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The Hungarian Legal System and Company Law in the Light of a Book Published in English
256-259Views:82Book review on Sándor, István (ed.): Business Law in Hungary. (Patrocínium kiadó, Budapest, 2016, 774.)
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Discretion in Taxation Procedures
107-130Views:133Besides decisions conditioned by law we have to examine decisions based on discretion as well. If vested by law with discretionary powers, the tax authority shall exercise such rights as consistent with the purpose of authorization and within the framework of law. It is very important how the framework is defined by the legislator and what kind of facts are taken into consideration in the discretion process (e.g. the nature and willfulness of violation). Discretion process must be separated from fairness, estimation, practice and interpretation of the law. In connection with remedy the extension and the detail of explanation in the resolution has high importance. The persuasion of the taxpayer is also a relevant question to investigate.
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Working Through Internet in Hungarian Law. Regulation Instead of Banning?
83-95Views:369Working through digital platforms and apps is a new and rare form of work in Hungary. The spread of digital work is quite new all over the world and also part of the wider trend of precarious forms of work. Hungarian labour law faces serious challenges regarding crowdsourcing and working via apps. The main question is how to insert these new forms of work into the existing labour law framework. These new forms may hardly be considered as employment relationships due to the serious differences. Self-employment cannot be the solution either, since it would leave workers without any employment protection. Therefore, regulation of digital work is unavoidable, even if its details are far from clear for the moment.
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EU Case Law Guidelines on Registering Three-Dimensional (Shape) EUTM in the Light of the Trademark Reform
128-142Views:72The case-law developed by the European Court of Justice aims to ensure consistency and legal certainty in the registration of EU three-dimensional trademarks. It interacts closely with the legislative amendments introduced by the trademark reform, which aim to make the registration procedure for EU trademarks more flexible and transparent, thanks to the European Court of Justice's work in interpreting and developing the law. The problem of the definition and registration procedure of three-dimensional marks is an important issue in EU trademark case law, as this category of marks is the most popular of the non-traditional marks for which the trademark reform provides a legal framework, but also overlaps with other forms of intellectual property protection.
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Questions of divisions of powers in the 21st century after the adoption of the new Fundamental Law of Hungary
24-37Views:296The question of division of state powers is a crucial part of constitutional law determining how state organs work (or should work) in theory and in practice. After the adoption of the new Fundamental Law of Hungary, there are some modifications in the Hungarian constitutional system, including the division of powers as well. In this study we examine the original model of “3 branches of power – 1-1 function” as a starting point, and the other factors and branches which can modify the original model. In the study we try to focus to the examples of the former and present Hungarian legal system as certain proves of our theory about the new frameworks of division of powers in Hungary. In the end of this study we also examine, as an indirect argumentation, the opposite side of the separation of powers, i.e. concentration of powers.
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Issues of Public Social Responsibility in Great Britain and Hungary
122-136Views:330Social responsibility has undergone significant development in recent years. The concept has spread into every aspect of life: personal life, the economic sphere and finally the public sector. It is proven that currently many states are struggling with various problems in the public sector. We believe that public social responsibility is one of the guidelines that is able to help, for example, in the realization of a comprehensive public administration reform. This paper examines public social responsibility in Great Britain and Hungary. Even though we have the example of the United Kingdom to follow, their way of practicing PSR may not be suitable for the rest of the European countries because of the fundamental differences in our legal systems and mindsets.
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Sustainability – Law and Public Choice
239-246Views:85Book review on Bándi Gyula–Szabó Marcel–Szalai Ákos: Sustainability: Law and Public Choice. (Europa Law Publishing, Groningen, 2014.)
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Constitutional Foundations of EU Membership in Hungary Before and After the new Fundamental Law
29-47Views:186The paper examines the Hungarian constitutional framework which determines the relationship between domestic and EU law. The constitutional foundations changed in 2011 when the new constitution, the Fundamental Law was adopted. The former 1989 Constitution contained in Article 2/A the so-called ’European clause’ adopted before EU accession, which was referred to as the main constitutional basis of Hungary’s EU membership by the Constitutional Court. The new Fundamental Law contains a seemingly similar ’European clause’ in Article E. The paper scrutinizes the question whether the former and the new clauses are truly similar and concludes that opposite to the Constitutional Court’s point of view the new European clause should be interpreted differently from the former, which might lead to a different, less Europe-friendly approach towards EU membership.
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The Problem of Defining Criminal Norms Precisely. The „Clarity of Norms” Doctrine in the Decisions of the Hungarian Constitutional Court and in Judicial Practice
37-59Views:324The principles of legality in criminal law determine numerous requirements both for the legislator creating criminal statutes and for judges as well who decide criminal cases. One of the most important demands of legality is the principle of maximum certainty according to which the state must establish a system of criminal law in which the wording of the statutes are clear, precise and understandable for the citizens; and judges are able to interpret criminal rules without making arbitrary decisions. In the Hungarian legal system the demands of maximum certainty are represented by the principle of nullum crimen sine lege. This principle is called the „clarity of norms” doctrine in the practice of the Constitutional Court of Hungary (HCC) which is entitled to strike down criminal statutes which do not meet its requirements. The aim of this paper is to argue for the claim that the „clarity of norms doctrine” and the concept of certainty in criminal law is based mostly on considerations about the plain meaning of words and texts and lack a coherent theoretical background in the decisions of the HCC and in judicial practice as well. The author offers a more complex and coherent conception of certainty stating that its requirements relate not only to linguistic considerations but also to thinking over the moral and political values of criminal law as well.
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The EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) from an Environmental Law Perspective
63-87Views:243This paper will focus on the 2012/27/EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Since the EED is a rather new legal act, its assessment from an environmental law perspective has been neglected in academic literature. Therefore, the next question automatically arises: does the new directive take steps to improve the EU regulations concerning energy efficiency? The EED undoubtedly took a step forward by providing legally binding frameworks for the reduction of energy consumption (instead of the previous political and non-binding energy efficiency goals) and has done this in an absolute way, which is the most important requirement from an ecological point of view. Beyond the special targets of the EED, there are several specific requirements that may play a significant role in the realisation of the EED’s targets. Among these, for instance the following is highlighted in this paper: establishing energy efficiency obligation schemes or adopting alternative policy measures; the 3% commitment of renovation regarding central government buildings; the obligation of energy audits regarding enterprises that are not small or medium-sized, etc. This paper concludes that, despite a few provisions of the directive meeting the ecological requirements, in reality, the regulation misses theoretical ground.
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Is the New Regulation Justified? Applicability of the New Rules of Self-defense in Case-law
129-147Views:257In the history of the regulation of self-defense, Act C of 2012 has resulted in the most substantial change. The greatest innovation in the act is the introduction of the situational self-defense, which creates an irrebuttable presumption that the unlawful attacks carried out under certain circumstances shall be considered as attacks against life. The new regulation has been criticized a lot, mostly because there are fears that the new rules of law will be misused. Through the case-law of the Supreme Court relating to self-defense in the last ten years, this study intends to reveal whether it was justified to include the situational self-defense in the new law or whether the concerns in connection with situational self-defense can be considered legitimate.
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The Legal Status of Victims of Sexual Violence in International, European Union and Domestic Law
Views:50The study describes the concept and the legal status of the victim of sexual violence in view of the fact that the definition of victim in criminal procedure law is not the same as the broader definition of victim used in criminology at domestic or international levels. The Me Too movement drew attention to a problem in 2017 that is still waiting to be solved years later: preventing and eradicating violence against women, as well as making the role of the victims during procedure and their legal options more effective. A brief, overview categorization of this legal situation shows what emerging tendencies can be discovered in the European Union’s legislative process nowadays, and based on these, what the problematic areas are in domestic law where change is needed.
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Artificial Intelligence from the Viewpoint of Civil Law
28-41Views:1079The aim of this paper to examine the definition of artificial intelligence and how AI can be considered in the field of civil law. The topic is being studied by many authors around the world and they are urging the initiation of legislation. The reason is that technology is rapidly developing, but the legislation cannot cope with this. However, in order to protect individuals, it is important to have a legal assessment of artificial intelligence. As a first step, it might be helpful to define the technology from the viewpoint of civil law.
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Work of Costantino Mortati in the Field of Public Law
23-41Views:94The aim of my article is to present an overview of certain stages of Costantino Mortati’s scientific work (Constitutional Court’s judge and professor of law) on the basis of Italian bibliography. His most popular work, entitled “the Constitution in material sense” (1940) conforms to problems and methodology of Italian constitutional law, while it reflects to contemporary schools of European jurisprudence and changes of institutions and theories of modern state. Behind Mortati’s theories about the State and the Constitution, the Italian liberal state regarded as heritage of risor- gimento, and the symptoms of its crises, birth and fall of the totalitarian state and the fundamental public law-aspects of the democratic and republic state can be found.
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The General Theory of the State and the Relativity of the Force of Law – Comment on the Theory of Georg Jellinek
53-72Views:152This paper makes an in-depth examination of the theory established by Georg Jellinek who – extending the perspective of the jurisprudence of state law based on legal methods – was concerned with issues of public law within the frames of general theory of the state. The author will demonstrate the claim that the special concepts of Jellinek’s general and descriptive theory – like the „presupposition of factual validity” or the idea of the „state’s self-obligation to law” – are the results of Jellinek’s idea that there were no alternatives to the institutional system of the constitutional monarchy.
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A divatszakmában dolgozó munkások védelmének helyzete
105-129Views:344The global fashion industry is characterized by a dynamic and complex supply chain. Clothing products and footwear reach consumers through various brands, from developing countries to Western countries. The exploitation of workers at the bottom of the supply chain goes hand in hand with huge benefits for those at the top of the supply chain. Due to the lack of direct contact with workers, brand owners and resellers often ignore the abuse of workers ’rights in the production of their products. Labor law rules alone are not enough to improve working conditions and ensure the rights of workers in the fashion industry. Brand owners and resellers have a vital role to play in changing their working conditions. By incorporating “soft law” solutions such as the UN Business and Human Rights Guidelines and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Screening Guide, responsible business conduct can be achieved. Incorporating voluntary initiatives into the business behaviors of brand owners and resellers has a significant impact on improving employee rights. In this study, I assess how the 2016 Transparency Draft has affected the protection of workers in the global fashion industry, how much the inclusion of Transparency and Sustainable Development Goals has improved the situation of exploitation of workers. The ILO regularly examines the issue through its analysis of human rights reports.
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The International Legal Framework of Maritime Piracy
161-177Views:254Although maritime piracy is the oldest crime committed at sea, it is still present to this day and counts as a threat: it not only endangers human lives but also causes damage to international trade. Firm actions must be taken against this international crime and those international agreements which define the definition and the elements of conduct of maritime piracy and also contain procedural provisions to suppress it count as vital elements of these actions. Currently there are two agreements which contain anti-piracy regulations and they regulate several matters appropriately but they also have many shortcomings. In this article I examine the anti-piracy regulations of these agreements.
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Hungarian Regulation of Temporary Agency Work from the Aspect of EU Directives
55-78Views:917Temporary agency work was introduced into Hungarian law on the 1st July 2001. After nearly two decades of experience and numerous legislative changes, the domestic regulation of agency work is still not finished or coherent, and it is burdened with a number of EU harmonization shortcomings, constitutional concerns and practical problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the Hungarian legal regulation of temporary agency work from the point of view of EU law, while also highlighting a number of issues of domestic law that need to be clarified.
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Defences in International Criminal Law
35-53Views:106The Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. The ICC Statute contains rules regarding grounds for excluding criminal responsibility but this list is not exhaustive since other defences are recognized in international (criminal) law. This essay will not examine the special procedural defences and other obstacles of punishability which are explicitly rejected by the ICC Statute but focus on the substantial defences in international law: the lack of responsibility under a certain age; insanity and intoxication; justifiable defence; necessity and duress; mistake; superior orders; belligerent reprisals and military necessity.
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The Protection of Fundamental Rights of People with Disabilities and Reduced Capacity to Work Using Social Farm Services
83-100Views:171The present study examines the fundamental rights of disabled people using the service of social farms – especially people with disabilities and with reduced capacity to work. These rights are essential for these people in order to ensure their employment. These people are often cut off from the labour market, moreover, they cannot be present there. Therefore, fundamental rights ensured within the Fundamental Law of Hungary play a significant role for treating and employing them equally. Labour law and social law protection confirms this constitutional protection.
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A Philosophical Approach to Law
11-22Views:150Bjarne Melkevik’s book is one of the best comprehensive treatments of legal philosophy currently available in Canada. First of all, the reader will find in the form of a long introduction a bookchapter translated into Hungarian, which is a general description of Melkevik’s jurisprudential views, provided by Mate Paksy. The chosen chapter organizes the reflexions on legal philosophy into three interrelated ques- tions. Melkevik’s first, thought-provoking question is as follows: why do we need legal philosophy? He views legal philosophy not as foundational legal scholarship, but mainly as an elucidation of public, reflexive argumentation on law which isn’t at
odds either with an empirical methodology. The second question concerns whether studying legal philosophy is useful for lawyers. Here Melkevik endorses again a post-positivist position according to which both law and legal philosophy are essentially practical discourses. Though the third part of the paper is heavy with disciplinary boundary-drawing, which emerges from questioning the place of legal scholarship vis-à-vis other, more empirical branches of social sciences such as history or anthropology, Melkevik’s reflexions here are still inspired by a sort of Neo-Kantian legal philosophy and Habermas’ communicative ethics.
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Back-Door Electronic Monitoring in Hungary: Theory and Practice of Reintegrative Surveillance
30-42Views:319With the development of technology many new legal institutions were regulated in the criminal justice systems. Electronic monitoring is one of those, which from the Hungarian perspective first appeared in the form of home detention in criminal procedure law. Later on, in 2015 the technology of electronic monitoring was implemented in prison law as the institution of reintegrative surveillance. The regulation is basically appropriate and according to the experiences could be seen as effective. However, there are some related theoretical questions which need to be answered. For example, the question of widening the potential application of reintegrative surveillance, or the relation between reintegrative surveillance and imprisonment or conditional release. Answering these questions is important as presumably the technological development won’t stop on this level, thus we can expect the widening of electronic monitoring in Hungary as well.
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The main factors influencing the level of the knowledge of law
71-95Views:172The 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.)
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Regulation of Autonomous Vehicles in Public International Law, in particular on the Subject of International Road Traffic
37-49Views:156The study examines the regulation of autonomous vehicles in public international law, more specifically the regulation related to the territory of international road traffic. Within this topic, the study defines autonomous, or in other words, self-driving vehicles, reveals the relation between these kind of vehicles and public international law, describes the results and steps made so far toward uniform regulation and analyzes the possibilities for future regulation. In connection with the latter, the study concentrates on the question of international treaties and would like to answer whether it is necessary and possible to conclude an international treaty on autonomous vehicles.
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Some Labour Law Aspects of Psychological Contract Theory
50-69Views:201The 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.