HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: Tamás Éless, Zsolt Farkas, Sarolta Szabó and Lili Bischof, Oppenheim Law Firm
Oppenheim Law Firm Károlyi Street 12 H-1053 Budapest Hungary
Tel: +36 1 486 2200 Fax: +36 1 486 2201
Email: office@oppenheimlegal.com Web: www.oppenheimlegal.com
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System Fundamental Characteristics of the Hungarian Legal System The Hungarian legal system is a civil law system; therefore, it relies on codified statutes as sources of law. Accordingly, the courts’ primary function is to interpret the statutory provisions in individual legal disputes. Furthermore, since 2021 the decisions of the Hungarian Supreme Court (ie, Curia) have had a binding effect on the courts regarding the relevant legal issues dealt with by them (ie, limited system of precedent). The Role of Judges in Civil Procedures Hungarian civil court procedures are based on the principle of the parties’ disposition, which means that the court shall be bound by the requests and statements submitted and made by the parties. There are only a few exceptions to this rule, when the court decides on a matter during the proceedings ex offi- cio, even in the absence of a request to that effect from the parties. It also follows from the principle of the parties’ disposition that the court does not take evidence ex officio. Main Characteristics of Legal Proceedings Regarding civil procedures, the Hungarian system primarily relies on written submissions, especially in the preparatory stage of lawsuits, while during the hearings remarks and arguments of the parties can be submitted orally as well.
1.2 Court System The Structure of the Hungarian Court System Hungary’s judicial system has four levels: local courts, county courts, higher courts of appeal and the Supreme Court. Local courts conduct proceedings as a first instance in most of the cases. County courts proceed at first instance in cases specified by the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) and review the appeals submitted against the first instance judgments and orders of local courts. Higher courts of appeal pro- ceed as the second instance of county courts. The Supreme Court has jurisdictional powers such as considering appeals in exceptional cases and review- ing final and binding judgments as an extraordinary legal remedy. Court Specialisation As a general rule, there are no specialised courts for specific types of litigation. Although courts hearing civil cases are currently not organisationally separate from courts hearing administrative and labour cases, these cases are adjudicated by different collegiums of the courts, and these types of cases have their sepa- rate or partially separate rules of procedure. Overall, therefore, specialised expertise is provided, although the different cases are judged according to largely the same set of rules. The Time Required to Commence the Trial In Hungary, it usually takes between four and six months from the initiation of the lawsuit – ie, the sub - mission of the statement of claim – for the courts to schedule a preparatory hearing.
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