HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: Szabolcs Mestyán, John Fenemore, Balázs Rokob and Nóra Kertai, Lakatos, Köves & Partners
3.4.3 Application of Foreign Laws The Hungarian Conflicts Law and the Rome I Regula - tion confer on the parties to an international contrac - tual transaction almost total autonomy in choosing the law which is to govern such a contract, provided that the presence of a “foreign” (ie, non-Hungarian) element in the transaction can be proven. The parties to the relevant finance documents may validly enter into contracts governed by a non-Hun - garian law, provided that the mandatory provisions of the Hungarian Conflicts Law or other Hungarian laws (if applicable at all) do not provide otherwise. Accord - ingly, the choice of, eg, English or New York law for a finance or security document is generally a valid choice of law and submission to jurisdiction. 3.4.4 Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards See 2.6.6 Domestic Courts’ Recognition of Foreign Judgments/Awards and 2.6.12 Enforcement of For- eign Arbitral Decisions . 3.4.5 Secured Parties’ Right to Take Possession of Aircraft In practice, it is not feasible under Hungarian law to take possession of the aircraft and enforce the secu - rity agreement or aircraft mortgage without the con - sent of the lessee or operator. Accordingly, a court order may have to be sought to obtain access to the aircraft or the engines. However, in aircraft financing transactions, it is market practice that both the owner and the operator of the aircraft grant a deregistration power of attorney to the relevant secured creditor that contains prior consent to the repossession and deregistration of the aircraft, noting that the use of such deregistration power of attorney is untested in Hungary. 3.4.6 Domestic Courts Competent to Decide on Enforcement Actions For questions of enforcement (outside insolvency proceedings) the competent court will have to be determined pursuant to general rules, eg, linking the place of venue to the debtor’s seat, the place of per - formance or the location of the asset.
3.4.7 Summary Judgments or Other Relief In Hungary, it is not possible for a court to issue a summary judgment. 3.4.8 Judgments in Foreign Currencies A judgment can be obtained in any currency. However, if a judgment is obtained in a currency other than in forints, it is possible that it could only be enforced in Hungary in forints. In the event of any proceed - ing being brought in a Hungarian court in respect of a monetary obligation expressed to be payable in a currency other than Hungarian forints, a Hungarian court may give judgment as an order to pay the Hun - garian forints equivalent of such currency at the time of actual payment of the debtor. 3.4.9 Taxes/Fees Payable The stamp duty payable for the registration in the Hungarian Aircraft Register of any third-party right (eg, mortgage) is HUF69,000 (approximately EUR175). 3.4.10 Other Relevant Issues Enforcement of a Hungarian aircraft mortgage can be accelerated by ensuring that the mortgage is incorpo - rated into a notarial deed and, in such a case, direct enforceability of the mortgage will be available and there will be no need to obtain a court judgment first. 4. Other Issues of Note 4.1 Issues Relevant to Domestic Purchase, Sale, Lease or Debt Finance of Aircraft Emergency Legislation As a response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Hun - garian government declared a state of danger again with effect from 25 May 2022, appointing the Hun - garian Prime Minister as responsible for preventing/ remedying the negative consequences of the state of danger caused by the ongoing war in the neighbour - ing country. The government is required to terminate the state of danger when the circumstances giving rise to its dec - laration no longer apply. According to the Hungarian Constitution, during a state of danger, the govern - ment is entitled to suspend the application of certain laws or derogate from the provisions of certain laws
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