Order has evolved, which can be described at least by four fundamental and universal truths. This Eternal Order should be taken into account by positive law, if humanity wants to reach fulfillment within the ecological limits of the Earth. -
Collection of Annotated Bibliographies (2016. Nr. 2)
113-146Views:197An annotated bibliography of recent Hungarian legal science books is published regularly (twice a year) in our journal. The annotation is a short, factual description of the usefulness of the book, which, in addition to bibliographic information, defines the genre and briefly outlines the subject matter and the results presented. The authors of the annotations are members of the Faculty of Law of the University of Debrecen (lecturers, PhD students or gradual students). The current issue presents the second part of the book descriptions of books published in 2016.
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Collision of Judicial Opinions in the Practice of the Curia
Views:35This article examines the 2/2022 PJE Unity Decision of the Curia from the perspective of divergent theoretical and dogmatical views expressed in minority opinions. The case study compares the dissenting opinions and the majority opinion of the judges and aims at demonstrating the fact that theoretical disagreement between judges has a huge impact on legal practice and on the issue of how judges decide cases. The hypothesis of the article is that – in hard legal cases – the reason for the differing opinions is the different theoretical convictions of judges. It seems evident that two legal practitioners, who have different views on cardinal issues of law, such as the concept or the purpose of law, interpret legal norms differently. Using the method of qualitative case analysis, the article analyses the arguments appearing in the justification of the decision.
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Editorial Preface
7-8Views:87The twenty-fifth issue of our journal is now in the hands of the esteemed reader. Already at the beginning of Pro Futuro, our editorial board set the goal of publishing issues in English from time to time. In 2019, we finally had the opportunity to do so, and we issued a call to the Hungarian professional audience to submit manuscripts in English. In 2021, we can now publish our third issue in English. We selected eight of the works received and edited them in the fourth issue of the journal in 2020.
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The Right to Maintain Contact within the Context of Fundamental and Personality Rights
Views:637It is self-evident that parents play an irreplaceable role in the lives of their children, influencing the child's physical, mental, and emotional well-being and behavior. It is therefore necessary that children maintain personal relations and direct contact with each parent, even if the marriage of his/her parents is permanently and irreparably damaged. The right to contact, which has a strong legal foundation in international conventions, is traditionally described as a right of the child, despite the fact that contact between parent and child is both a right and obligation of mothers, fathers and children. The right to contact is a Janus-faced, complex legal institution: although it is largely based on the fundamental right to private and family life guaranteed by constitutional norms, it plays a significant role in private law disputes as well. The aim of this article is to present the place of the right to contact within the Hungarian legal regime, emphasizing the enforcement of this right in the field of protection of basic and personality rights.
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Minority Rights and the European Court of Human Rights
138-160Views:173This paper aims to present the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding minorities’ rights. Even though minority rights as such are not listed in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the ECtHR has developed an evolving minority rights protection under it. This paper describes the concrete cases of minority rights protection and shows how the case law evolved throughout the years. The ECtHR recognized the right to self-identification, the right to culture, the right to use minority languages, the right of assembly and the freedom of expression regarding minorities. This paper argues that there might be a shift towards a greater diversity protection in the future under the ECHR.
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The Observation, Review, and Possible Modification of the EU Environmental Liability Directive in Hungary
29-41Views:178The main secondary legal source of environmental liability in the European Union is the Directive 2004/35/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage. Even though it was modified several times since then, it still remains the basic norm in the environmental field by establishing the regulatory frames by means of the polluter pays principle and the principle of prevention. The present study makes an overview of recent and potential further legislative steps in Hungary with regards to its implementation.
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Editorial
Views:179In the preface, the content of the given issue is described by the editor in the form of 5-6 line article descriptions (annotations). In addition to the latest changes to the journal, here is the explanation of the Latin phrase on the back cover.
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The New Hungarian regulation of Working Time, Rest Periods and Paid Leave in the Light of the Workers’ Interests
31-47Views:426The paper consists of three parts. The first part introduces the multiple changes – mostly in the favour of employers – in regulation in Hungarian labour law based on the Working Time Directive. The newest idea is also connected to these changes because the reference period may be significantly extended in Hungarian law even a longer period is planned than in the directive. In the second part I analyse the relevant regulation from a critical point of view pointing out the lack of some clear concepts in the Hungarian regulation. The paper highlights the following: at several employers the workplace and the employees’ place of residence were near to each other but nowadays these workplaces are changed and the employees need to take much more time-consuming trips to the actual workplace. the third part examines the relevant case-law of the CJEU.
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Editorial Preface
9Views:122In the preface, the content of the given issue is described by the editor. In addition to the latest changes to the journal, here is the explanation of the Latin phrase on the back cover.
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A Case Study on the Interaction Between the General Data Protection Regulation and Artificial Intelligence Technologies
45-57Views:210This paper presents a general overview of the problems regarding the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) raised in the official published works of the European Union (EU) and interprets these problems from the perspective of the Hungarian experts as a case study. Even though a new regulation on AI has already been proposed at the EU level, the paper evaluates specific rules and principles regarding data protection since data is the lifeblood of AI systems and the protection of such data is a fundamental right enshrined in the EU legislation via the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The result of the study shows that the application of the GDPR on AI systems in an efficient and uniform way might be at stake since different outputs were generated by the experts to the same legal questions deriving from a scenario presented.
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The Past, Present, and Future of Environmental Policy (Book re- view)
184-196Views:129This is a book review from the book title "Why Environmental Policies Fail", the author is Jan Laitos (University of Denver Strum College of Law, 2017.)
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Hungarian legislative changes induced by the case-law of European Court of Human Rights
109-122Views:147Indisputably, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has an effect on national legal systems. In this study I examine the type of this effect in the Hungarian legal system through the case law of the year 2014, and as an outcome, I would like to demonstrate that the ECtHR has both direct and indirect impacts on the national legislation in Hungary. As a result of the judgments’ direct impact, changes are made in the national legislation, meanwhile the indirect impact can only be detected in the decisions of the Hungarian Constitutional Court or domestic courts. Obviously, the direct impact is the most significant and most noticeable, however, the significance of indirect impact has been gradually increasing in the recent period. Based on this idea, I would like to point out that both effects are present in the Hungarian legislation, and seem to show an increasing trend, although the judicial bodies mean an exception in this practice. Nonetheless, according to the European practice, the judicial bodies will most likely refer to the international norm and the case law of the ECtHR in the near future.
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The Challenges of Cryptocurrencies in Substantive Criminal Law and Procedure
79-98Views:909The legal status of cryptocurrencies is a gray area in most legal systems, although criminals increasingly abuse cryptocurrencies to fund criminal activities. The study analyses solely the criminal use of cryptocurrencies. For example money launderers have evolved to use cryptocurrencies in their operations, therefore legislative changes at EU level, or the uniform application of existing anti-money laundering regulations have been required. In a trend mirroring attacks on banks and their customers, cryptocurrency users and exchangers have become victims of cybercrimes themselves. Conventional crimes may be committed via cryptocurrencies such as fraud and extortion. Darknet criminal markets use cryptocurrencies as payment instruments since they offer better anonimity and some of them greater privacy. They are less traceable and their decentralised system challenges law enforcement.
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Regulatory Proposal of the Ombudsman for Future Generations
10-28Views:211The most important provisions of environmental liability are available, but the effective enforcement still requires the regulation of several legal conditions. The ombudsman for future generations, following a wide professional and social coordination issued a complex regulatory proposal. The proposal is based upon the EU Environmental Liability Directive within the framework of the existing liability scheme, with a broader understanding of liability, and with the most inclusive approach of the polluter pays principle. Among other elements it covers the financial guarantees, the formation of the financial coverage of state intervention, the implementation of environmental liability attached to the real estates, the availability of and access to the environmental information, the more effective enforcement of environmental liability, and also the setting of conditions of implementation within public administration. The main objective is to promote responsible environmental behaviour.
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Claims for Compensation Based on the Infringement of Regulations Applicable to Procurement Procedures
11-30Views:145The study is concerned with those claims for compensation, which are based on the infringement of regulations applicable to procurement procedures. After the placing of the compensation within the public procurement remedy system, we outline those conducts, which can cause damage in the course of the public procurement procedure (e.g. contracting authority’s withdrawal from the public procurement, unlawful withdrawal of the tender, failing of contract conclusion, etc.). during the review of these cases, we heighten the differences existing between the classical civil law claims and the claims based on the infringement of public procurement rules.
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The 1580 Political Ordinance of the States of Holland and West Friesland: Certain Examples of its Influence in the English-Speaking World
78-88Views:175The present study deals with certain influences the 1580 Political Ordinance of the States of Holland and West Friesland had in the English-speaking world, specifically in relation to the Plymouth Colony in the present-day Commonwealth of Massachusetts and South Africa. Regarding the former, there is a survey of the introduction of the institution of civil marriage by the Pilgrims at the Plymouth Colony and the Dutch background to this particular development. In relation to South Africa, there is an analysis of the lack of intestacy inheritance between spouses in that country in the past due to the system of inheritance rooted in the 1580 Political Ordinance, and the changes that took place in connection to this with the passing of time.
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Implementation of the European Small Claims Procedure in the Member States of the European Union
41-59Views:127It has been seven years since the european Small Claims Procedure was introduced as a sui generis european procedure and an alternative to existing national civil procedures. However, it works in close interaction with national laws, as the regulation leaves many aspects of the procedure to national legislation. The article analyzes the legal instruments that serve the implementation of regulation 861/2007/ EC in member states, particularly the issues of mutual recognition and enforcement of ESC judgments, communication between the court and the parties, review and appeal of the judgment, and other specific issues. It concludes that knowledge of national procedural law is often vital to succeed in an ESC procedure in a foreign country. Smooth and efficient functioning of the procedure requires cooperation mechanisms not only among member states, but also among judges, lawyers, and enforcement officers.
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Messages of German and Italian Identity Parades
78-89Views:81All criminal justice systems in rule-of-law states attempt to prevent justizmord cases. Unfortunately, this intention is not always successful. This statement is illustrated by both Hungarian and foreign examples. Both Hungarian and international scientific research reveals that the identity parade (line-up) method plays a key role in the miscarriage of justice cases. So it is important (basic)/vital interest to prepare preventing methods in this field, or to reveal/disclose the causes of final serious mistakes. For this purpose, the author examines the identity practical method and legal (police) rules in Germany and Italy. At the end of the study, the author formulates the potential legal and criminalistic/forensic development possibilities, the lessons and his conclusions for the powerful/efficient and fair criminal procedure rules and for better law enforcement practice.
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Rest Periods in EU Labour Law
Views:34The paper aims to approach the dilemmas of EU working time rules from the novel perspective of rest periods. It examines the functions and nature of rest periods in EU law, with special regard to the ECJ’s recent judgment in the MÁV-Start case (C-477/21). The analysis tackles the question whether rest periods should be regarded as a right or an obligation of the worker and visits the issue of the possible role of a separate right to disconnect. The analysis ends with some conclusions.
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The Constitutional Obstacles before the Promulgation of the Rome Statute
45-59Views:333July 17, 1998, can be considered as one of the most important milestones of the international judicial structure: it is the day when the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by 120 states out of 148. Article 86 of Statute explicitly states that „States Parties shall […] cooperate fully with the Court in its investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.” As in the case of every international treaty, the principle of pacta sunt servanda enshrined in Article 26 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of the Treaties states applies, which explicitly states that “every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith.” As has been pointed out by the Permanent Court of International Justice, contracting states must make all the necessary internal measures which are required to fulfil its international obligations rising from a binding treaty. One could ask, why is this quite obvious argument important in the case of Hungary? Well, Hungary has ratified the Statute but still has not implemented it in its internal legislation. This can be considered as a serious constitutional omission, since if the Court would require the cooperation of Hungary – e.g. in the case of an arrest warrant – and it would not be able to fulfil it because of the lack of the internal legal norms, it would be considered as international legal responsibility of Hungary. In this article, I try to explore the reasons behind this omission and outline the possible solutions.