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Fairness in the Taxation System
52-66Views:163Studying the fairness of taxation is not separable from the general emergence of the social fairness, but some features of its own could be determined. In this paper I examined the problem of the fairness of taxation and drew up the details of the optimal tax system. One single chapter was devoted to the analysis of the relation between the notion of fairness and equity and another was devoted to the analysis of the question of sameness, which is necessary for the understanding of the fairness of taxation.
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Critical Remarks on the Acquittal of Vojislav Šešelj with regard to Instigation, Aiding and Abetting
97-109Views:148Vojislav Šešelj was acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on 31 March 2016. The Trial Chamber of the ICTY assessed evidence on the recruitment of volunteers (who later became perpetrators of international crimes), the defendant’s extremist, nationalistic and public hate speeches, and drew the conclusion that he is not responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity. The present paper discusses gaps and mistakes appearing in the judgement from the point of view of two criminal liability concepts: instigation and aiding and abetting. After briefly summarizing the standards applied by the ICTY, the author presents a reassessment of the facts referring also to the major arguments of Judge Flavia Lattanzi (dissenting).
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The Transfer of Contract on the Basis of Statutory Provisions: Novation or Succession?
7-27Views:227In 2016, the Act CLXXVII of 2013 on the Transitional and Authorizing Provisions related to the Entry into Force of Act No. V of 2013 on the Civil Code (’Ptké.’) was amended, with questions of interpretation arising regarding the transfer of contract on the basis of statutory provisions. Therefore, after a short period of rest, the transfer of contract, the novation, and their relationship again became the focus of the attention of both legal scholars and practitioners. After a short introduction of the legal provisions on the transfer of contract, the amendment of 2016 and its reasons are reviewed. Then, both the controversies that emerged in the judicial practice and the answers given by the Hungarian Constitutional Court and the Curia are examined thoroughly.
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Legitimacy and Competency Issues regarding the Labor Unions and the Works Councils
65-80Views:179The study focuses on the separation of two classical institutions of collective labour law: the labour unions and the works councils. Traditionally, labour unions are associations intended to represent and protect the collective interests of workers; works councils are units that exercise the workers’ participation rights, and are mechanisms where the employees can influence the decisions of the employer at the workplace. The distribution of traditional union and works council authorities, however, is not that obvious, especially from a practical point of view. The study strives to highlight those areas where the unions and the works councils appear as opposing parties, especially focusing on works agreements with normative power, from a practical and an international comparative perspective, and to offer solutions de lege ferenda.
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Two saddles by one bottom only? The road transport regulation of the European Union concerning energy efficiency and energy conservation
23-34Views:135This article analyses and criticises regulation of the European Union (hereinafter: EU) in the field of energy consumption of road transport sector from ecological point of view. Three main regulatory tools are in the focus: EU CO2 -emissions requirements, energy efficiency labelling of vehicles and passenger car related taxes (Annual Circulation Taxes, Registration Tax). Changes are proposed in order to develop the efficiency of this EU level regulation.
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Editorial
7-8Views:237In the preface, the content of the given issue is described by the editor in the form of 5-6 line article descriptions. 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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Past, Present and Future of the Criminal Investigation – A new monograph on the tendencies of Criminalistics
151-155Views:188Book review on the book of Fenyvesi Csaba, the title is "A kriminalisztika tendenciái. A bűnügyi nyomozás múltja, jelene, jövője" (Dialóg Campus, Budapest–Pécs, 2014.)
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Some theoretical and Practical Issues of Sentencing
11-25Views:276Sentencing is connected to the trial stage of the criminal procedure; more precisely, it takes place at its end. Judges fulfil only a part, and not even the hardest one, of their duty by establishing criminal liability as a result of the evidentiary procedure. Sentencing is a rather complex and complicated process. Judges face a lot of expectations: they often have to reconcile contradictory expectations with each other in order to impose a satisfactory sentence for the parties. The process of sentencing has received intense criticism. Sometimes judges are accused of imposing unduly lenient sentences or criticized for too severe punishments.
Another problem is presented by the fact that different sentences are passed for crimes of the same sort at different courts in the country. Sentencing thus raises many theoretical questions that I seek to answer in the study.
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Principle of Environmental Integration – Thoughts on the 7th EU Environment Action Programme
31-51Views:185Integration of environmental requirements into other policies is a priority objective of the new, 7th environmental action programme of the EU. Principle of environmental integration was developed by the international environmental policy; it was inserted into environmental policy principles and into provisions of the Founding Treaty at the establishment of the EC environmental policy. The aim of the environmental integration principle harmful environmental effects, thus to serve sustainable development. Objectives of the EU sustainable development and sustainable growth strategies cannot be realized without integration of environmental requirements: integration of economic, social and environmental aspects of development can ensure the establishment of a resource- efficient, competitive economy, free from environmental degradation, improvement of quality of human life, meeting the needs of present and future generations, and preservation of natural resources which serves as the fundament for development of the other two pillars. Environmental integration is a principle provided for in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, binding the decision-makers and legislators of the EU and the Member States; failure of its application might lead to judicial review and annulment of an act.
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The role of Community Work in Decreasing Prison Population: the Finnish Experience
81-96Views:199A major part of the endeavours in recent punitive policy is to find alternatives for imprisonment. By a well-thought-out application of alternative sanctions and especially community work, criminal policy may greatly affect the proportion of the imposed sentences of imprisonment. One of the good examples can be seen in Finland, where the prison population of 200 convict per 100.000 citizens could be decreased to the quarter in a few decades. This study endeavours to present this process, hoping that such a short review may be usefully edifying also for Hungarian criminal policy.
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A New Admissibility Criteria – the „Significant Disadvantage” in the Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
131-138Views:132Since its adoption in 1950, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has established one of the best mechanism for the international protection of human rights. Because of the continuous increase of the European Court of Human Rights’ workload, the modification of the Court’s procedure was needed. During this reform, a new admissibility requirement is inserted in Article 35 of the Convention, which empowers the Court to declare inadmissible applications where the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage. This new admissibility criteria is applicable since 1 June 2010 (when Protocol No. 14. entered into force). The study examines the travaux preparatoires and the current text of the Protocol, and analyzes the case-law of the Court concerning this new criteria.
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Past, Present and Future – Where is the restraining order Heading?
84-100Views:158Le législateur hongrois voulait un moyen efficace contre la violence familiale. Ce moyen est devenu l’injonction d’éloignement qui existe dans la procédure pénale hongroise depuis 2006 comme une mesure coercitive du code de procédure pénale et depuis 2009, comme une ordonnance référé. Cette étude souhait résumer la régime de l’injonction d’éloignement en Hongrie aux propositions initiatives des exigences, qui sont montrées par l’Union Européenne. À partir de 2004, on doit accorder une grande attention aux préceptes européennes parce que les règles européennes font partie de notre vie. On doit mentionner la Directive 2011/99/UE du Parlement Européen et du Conseil du 13 décembre 2011 relative à la décision de protection européenne et le Réglement 606/2013 du Parlement Européen et du Conseil, parce qu’ils déterminent la protection européenne en matière pénale et civilie aussi. L’étude est fermée par les propositions, pour améliorer l’efficacité de l’injonction d’éloignement et assurer une protection de plus haut niveau pour les victimes de la violence familiale. On ne peut pas éviter l’actualité des propositions, en considérant la codification du code de procédure pénale.
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Ethical and legal issues of the commercial and industrial use of foetuses and human embryos
55-69Views:341In 1986 the Council of Europe adopted a recommendation on the use of human embryos and foetuses for diagnostic, therapeutic, scientific, industrial and commercial purposes [Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1046 (1986)]. At the time, biotechnology was less advanced than today, however, its main challenges were already apparent. In its recommendation, the Council of Europe called upon the Member States to restrict the industrial use of human embryos to therapeutic purposes benefiting the health of the respective embryos, while the tissues of dead foetuses may only be used for strictly medical, scientific purposes. The commercial, profit-oriented use of embryos or fetal tissue is prohibited, with special regard to human dignity. Today, we are faced with the growing risk of encountering products manufactured on the basis of experiments conducted with, or base material including human embryonic cell lines. Such commercial and industrial uses of human embryos and foetuses give rise to concerns related to the religious freedom and the freedom of conscience, fundamental rights protected by both national constitutions and the Charter of Fundamental rights.
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Personal data protection in the public sector in frame of the GDPR
39-54Views:459The European Union has finished the reform of the European data protection rules, and the main result is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which entered into force after a two-year period on 25 May 2018. The GDPR draws special attention to the protection of personal data not only in the private-, but also in the public sector. It introduces several significant changes and restrictions, but after almost a year of being in force, there is still some uncertainty as to how we can apply its provisions, especially for public authorities and bodies. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the relevant data protection provisions of GDPR regarding the public sector and to clarify any misunderstandings in this field.
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Reconstruction or Abolition of University Autonomy: Tendencies and Proposals During the System-Level Crisis of Higher Education
170-180Views:139The Fourth Amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary, together with the subsequent passing of, and the successive amendments made to, the National Higher Education Act have not only restructured the management of higher education institutions but have also introduced legal institutions (Chancellor, Consistorium), which intervene both directly, in terms of fiscal policy, and indirectly, in terms of educational and research policies, in their overall operation and – as these are essentially government appointed persons/bodies, the institutions themselves being left out of the process – their autonomy as well. While this radical reorganization is not without precedent, the possible reasons behind its implementation have not yet been revealed. This study aims to understand these reasons by analyzing and disputing the one and only monograph addressing the question published before these changes had taken place, and attempts to discuss its predictions from the present viewpoint.
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Unfair Termination Review During Probationary Period: The Case of Iraq in Light of New Judiciary Trends
75-89Views:272Probation is a trial period to test a new employee for a particular position. It is commonplace for many employers to stipulate that the contract begins with probation based on a mutual agreement with the employee. During the probationary period, more flexible standards are given to review unfair termination. Notwithstanding, a degree of protection insofar as it safeguards employees from the risk of unfair termination shall be granted. Article 37 in the Iraqi Labour Code No. 37 of 2015 permits the employer to test the employee for a maximum of three months if the latter has no professional certificate. The same article empowers the employer to terminate the contract if the employee has failed in the suitability test without setting any standards for such a test. In reviewing cases arising on the basis of unfair termination claims, the judiciary in some developed countries has come up with basic standards of the suitability test. This paper, therefore, attempts to examine Article 37 in the Iraqi Labour Code in light of the new judiciary trends and finally suggests redrafting the mentioned article to be more compatible with the rights of contractual parties.
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Paradigm shift in management of enviromental problems: The ecosystem services concept and its legal aspects
98-113Views:169The majority of global environmental problems has remained unresolved mostly due to inadequate communication between natural and social sciences. This paper reviews the origin of the ecosystem services concept and presents the main valuation methods and emergence of that in legal terminology. The concept has ecological and economical roots thus can bridge environmental protection and development needs. It is clear that valuation and integration in decision-making of these essential ecological processes is one of the recent greatest scientific challenges.
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Decentralization of Welfare Services in France
65-80Views:135The principle of decentralization is widely applied in public administration. Despite the conceptual insecurity decentralization is often linked to the principles of democracy, participation, efficiency providing a normative value for the principle. Practical experiences, however, show that the advantages and disadvantages of decentralization are influenced by historical, economical, social, institutional and cultural context. Decentralization policy to increase the effectiveness of French welfare services could not change the institutional structure with strong historical roots and to improve the service quality. The strengthening of task and competences of the county level led to the failure of decentralization due to the lack of funding, personal and coordination problems.
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About the Costs of Public Procurements
103-127Views:125This study summarizes the basic types of costs which are related to public procurements and which are based on expressed legal regulations. It analyses the costs of tender documentation, the experts, the tender guarantee, the mandatory examination of the notice and the following legal institutions which are related to the legal remedies: the administrative service fee and the fine. The article compares the solutions of other countries: it examines the regulation of fees and the consideration of tender documentation. The Polish, the Austrian and the german examples show that the Hungarian legislator could improve the Hungarian regulation.
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The Client and Authority Proceedings in the Digital Era
74-101Views:193The study examines the digital transformation of Hungarian administrative procedure and the advance of automation. Based on statistical data, the study highlights that in connection with digital public administration procedures, the importance of customer-focused services appears as the standard of digital public administration. Digitalization is dominated by electronic contact options, online information and submission of electronic requests, rather than complete automation of administrative procedures. The study focuses on digital authority procedures from the point of view of how this manifests itself primarily for the client: how to satisfy the need for information, how to contact the authorities and how to initiate the procedure. In addition to the legal bases, this part primarily focuses on the possibilities. After that, the consequences of digital solutions (automation) for making substantive decisions from the customer's point of view are discussed; this part of the study therefore concentrates more on the normative side of the processes and finally analyzes this. As a result, it states that automatic decision-making is mainly used in case of registrative acts based on official records and decisions embodied in decision-type documents, but there are already examples of the automation of the decision-making mechanism in connection with the production of facts. Although more complex automation is just spreading its wings, in connection with the rapid technical development and innovations of recent years, the legal system must keep up with digitalization and not give in to it.
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Right to a Healthy Environment in the Theory
24-38Views:244To protect the environment with the help of human rights is one possible way among others to fight against environmental degradation. Yet, does this idea fit into the system of human rights, taking into consideration the fact that the upmost goal of human rights is the protection of human dignity? Is the connection between the environment and the human dignity strong enough to protect the environment by human rights? The following conceptual paper searches for reasonable answers to these questions by analyzing the so-called right to a healthy environment. By doing so the links between human and environmental rights and the specialties of human rights will be examined in order to show why the right to a healthy environment could in theory fit into the system of human rights protection.
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Environmental Tax Harmonisation and Market-Oriented Legal Regulation in the Light of the CJEU Practice
95-117Views:199The subject of the present paper is the explanation and justification of environmental taxes in general terms and, in particular, the assessment of the recent european trends as well as the examination of the practice of the EU Court of Justice followed in this field. The paper considers ecotaxes as the means of fiscal policy that can be put into the service of green growth. For the time being, the enforcement of ecological policy is restricted in many aspects within the EU framework, being unilaterally subordinated to the requirement of free competition. For this reason, the EU law mechanisms of adjustment may get stuck in cases where intervention is not necessary in order to have more but, on the contrary, to have less freedom of market. Since it can be considered as obvious from the perspective of thermodynamic restraints that market imperfections cannot be precluded, the possible aim of intervention is certainly not the reconstruction of free trade, but the suspension of the laws of market. The political and legal basis for this is still missing in the European Union both in theory and practice what can be seen as a serious problem.
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Comparison of Enforcement Systems for the Violation of Fundamental Rights of Detainees Stemming from the Condition of Detention in Penitentiaries and the Right to a Fair and Public Hearing within a Reasonable Time
90-110Views:148The violation of fundamental rights of detainees stemming from the conditions of detention in penitentiaries and the right to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time raise complex concerns, because in such cases the applicants have to submit a procedure under the Hungarian Prison Act or a lawsuit concerning the violation of certain rights relating to personality under the Hungarian Code of Civil Procedure or the Civil Code. The legal protection is uncertain, because the rules relating to prison conditions meet with rules of civil procedure and civil code rules. Court decisions do not help to find the way out of this incoherency. The questions mentioned in the present article raise serious dogmatic debates, casting doubt on the efficiency of the remedies.
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Less is Sometimes More? The Guaranteeing Role of the Scope of the Second Instance Review in the first Hungarian Code of Criminal Procedure (Act XXXIII of 1896)
Views:28At the time of the codification of first Hungarian Code of Criminal Procedure, the legal literature regarded the limited scope of second-instance revision as a limitation of appeal in favour of the defendant, and placed it in this sense inside the procedural doctrinal system. This idea, which is quite alien to contemporary procedural thinking, which focuses on speeding up and facilitating proceedings, raises the question: what are the principles on which the limited scope of review is considered as a guarantee for the defendant? In order to answer this question, my aim in the present study is to explore the system of principles that shaped the turn-of-the-century jurisprudence concerning the legal power of the second instance to grant review.
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Possessing Special Expertise: Review of the Book “Current Challenges of Expert Evidence”
221-224Views:81The book titled "Current Challenges of Expert Evidence” by Mónika Nogel published in 2020 is reviewed in the present article. The review focuses mainly on the author’s thesis which restores confidence in forensic expert reports by constructing the definition of credibility and its criteria.