Miskolci Jogi Szemle

Foreword

Tímea Barzó — 2025-12-22

Latest cases concerning prescription issues in the fields of EU grants, state aid, EU competition law, and consumer protection

Zoltán Csehi — 2025-12-22

In respectful memory of Professor György Bíró, our chosen topic concerns one of the important themes of his scientific work: the prescription. The discovery of the significance of the prescription was connected to the re-codification of the civil law, and today it is becoming a more and more important issue in the law of the European Union, in the context of state aid, consumer protection, and the private enforcement of competition law infringements under EU law.

On the precedent-setting decision of the Curia: Legal nature of the grounds for interrupting the period of prescription

Judit Fazekas — 2025-12-22

The choice of topic is partly inspired by the recent publication of the precedent-setting decision in the Collection of Court Decisions, made by the Curia (Supreme Court of Hungary) in a review proceeding, referred to in the title of the study, on the interpretation of the legal nature of the grounds for interrupting the prescription period, which may put an end to the legal interpretation debate that has been ongoing since the adoption of the Civil Code. The other reason is that we dedicated the Civil Law Scholars' Meeting to the memory of Professor György Bíró, who passed away 10 years ago and who dealt with the theoretical and practical issues of prescription in several of his studies.

Case law on challenging the contract based on mistake

Péter Miskolczi Bodnár — 2025-12-22

The study examines the case law relating to the invalidity of contracts concluded in error The author focuses on how judicial practice interprets the legal provision on the defect of consent in cases involving the invalidity of contracts. In doing so, it analyses the role of judgments in narrowing (or, exceptionally, broadening) the application scope of the Civil Code. Based on this analysis, the author formulates proposals for improving the wording of the statutory provisions.

Legal and systematic issues concerning the distinction between simple and fiduciary activity contracts de lata and de lege ferenda

Tamás Prugberger — 2025-12-22

The study examines the dogmatic characteristics of work contract, mandate contract and employment contracts, paying particular attention to the boundaries between activity-based and fiduciary obligations. The author notes that, in practice, long-term business and mandate relationships are becoming increasingly similar to employment contracts, resulting in significant overlap between the three types of contract. The study also reviews termination rules and the specific legal consequences of the long-term nature of these contracts, which are currently only partially reflected in the Hungarian Civil Code. The author proposes that long-term work and mandate contracts be regulated in a separate section of the Civil Code in force, following the model of mandate contracts and ensuring systematic uniformity.

How does fiduciary asset management differ from mandate? Theoretical and practical lessons from the first decade

István Sándor — 2025-12-22

The asset management contract was introduced into Hungarian private law as a new type of contract, classified as a subtype of the mandate agreement, upon the entry into force of the Civil Code. The present study seeks to analyse the rules of asset management (trust) and mandate with the aim of identifying their similarities and differences. A further objective of the analysis is to highlight certain issues of application and interpretation arising in legal practice, while at the same time seeking possible solutions to them.

Form of contract in the European and Hungarian law

József Szalma — 2025-12-22

This study examines the voluntary and mandatory forms of contract in the European and Hungarian law. In line with the solutions adopted in European codifications, the freedom of form of contract is accepted as a general rule. Thus, in exceptional cases specified by law, the contract is concluded only if framed in a prescribed form. Apart from other European civil codes, the Hungarian Civil Code prescribes written form in relation to specific types of contracts, or, in specific laws beyond the Civil Code, and not among the general rules on contract law. The paper also reveals that the legal consequence of defects of form is the nullity of the contract, which may be rectified. The study also scrutinizes real contracts and the consequences of their transformation into consensual contracts.

Legal issues concerning breach of duty of care and liability for damages in the context of construction supervision

Judit Barta — 2025-12-22

Ensuring that structures, including buildings, are constructed to an appropriate standard (safety, aesthetics, sustainability, etc.) is a complex task that requires the work of professionals who perform management and inspection tasks, as well as the building authorities. On the client side of construction projects, there are several professionals who perform inspections, including the technical inspector and the design supervisor. This study describes and distinguishes between the activities of technical inspectors and design supervisors, then briefly discusses breaches of the duty of care and the problems associated with them, as well as the issue of liability for damages caused by breach of contract.

On the farm transfer contract from the perspective of agricultural law and civil law

Zsófia Hornyák — 2025-12-22

On January 1, 2023, a regulation came into force in Hungary introducing the legal institution of farm transfer contracts, which are intended to facilitate generational change in agriculture. The fundamental legislative objective was to facilitate the transfer of agricultural holdings from the older generation to the younger generation by simplifying the administration and promoting transfers within families as legal transactions between living persons

The principle of value stability and its application in modern Hungarian private law

Ágnes Juhász — 2025-12-22

The aim of this study is to explore the role of value stability and its practical application in contractual relationships. Starting from the three dogmatic categories of value balance, value proportionality, and value stability, the author examines the possibilities of maintaining value proportionality and restoring disrupted value balance, supported by historical and current legal examples.

Difficulties in interpretation of abuse of right in Hungarian family law cases

Edit Kriston — 2025-12-22

Where is the line between legitimate and unlawful behaviour? When can we say that an entitled person is exercising their rights in an abusive way? How can we determine whether one party is unlawfully exploiting the legal options available to them against the other party in divorce proceedings or other family law cases? How should this be interpreted? Although these questions are not new to the Hungarian courts, only a few people have attempted to answer them in the legal literature or practice. This study aims to provide answers to these questions on the one hand, and to initiate a scientific debate on the application of this principle in family law, on the other hand.

Critical remarks on employment violations in the agricultural sector in light of social conditionality rules

Gábor Mélypataki — 2025-12-22

Agriculture is a complex sector of the economy that yields unique circumstances and operations. Accordingly, the question arises as to whether the general legal framework applicable to the economy as a whole can be applied to this sector without modification. Our study attempts to examine this from the perspective of labor and social law, in light of the fact that the payment of agricultural subsidies will be linked to the enforcement of a strongly socially oriented EU legal institution in the future. In our study, we would like to pay tribute to the memory of Professor György Bíró, who himself extensively examined the relationship between general and specific law in numerous studies.

On the borderline between substantive law and procedural law: the prescription of claims incorporated in enforceable decisions and the right of enforcement

Réka Pusztahelyi — 2025-12-22

After the Civil Code of 1959 came into force, the regulation that unjustifiably separated the limitation period for enforceable claims from the limitation period for right of enforcement was no longer in effect. Nevertheless, judicial practice has not yet clarified the relationship between the relevant provisions of the old and current Civil Code and the Vht (Act on Judicial Enforcement), nor has it clarified the applicability of the prescription rules of the Civil Code to claims being incorporated in notarial deeds to be affixed with an enforcement clause, which are the focus of this study. Nor has the question been settled as to whether the grounds for interruption of the prescription period set out in Section 6:25(1) of the Civil Code would be applicable in this specific case. The study examines these issues in the light of judicial practice over the last decade.

"The combined requirement of communication and formality" – Reflections on the written nature of user agreements

Edit Sápi — 2025-12-22

The study examines the reasons behind the mandatory form of license contracts and the issues of problems arising in legal practice. According to the Copyright Act, license contracts shall be concluded in writing, failure to do so results in nullity. However, it is often observed that the parties conclude the aforementioned contracts only verbally or by suggestive conduct. The study also examines the applicability of Article 6:7 (3) of the Civil Code and the obstacles to its application in licence contracts.

Work relations on the border of civil law and labour law

Bernadett Solymosi-Szekeres — 2025-12-22

With the emergence of atypical work on the digital platforms of the gig economy, the use of artificial intelligence-based tools and software designed to partially or fully automate employer rights has become widespread. How did the labor market move from traditional employment relationships to the use of so-called atypical legal relationships and, further, to the practice of using civil contracts that no longer provide employee guarantees? Time is pressing. Is it still possible to restrict and intervene, or should we leave the task to the market's self-regulating mechanism, invoking the principle of freedom of contract, and stand by with our hands tied as we watch the erosion of employee rights that have been fought for over nearly two centuries? The study briefly reviews the development curve and raises the challenges of the present.

The relationship of the transaction-management contract and the brokerage contract in the case law of the European Court of Justice

Zoltán Angyal — 2025-12-22

In a judgment delivered in December 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union holded that the so-called Brussels I regulation be interpreted as meaning that it may be applied to a contract concluded between a consumer and a professional which on its own does not come within the scope of the commercial or professional activity ‘directed’ by that professional ‘to’ the Member State of the consumer’s domicile, but which is closely linked to a contract concluded beforehand by those same parties in the context of such an activity. It is for the national court to determine whether the constituent elements of that link are present.

The Effect of Time Lapse on the Law - Two Cases from the Roman Law

István Bajánházy — 2025-12-22

I will try to show in this paper how time could both establish and abolish rights in Roman Law. I bring to cases, the first from private law, the second from public law. The right to fish in the public rivers was opened to everybody by the ius gentium. But, if somebody has fished in a certain section of a river for years, he can have a fishing-right here and could exclude any others, and he was entitled for defense by an interdict. The other case is from public law: a high priest of Jupiter (flamen Dialis) wanted to enter to the section of the Senat of Rome in 209 B.C., based on an old written law which permitted this right him. But the head of the jurisdiction (praetor) denied it, stated this right was abolished by the non-practicing over many decades. After a long debate the priest could enter to the section, but not by his argument, but probably by an hidden political compromise, which is not reported by the historian.

Criminal offences protecting creditors in Austria – Conclusions drawn from a comparative analysis of Austrian and Hungarian regulations

József Gula — 2025-12-22

The study presents the system of criminal offences designed to protect creditors and the main characteristics of the individual delicts under Austrian criminal law. In analysing the statutory provisions, it reflects on the similarities to, as well as the conceptual differences from, Hungarian legal regulation. Where necessary, it also examines the basic concepts of insolvency law that are relevant from a criminal law perspective. The paper concludes by outlining the main findings drawn from the comparison of Austrian and Hungarian regulations, as well as by formulating de lege ferenda proposals

Need, Blamelessness, and Status – The tripartite model of alimony in Hungarian legal history

Ibolya Katalin Koncz — 2025-12-22

The study examines the historical development of women’s private law status at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, with particular focus on the institution of alimony. It explores how patriarchal social structures restricted women’s legal capacity and how “special laws” emerged in the dichotomy of legal and active capacity. The tripartite model developed in the jurisprudence of the Hungarian Curia – need, blamelessness, and status – served as a vehicle for applying aequitas (equity), dignitas humana (human dignity), and bonum commune (the common good). The concluding analysis highlights that the evolution of alimony exemplifies a broader truth: legal development can only be considered just if it simultaneously secures legal certainty, equity, and the protection of human dignity.

Application of electronic devices in criminal enforcement law

Anita Nagy — 2025-12-22

In my study I examine the presentation of telecommunication devices, so in addition to the remote hearing of the court stage and I also examine the Hungarian and international aspects of electronic remote hearing in criminal enforcement law. Considering the essence of the institutional system, the goal is that the technical device can be used at any stage of the procedure, thus in relation to any person participating in the criminal proceeding and for the entire duration of any procedural act, as well as in the criminal enforcement law. At the end of the study I discuss the electronic monitoring introduced in 2017 as an electronic devices also, both in Hungarian and internationally aspects.

The concept of property in natural law within classical legal theory: innate or acquired rights

Anna Petrasovszky — 2025-12-22

This study examines the natural law interpretation of property rights in classical legal theory. Thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant and Fichte offered divergent answers to whether property is an innate right or a socially constructed, acquired right. For Hobbes, property is secured only by the state; Locke derived it from labour; Rousseau saw it as the root of inequality; Kant grounded it in pure reason; and Fichte viewed it as a condition of human freedom. In Hungarian legal thought, Mihály Szibenliszt articulated an intermediate position: property is not innate, nor solely a creation of the state, but an acquired right rooted in the right of personality. The study highlights how Szibenliszt's conception fits into the broader natural law debates and how it contributed to shaping the idea of the modern rule of law.