Hungarian Law Research Articles

Interpretation of Civilian Vs. Military Equipment in European Case Law – EU and Hungary

Abstract The regulation of products suitable for both civilian and defence purposes may seem to be a marginal area; however, it affects both inner and outer safety. We present a peculiar case of this regulation: even though the EU legal framework exists for implementation in national laws, the Hungarian authorities follow a different practice, often conflicting with the spirit of the applicable EU laws. As a result, the export and import of specific dual-use products under Hungarian law is more complicated than that intended by EU law, which restricts the ability of companies in this area to conduct their business operations. The aim of the article is to present the legal framework behind the regulations, and to demonstrate the difficulties the inconsistent interpretation of these by the applicable national authorities can cause to market participants.

Characteristics of Homebirth in Hungary: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Homebirth is legal and has been regulated by law in Hungary since 2012. Despite the obvious advantages of homebirth, it has not yet been broadly accepted, due to various opinions related to safety and risks associated with giving birth outside of a hospital. Our study aimed at exploring both real maternal and feto-neonatal characteristics associated with Hungarian homebirths. A total of 2997 cases were considered in support of our retrospective cohort study. In the examined period, there was a significant, continual rise in the number of homebirths by a rate of 0.22% on average per year. Aggregated maternal complications (primary uterine inertia, prolonged second stage labour, and third stage haemorrhage) were prevalent among homebirth cases (1.29% vs. 0.72%, p < 0.05) and were associated with an average of 11.77% rate of transfer to a health care institution. On the other hand, the rate of operative (vaginal or caesarean) delivery was 26.31% among institutionalized births. A slightly better Apgar score and relatively high rate (20%) of caesarean deliveries were correlated with institutionalized births (p < 0.05). However, the overall intervention rate was lower among homebirths (0.11% vs. 42.57%) than institutional birth cases (p < 0.001). Overall, homebirth is a reliable option for childbirth for healthy and low-risk mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies, which is reflected in the increasing number of deliveries at home in Hungary. Furthermore, utilizing the experiences of countries where homebirth is a long-established method may further improve the outcome of homebirths in Hungary.

Digitalization and consumer protection enforcement

The era of “new consumer protection” is marked by maximum harmonization rather minimum harmonization, (more) policy-based approach, legislation driven by the fast-emerging ecosystem of digital platforms, the strengthening of collective remedy and agency enforcement, and more cooperation between Member State regulatory bodies and EU Commission. All of the above phenomenae emphasize changing directions and methods of consumer protection enforcement: digital platforms present a unique set of issues that trigger different policy solutions, mostly based on the findings of behavioral economics. The practices of digital platforms usually affect consumers in more than one Member State, thus EU-wide cooperation is more likely to happen vis-à-vis digital platforms than other traders. Individual remedies against digital platforms – due to their immense size – result in little change. The European Consumer Protection Cooperation Network is highly likely to open cases with regards to digital platforms. In Hungarian law, EU-wide coordination complements an already existing rich practice of the Hungarian Competition Authority in the field of unfair commercial practices. In the future, where quite possibly, the number of cases against digital platforms will grow, the issue of cooperation will grow even more important.

A COVID–19-járvány első két hullámának hatása a rendészeti hallgatók alkohol és koffeinfogyasztására, valamint dohányzási szokásaira

Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the first two waves of the COVID–19 epidemic and the introduced epidemiological measures and the changes in alcohol and caffeine consumption and smoking habits among Hungarian law enforcement students.Methodology: Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was conducted among law enforcement students (N=556) at the University of Public Service Faculty of Law Enforcement (UPS FLE). The study sample (N=180) was 57.2% male (n=103) and 42.8% female (n=77).Findings: The results show that during the first wave of the pandemic, 9% of law enforcement students, who consumed alcohol, 25% of occas ional and regular smokers and 13.5% of caffeinated drinkers increased their consumption. There was no significant difference between male and female in the consumption of any of these drugs (palcohol=0.452471; psmoking=0.532113; pcaffeine=0.059011; p&gt;0.05). However, among occasional and regular alcohol users and smokers, there was a significant association between changes in the level of substance use and existing patterns of consumption. Regular drinkers were 5.7 times more likely to increase their consumption during the pandemic than occasional drinkers (25.0 vs. 4.4%). Daily smokers also showed a nearly two-fold increase in substance use compared to occasional smokers (30.8% vs. 16.7%). Our results suggest that the main reason for increase in alcohol consumption among law enforcement students were primarily due t o the increased unstructured leisure time ( =3.12; SD=1.454), the required law enforcement duty ( =2.81; SD=1.515), and the increased anxiety caused by lockdowns ( =2.75; SD=1,437). Furthermore, required law enforcement duty may also have played a role in the increase in smoking ( =3.81; SD=1.601) and caffeine consumption ( =3.86; SD=1.632). However, the reduction in social interactions may play a crucial role in the decrease of use of all three psychoactive substances.Value: One of the most striking consequences of the first wave of the COVID–19 epidemic among young adults was the introduction of online education in universities worldwide. University students, including law enforcement students, have faced many challenges. These influenced alcohol and caffeine consumption and smoking in different ways.

Liability for Non-material Damage in Hungarian Law in the 19th–20th Centuries in Comparison with Austrian and Polish Codifications

The article describes the regulation of liability for non-pecuniary damage on the example of 19th century Hungarian law, which is based on a long, unbroken tradition, individual legal acts and customary law. Furthermore, the classification of torts and remedies in contemporary Hungarian law is analysed, highlighting their similarities and differences to those used in the present civil law. Particular emphasis is placed on the examination and presentation of the institution of homagium, which had a medieval origin and constituted a specific instrument for obtaining compensation for non-pecuniary damage. It is compared with Polish (Code of Obligations of 1933) and Austrian (ABGB of 1811) regulations. The situation allows the author to show the variety of ways in which contract law has developed, especially concerning the pecuniary compensation of harm and pain. Employing comparative and historical methods makes it possible to highlight the timelessness of particular obligation law issues, showing its evolution in Central Europe in the last two centuries.

Slovak Share in the Unification and Codification Efforts in Interwar Czechoslovakia

The creation of the Czechoslovak Republic and its legal system had its basis in the Act No. 11/1918 Coll. The Act preserved in force former Hungarian law in the territory of Slovakia. In Czech lands, former Austrian law was to be used further on. Quite understandably, attempts were present already in the interwar period to unify the legal system of Czechoslovakia. Analysis of the process and results of unification of law in Czechoslovakia reveals the participation of broad-scale of Slovak lawyers in the process and partial influence of law valid in Slovakia in the projects of new Czechoslovak codes. In the area of substantive law, the revised Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) was to become the basis of the new Czechoslovak Civil Code and therefore, not much space was left for “Slovak law”to influence the final version of the Civil Code project. In the area of procedural law, however, the codes of civil procedure valid in the Czech part and in the Slovak part of the Republic were not as different as it was the case with the substantive civil law. Therefore, the unification process was easier and many institutes of law valid in Slovakia were to be preserved in the project of the Czechoslovak Civil Procedure Code. Unfortunately, the events of the years 1938–1939 was the reason for none of the prepared projects being actually enacted. It was only after the Second World War (mostly in 1950) that the legal order was finally unified in Czechoslovakia.

Mental Disorder as a Ground for Divorce in the Czechoslovak Marriage Amendment and Comparison to Hungarian Law

The author reviews mental disorder as a ground for divorce in the Czechoslovak Act No. 320 of 1919 Coll. This Act was called the Marriage Amendment and was in effect for the Czech countries until 1950. The author considers the wording of the Act itself, the explanatory report, jurisprudence, and the court practice. The author compares it to the Hungarian marriage law that continued to be effective in Slovakia until 1950. It was Act No. XXXI of 1894 (the so-called Marriage Act), which regulated divorces in Slovakia, despite adopting the Czechoslovak Marriage Amendment. The Hungarian Marriage Act did not recognise mental illness as a ground for divorce. However, it was a controversial topic in both legal environments, the Hungarian and Czechoslovak.

The Commission's Approach to Rule of Law Backsliding: Managing Instead of Enforcing Democratic Values?

AbstractIn response to noncompliance with the EU's fundamental values such as democracy and the rule of law in Hungary and Poland, the EU Commission has established the Justice Scoreboard, the Rule of Law Framework and the Rule of Law Mechanism. Moreover, the Commission has proposed linking the disbursement of funds to respect for the rule of law (Rule of Law conditionality). However, the deployment of these measures has not restored compliance. Drawing on the two dominant approaches in compliance studies, the management approach and the enforcement approach, this paper argues that with the exception of Rule of Law conditionality, the Commission's tools are characterized by a mismatch between the causes of the problems identified and the solutions chosen. Instead of sanctioning voluntary noncompliance, they rely on soft measures, which are recommended in cases of involuntary noncompliance, but which are not suitable in cases of deliberate noncompliance.

Requiem for a dream

Aim: A look back at the successful history of scientific research in the field of home affairs prior to the establishment of law enforcement science, namely the theoretical and applied research carried out at the Law Enforcement Research Institute, established in 1991 at the Ministry of the Interior.Methodology: Review of the research carried out at the Institute during the existence of the Law Enforcement Research Institute, as well as the presentation to what extent the results of these research contributed to the later acceptance and accreditation of law enforcement science.Findings: The activities of the Law Enforcement Research Institute of the Ministry of the Interior, and later of the Police College’s Institute for Leadership Training and Research between 1991 and 1998, are worth remembering as an important legacy of the research institute’s past. It can be stated that without the research carried out at the Law Enforcement Research Institute at that time, the academic recognition of law enforcement science could not have taken place, which laid the foundation for the establishment of the Doctoral School of Law Enforcement.Value: We consider it a value that scientific research and leadership training took place in the above-mentioned research institute for several years, as a result of which the latest domestic and international results of law enforcement theory were always present in the training, and researchers could learn about the state of practice in leadership courses, they could check the reception of their work in the law enforcement services and also learn from the criticisms. Several aspirations that were first articulated during the regime change have become a reality. For example, the elevation of higher law enforcement education to university level, the establishment of master’s degrees, the strengthening of the acceptance of law enforcement science, the increasing exploration of sources of law enforcement history, and the appearance of all these results in the operation of the Hungarian Law Enforcement Society.

Abstract Police

Aim: Managing global security risks and the development of information technology in the 21st century have led to significant changes in the relationship between the police and the society. Examining these changes is essential to determine the future role of law enforcement. With this in mind, the author undertakes to present a study by Jan Terpstra, Nicholas R. Fyfe, and Renze Salet, entitled “The Abstract Police: A Conceptual Exploration of Unintended Changes in Police Organizations,” published in the online edition of the Sage Journal in December 2019.Methodology: The review is based on the primary source analysis of this study and the elaboration of the international literature on the subject. As a side effect of the reform of the Scottish and Dutch police, which were reorganized in 2013, the internal relations of the police and the connections to the civil communities of the society are also becoming more formalized and abstract.Findings: The social and technological changes, that have helped the police to become abstract, are inevitable and therefore they can be hardly influenced. That is why the question is not what we can do against that, but how we can adapt to the changed situation.Value: Based on the phenomenon revealed in the study, it is necessary to examine in the future how the abstract police present in the Hungarian law enforcement and what responses can be made in order to maintain a close relationship between the police and the society.

Webshop in prison – experience and security implications of the hungarian prison webshop system

Aim: From 1th of July 2018, another innovation helped the everyday work of the Hungarian penitentiary service. This innovation made the life of detainees, their relatives and the prison staff work much more easier making one of the communication-types secure, convenient and modern: packadge reception. Together with the numerous advantages of the closed-chain packadge system, i.e. webshop, it has become one of the most successfull forms of communication between prisoners and relatives. The present study examines the legal and economic background, benefits, challenges, and experiences of the past three years, in the light of the primary and most important task of prison: through the enforcement of security.Methodology: The first part of the study presents in detail the purpose, elements and mode of operation of the legal institution, and then analyzes in detail the development of prohibited objects affected by the webshop in the mentioned period using statistical methods.Findings: The purpose of the webshop system placed in the focus of the study was not only by practical reason, but also to break the high proportion of the prohibited articles that had existed for years. The study examined the security implications of this reintegration tool, as well as the legislative expectations, and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the webshop had demonstrably reduced the number of banned items which accessed into the prison.Value: The security analysis of this legal institution in Hungarian law enforcement journal has not yet taken place. We wanted to fill this gap and plan to examine the economic/financial aspects of the topic in the future.

Der Arzt als „Verwalter des Rassengutes“?

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, people were encouraged to choose their spouses based on heredity, race, and health in order to rid the “racial corpus” of “inferior” genetic material and to strengthen the genetic material of future generations. In the course of the eugenic and racial-hygienic discourse in Germany and Hungary, as well as in many other European countries and the USA, legal measures such as the compulsory exchange of health certificates before marriage, accompanied by bans on “unhealthy” or “inferior” marriages, were discussed by population policy. Subsequently, various pieces of legislation were passed that mandated marriage counselling as a basis for further eugenic measures, both selection and promotion. Starting on a voluntary basis, marriage counselling became compulsory in Germany from 1933 and in Hungary from 1941. The following article first looks at the different stages of legislations before discussing the differences and similarities between the German and Hungarian laws. The focus is on the question of whether doctors were used in both countries as “administrators of the hereditary property” and whether it is possible to speak of a mutual influence of the legislation. The legal comparison reveals that the legislations differed considerably in essential points.

Private Law Publications in Hungary between 1920–1944 with Special Regard to the Influence of German Law and the Restriction of Rights

The study analyses the reaction of Hungarian private law jurists to the right restrictions and deprivations of the Horthy era concerning Civil law, whether they welcomed or criticized them and more importantly, if they spoke about them at all publicly. I examined the legal papers that were published in the subject period in Hungary, namely the Jogtudományi Közlöny (Journal of Jurisprudence), Polgári Jog (Civil Law) and Magyar Jogi Szemle (Hungarian Law Review) in order to seek answers.

About János Sallai’s book entitled The Establishment and Accreditation of Law Enforcement Science in Hungary, with special emphasis on the chapters dealing with impact of professional journals on the develo

Aim: The aim of the review of János Sallai’s publication entitled The Establishment and Accreditation of Law Enforcement Science in Hungary is to present in a short and concise form the domestic acceptance and accreditation of law enforcement science written from a historian’s perspective, for the readers of Belügyi Szemle.Methodology: The authors of this review have sought to use both qualitative and quantitative content analysis in preparing this review. The review’s authors use the same intertextuality approach to present the content of the book as it is found in the structure of the book. This is because the chapters and subchapters of the book itself are not independent, completely separate items, but are organically connected, intertwined in a chain.Conclusion: The author has fully succeeded in realizing his original intention. The publication presents almost entirely the historically long process, its individual stages, as a result of which law enforcement science has become an accepted, independent discipline in Hungary, and its acceptance in both academia and higher education has been achieved.Value: The scientific findings and information revealed by the author of the book and summarized in this publication can make a significant contribution to the further development of Hungarian law enforcement science, to its treatment as an independent science, and to the fact that in the future, journals dealing with law enforcement theory can play a major role in the further development of law enforcement science and its wider recognition.

Defending a PhD thesis and the background to the event

Aim: The aim of the publication is to present the process of the establishment and the beginnings of the operation of the Doctoral School of Law Enforcement at the Faculty of Law Enforcement of the University of Public Service and to briefly introduce the author of the first defended thesis and its content.Methodology: By analysing the documents of the Police College and the University of Public Service and the decisions of the Hungarian Accreditation Committee, the author describes the system of tasks and the work of two decades during which it became possible to establish an academic discipline and the associated doctoral school. He also presents the essence of the relevant Senate decisions and the Rector’s and the Dean’s initiatives.Findings: The main milestones on the way to the public disputation of the first PhD thesis include the recognition of Police Science as a discipline. Also, it was necessary to establish a university faculty with a similar profile and launch its training programme, followed by the establishment of the Doctoral School and commencing the training there, steps which are described in detail in this publication.Value: The nearly twenty-year process discussed in the paper is unique in Hungarian law enforcement higher education. There was no university-level training or academic preparation in law enforcement in Hungary before. For those interested in this discipline, a new opportunity opened up to carry out research work and to be able to achieve such a high professional standard.

Police selection in Bavaria and in different German states

Aim: To extend the literature of the Hungarian Law Enforcement Science by studying and presenting the selection system of the Bavarian and other German territories.Methodology: The research was performed through collecting and analysing the English and German open sources and the relevant literature. On the other hand, a written structured interview with a Bavarian practitioner was performed, as well.Findings: The conclusion of the article is that the structure of police selection in Bavaria and in other German territories are based on similar principles, while the territorial particularities depending on different needs (e.g. duties and hiring) are taken into account.Value: The findings of this paper could provide knowledge for those specialists in Hungary who are responsible for this area. On the other hand, it can be used as a basis for deeper examinations. The findings can be compared with other countries’ practices, as well.

Die juristische Bildung an der k.u.k. Konsularakademie, mit Fokus auf die staatsrechtlichen Studien

The institutional predecessors of the recent Diplomatic Academy in Vienna took a significant impact on the civil service of the Habsburg Monarchy. The Oriental Academy was founded by empress Maria Theresia in 1754 to train dragomans for the eastern relations. The Academy stood under Jesuit influence and became a secular institution in the middle of the 19th century. By this time the political and legal studies had been dominated on behalf of human and natural sciences and the Academy had been turning to a special institution for training professionals for the foreign service (central service, diplomatic service, consular service). In 1898 the Oriental Academy was transformed into the Imperial and Royal Consular-Academy by Minister Gołuchowski. This reform affected the educational structure as well and the institution focused on the consular branch. The quota of political and economical courses increased as a reflection to the intensive global trade, but on the other hand Austrian and Hungarian Constitutional Law were also set in the new educational system due to the public legal transformation of the Monarchy in 1867 (Austro-Hungarian Compromise). This study aims to present the brief institutional history of the Oriental and Consular Academy and the way the educational system of the Academy had evolved. At last, it is going to be observed to what extent constitutional legal studies were represented in the courses of the institution and how they interpreted the disputed legal nature of the dualistic Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

Police selection in Zürich and in certain Swiss cantons

Aim: The selection of police officers is a widely researched topic, which was differently analysed by several areas of science. The international studies therein the foreign practices were barely examined by the Hungarian researchers. The analysation of selection systems of different Swiss police units can provide a specific knowledge for the Hungarian Law Enforcement Science. Previously, this topic was not addressed in Hungary, therefore it can be considered as knowledge-expanding and suppletory.Methodology: The research was performed through collecting and analysing the English and German open sources and the relevant literature.Findings: The conclusion of the article is that the structure of police officers’ selection in the examined Swiss territories are based on similar principles, while the territorial particularities depending on different needs (e.g. duties and hiring) are taken into account.Value: The findings of this paper could provide knowledge for those specialists in Hungary who are responsible for this area. On the other hand, it can be used as a basis for deeper examinations. The findings can be compared with other countries’ practices, as well.

The issue of limitation in the context of transitional justice

The present study aims to present the difficulties of transitional justice in Hungary following the change of systems. Following the regime change, it was a legitimate need in a substantial part of society in Hungary to punish the main perpetrators of the previous communist dictatorship for the crimes committed by them, either symbolically or actually. This type of ‘punishment’ may take place in a democratic society in two ways: either because of a political decision, or in the form of prosecution by a court. From the 1990s onwards, Hungarian decision-makers were characterized by the absence of ability to cope with the question. In my study relating to the statute of limitation, in addition to the description of the concept of limitation and the applicable Hungarian regulation in force, on the one hand I introduce those crimes which are not subject to the statute of limitation under international law, on the other hand I present the different approaches of the question of suspension of the limitation period in some successor states in order to determine and provide a solution to whether the statute of limitation could have been a real obstacle to criminal accountability. In this context, my study addresses, among several other issues, the breakthrough of the prohibition of retroactive effect, the issue of limitation and the question whether there is a need for transitional justice at all. The problem of limitation in connection with the historical justice arises in the fact that, although the current Hungarian legislation in force is aware of the concept of crimes which were not subject to the statute of limitation, however, during the darkest period of the communist dictatorship, such a concept did not yet exist in Hungarian law. The Hungarian laws in force in the 1950s did not yet recognize the category non-obsolete crimes, Thus, for example under Article 25 of the Compilation of Substantive Criminal Law (Act II of 1950) in force in 1956, the limitation period for acts threatened with death or life imprisonment was only 15 years, which, however, ceased to be punishable. In my opinion, which can be considered as one of the results of my research, in the absence of a mandatory legal background similar to German or Czech, it is a special legal reasoning that can justify the lack of limitation, the rules of which are presented in detail in my study. This is the legal reasoning on the basis of which the accountability of former party leaders could have been established under both domestic and international law. That is the legislative reasoning based on which – contrary to the decision of the Constitutional Court – in my opinion, legal liability would (would have been) take place, regardless of the fact, whether it was a plea or in the context of a traditional criminal proceedings.

Populism and Law in Hungary – Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract Populism is a nebulous concept that has almost as many definitions as scholars engaging with the concept that has a paradoxical relationship with law. On the one hand, populist politicians generally oppose the liberal ideal of separating politics and law, i.e. accepting that legal rules should limit political power, claiming that it would impede the expression of the popular will, yet they use legal regulation as their most important instrument to implement their policies. The chameleonic nature of populism and its instrumentalist approach to law presents a special challenge for lawyers that try to assess its impact on the domestic legal system. Populist legislation, after all, is seemingly indistinguishable from legislation adopted under non-populist regimes as populist regimes always claim to strictly adhere to formal procedural requirements and often justify the dramatic overhaul of previous rules invoking foreign examples. Hungary is a perfect litmus test for the examination of legal changes under populist leaders, because in 2010 the right-wing Fidesz-Kdnp party coalition won two-thirds majority in Parliament – a self-described “revolution in the voting booths” -, which gave it the power to completely overhaul the Hungarian legal system, even changing the constitution. In the past 10 years, virtually every significant branch of Hungarian law was recodified, adopting inter alia new criminal, civil, administrative and labor codes. The authors of this special issue attempted to analyze some of the most pertinent changes, in the field of constitutional law, adjudication, tax law, labor law, criminal regulation and asylum legislation.