HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: Tamás Éless, Zsolt Farkas, Sarolta Szabó and Lili Bischof, Oppenheim Law Firm
11.2 Factors Considered When Awarding Costs Litigation costs include all expenses necessarily incurred by a party during or prior to the proceedings that are causally connected with the assertion of the right in dispute. This includes any loss of earnings required by attendance before the court. When awarding costs, the court therefore examines whether a given cost falls within the above definition and, if so, orders its reimbursement. Lawyers’ fees form a part of litigation costs. Courts may lower the costs of lawyers’ fees to be reimbursed by the party. However, recently, the Supreme Court has adopted a precedent-establishing decision that the reduction by a court of the lawyer’s fee must be exceptional and applied only in exceptional cases. 11.3 Interest Awarded on Costs If the court orders the losing party to pay the litigation costs and the payment is not made voluntarily within the deadline, default interest may accrue from the day following the due date of the payment, in accordance with the rules of the Hungarian Civil Code. 12. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Country ADR methods are widely recognised under Hungarian law. Mediation, the procedures of Conciliation Bodies and those of the Permanent Arbitration Court are the most common forms. Conciliation Bodies assist con- sumers in resolving disputes with business entities. As a consequence of the amendment increasing the amount of the procedural duty to be paid before ini- tiating a civil court procedure, ADR procedures may become more frequent among disputing parties. 12.2 ADR Within the Legal System Mediation may form a part of court proceedings, and it is even compulsory in certain family law disputes. This means that, in such cases, the judge may require the parties to jointly turn to a mediator and to attend
the first mediation session, where they will hear the mediator’s introductory information. The court simul- taneously suspends the hearing of the case. If, despite the court order, a party’s conduct or omission pre- vents the mediator’s invitation or the first session from taking place, the court may impose a monetary fine on that party. The initiation and conduct of the mediation proce- dure nevertheless depend on the voluntary decision of the parties. Accordingly, no further obligation may be imposed on the parties beyond attending the first mediation session. After the proceedings are resumed, the court may – upon the joint request of the parties – approve the agreement reached during the mediation as a judicial settlement. If the mediation does not lead to a result, the litigation continues, and the court decides on the disputed issues. 12.3 ADR Institutions The conduct of mediators is supervised by the courts, while Conciliation Bodies and the Permanent Court of Arbitration are both attached to the Hungarian Cham- ber of Commerce and Industry. Furthermore, the rele- vant statutory provisions establish the internal organi- sation thereof. Each of these ADR organisations has its own website – available in English and Hungarian – which provides information about their proceedings.
13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration
The national legislation governing international arbi- tration in Hungary is Act LX of 2017 on Arbitration (“Arbitration Act”), which is based on the 1985 UNCI- TRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitra- tion as amended in 2006. Hungary ratified the New York Convention on 5 March 1962, and the New York Convention was enacted into Hungarian national law by Statutory Decree No 25 of 1962.
424 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook