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Book Review: Ződi, Zsolt: Platforms, Robots and the Law. New Regulatory Challenges in the Information Society
213-216Views:139Zsolt Ződi’s second book was published in 2018 by Gondolat Kiadó under the title Platforms, Robots and the Law and the subtitle New Regulatory Challenges in the Information Society. At first glance, the reader could expect that the book will be dealing with a variety of topics not closely associated with one another, however, we experience the exact opposite when delving into the book. Similarly to Zsolt Ződi’s first book, he dissects a very relevant subject, guiding the reader through a maze of concepts and problems that did not even exist before the 21st century. He does so in such a way that it remains comprehensible and perceptible.
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Access to higher education and right to free movement in the case-law of the CJEU
134-156Views:133This article examines the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the right of EU citizens to gain access to higher education in other EU Member States. The case-law plays an important intermediary role between various EU policies, often contributing to their more effective implementation in this way. The paper presents an obvious example for that as legal principles developed by the Court in free movement and antidiscrimination cases essentially facilitate the promotion of student mobility that is one of the fundamental objectives of the Bologna Process and the Union‘s education policy. At the same time, free student mobility may go against national education policies and interests and Member States are often reluctant to accept that the rulings, despite the limited competencies conferred upon the EU to take measures in the education sector, set narrow boundaries for national actions. The analysis also seeks to indicate those factors which have an influence on the Court‘s sensitivity towards interests and policy autonomy of the Member States in the field of higher education.
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The One Who Wanted Online Courts Before the Coronavirus: Review of Richard Susskind's New Book "Online Courts and the Future of Justice"
192-200Views:310In November 2019 Richard Susskind, who is relatively known and popular in Hungary as well, published his new book “Online courts and the future of justice” issued by Oxford University Press. The author argued rather radically for the necessity of the change of legal services in his previous books before and he has maintained this approach. This time Susskind argues for the transformation of the century-old court systems giving alternative ideas about what sort of methods and ways in which we should transform our courts in order to make judicial services available for every person indeed. As the title suggests, the core concept of the book is the realization of online courts, which has slowly become a reality amid the pandemic caused by the coronavirus. Thus, the concept of Susskind may be called even fatidical from this perspective.
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The Financial Supervisory Agencies of the European Union and the Question of the European Administrative Procedure
Views:206The agency-type organs have a history of several decades in the European Union. In the last few years there were two different tendencies leading towards the establishment of regulatory (or decentralised) agencies with strong powers, especially in the field of financial supervision. The first of these tendencies was the fall of the neoliberal dogma of the self-regulating market – as a consequence of the 2008 financial-economic crisis – which led to the priorities of the decision-makers being reset in favour of a stricter regulation than that of the New Public Management era. The other tendency was that the debate about a European administrative law started to live. The European Supervisory Authorities of the financial sector, which were established after the crisis, are regulatory agencies with strong powers. However, some of their competences are so strong, that it poses questions regarding the legal protection of the participants of the market. Moreover, the case-law related to their function seems to overwrite the accepted norms of delegation of competences within the institutional framework of the European Union.
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Personal data protection in the public sector in frame of the GDPR
39-54Views:432The 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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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:130The 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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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. -
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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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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Right to disconnect: Jog a kikapcsol(ód)áshoz
50-66Views:778Az elmúlt években tetőfokára hágott technológiai fejlődés és digitalizáció szinte teljes mértékben képes felszámolni a munka és a magánélet közötti határokat, egyre nehezebbé válik „csak úgy letenni a tollat” egy munkanap végén. A munkaidőn kívüli elérhetőség/munkavégzés egyrészt adódhat a munkavállalók egyéni döntéséből, másrészt viszont lehet munkáltatói elvárás is. Jelen tanulmány a közelmúltban egyre jelentősebbé váló ún. right to disconnect, vagyis a kikapcsol(ód)áshoz való jog munkajogi kérdéseit járja körbe. A dolgozat kiindulópontja a tradicionális értelemben vett „állandó elérhetőség” dilemmája és az ehhez kapcsolódó gyakorlat. Ezt követően elemzés alá veszem, hogy mit is jelent a munkavállalók kikapcsolódáshoz való joga, és annak milyen szabályozási formái alakultak ki - törvényi, illetve vállalati szintű normákban - az utóbbi időkben az egyes államokban (többek között Franciaországban, Olaszországban, Németországban és az USA-ban), értékelve e rendszerek jellemzőit. Végül pedig egy kapcsolódó területen, a munkaegészségügy terén felmerülő problémákat vetítem előre.
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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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Crimean Secession in International Law
9-28Views:311This article provides detailed insights into the validity of remedial secession, the two major judicial opinions that have addressed it (Kosovo advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, and the Quebec Secession Reference case decided by the Supreme Court of Canada), and the steep, but evolving, path to legitimacy it may now be travelling. This article does so within the context of Crimea’s secession referendum, declaration of independence, and de facto statehood, and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. It covers the international community’s reaction to these events – and the disparity among academic reactions to the vitality of remedial secession. It traces the UN General Assembly’s 2014 Crimean debate – concluding that it is the most authoritative referee for judging Russia’s claim to the validity of the Crimean secession.
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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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About the Costs of Public Procurements
103-127Views:114This 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 New Zealand concept of the legal personality of water and its applicability in Hungarian legal order, especially in connection with lake Balaton
9-23Views:143The present article concentrates on two aspects of the legal personality of water. First, it deals with the national legislation of New Zealand, especially the „Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017”, in which the legislator granted legal personality to the Whanganui River. Second, the article focuses on a Hungarian initiative concerning the establishment of a legal personality for the biggest Hungarian lake, i.e. Lake Balaton. Is it a real alternative to renew the legal protection of the environment in the Hungarian law? The article tries to launch a theoretical and practical dispute on the topic.
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Likeness of Police Officers: Freedom of the Press and the Right to Facial Likeness at the Crossroads of Civil and Fundamental Rights
110-128Views:163The Constitutional Court of Hungary, proceeding in its new competence regarding the „real” constitutional complaint obtained from 1 January 2012, is allowed to adjudicate the motions initiated against concrete judicial decisions which are deemed to be contrary to the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Within this procedure the Constitutional Court places the protection of the freedom of expression and freedom of the press above the protection of personality rights. The Court consistently annuls judicial decisions that declare infringement of personality rights on grounds that a press agency published recognizable facial likeness of police officers being on duty during demonstrations. The present paper analyses the course during which the Constitutional Court does enforce the constitutional requirements elaborated in its former practice and, thereby, repeals the ordinary courts’ decisions if those favour the personality rights of police officers over the freedom of the press.
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Technology in Legal Regulation’s Service? Efforts in the Field of Data Protection
33-45Views:188The interaction between technology and data protection is quite well-known and widely accepted in the legal literature concerning privacy protection. This essay tries to sum up the efforts to line up the technology itself to defend one’s privacy, often threated by technological development. The essay first shows the relevance of the Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), and the basic concept of the Privacy by Design principle, and then analyses both the current and the proposed European legal regulation focusing on these issues.
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Impact Assessment of Environmental Legislation and Strategic Environmental Assessment in Practice
85-102Views:133The study deals with the system of the impact assessment of environmental legislation in Hungary. The system can be divided into three parts, these are the environmental aspects of general impact assessment, the environmental impact assessment of legislation and the strategic environmental assessment. The aim of the study is to evaluate these tools and to draw up the possible ways of legal interpretation and development. The study offers an evaluation of the theoretical basis with consideration to a practice-oriented approach.
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The Concept of the Responsibility to Protect, Is There Anything New under the Sun?
67-78Views:187The concept of the responsibility to protect has emerged in the practice of the United Nations in the past years, inducing much criticism in the literature. The aim of the author was to present the concept in Hungarian and to analyze it from international legal point of view. According to the author the concept is just a paraphrased principle, responsibility has already existed under the relevant norms of international law. Nevertheless, the content of the obligation and responsibility is not fully clear, especially with respect to the exact meaning of prevention.
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The Future of International Environmental Law
139-145Views:96Book review on The Future of International Environmental Law, szerk.: David Leary és Balakrishna Pisupati, 2010, Tokió, United Nations University
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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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The Intergenerational justice at the Constitutional Level
48-64Views:144The debates about the rights of the future generations have risen significantly in the last decade. The more attention we give to the question, the larger the number of new issues which emerge. As an example, the right to a healthy environment or the rights of the unborn can be mentioned. The aim of the study is to examine this question in connection with constitutions. The constitutional level could significantly affect the possibilities of the future generations. The theory of intergenerational justice is examined in relation to the main topic. The analysis of the population pyramid of the Brexit voters is mentioned as an example of a possible intergenerational injustice.
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Textual Empiricism and Analytical Legal Doctrine: Legal Analysis Sub Specie Linguae
105-125Views:115In 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.
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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:157This 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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Law of Sustainable Development
11-30Views:305Sustainability or sustainable development as an objective or as a definitions is wirely used since the 1992 Rio Conference on Sustainable Development. There are many attempts to clarify the content of it, most of them covering inter- and intragenerational equity, integration, the different means and methods of long-term thinking. While it is still a controversial question, it is also difficult or even harder to specify the legal content of such a policy matter. The law of sustainable development shall be able to meet the challanges of clarity, enforceability, thus one should try to be more specific then it is acceptabel in the wider the political context. Several international documents, conventions, even EU legislation wants to come closer to the problem. If we wish to translate the content into the legal language, then there are some elements of such a legal system, which we would like to underline: inter-generational equity and right to environment, public participation, cooperation, integration, precaution and subsidiarity. There is also a newly emerging element of the legal understanding – imported from ecology –, which needs greater attention today, that is resilience.