HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: Katalin Andreides, Andreides Law
make the object available to the Office for physical inspection. In the course of assessing the application, the Office is required to conduct a physical examina - tion of the cultural good and document its finding in a official report. An export licence cannot be issued where the object has been stolen or unlawfully export - ed from the country of origin. 6. Sale of Art Objects Domestically and Abroad 6.1 Key Clauses in Art Sale Contracts The contract governing the sale of an artwork will depend on the transaction and specific transaction structure in question. However, one would expect to see at least the following terms in a sale and purchase agreement in Hungary: • the parties involved, capacity and authority; • the description of the artwork; • a condition report; • price, payment terms, taxes and fees; • terms dealing with authenticity and provenance, including literature and exhibition history; • any trade restrictions; • the artwork’s location and tax status; • delivery and the passing of risk; • the seller’s warranties and representations that the artwork is free of liens, claims or other encum - brances; • risk allocation; and • the parties’ agreement on the period of limitation, governing law and forum selection. 6.2 Issues in Cross-Border Art Sales First, the exportation into the foreign country must not be illegal. For example, the jurisdiction that is the destination of an artwork from Hungary must not be subject to any applicable Hungarian trade restrictions and sanctions. If that was the case, it would render the proposed transaction, and the corresponding expor - tation of the artwork, illegal under Hungarian export controls and sanctions laws. Second, it is important to check that the artwork can be freely exported from Hungary, in other words that there are no Hungarian legal restrictions on the art -
work leaving Hungary in the first place. For example, the artwork might qualify as national patrimony in Hungary, or it might require a specific licence (eg, an individual export licence or a CITES licence) because it incorporates material from protected wildlife. Third, if Hungary is the country of destination, there are other considerations to take into account. For example, if the artwork comes from outside the EU, the EU Import Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/880) will apply. As of 28 June 2025, the import of certain non-European cultural goods is subject to authorisa - tion under the Regulation. Applications are submitted through the European Commission’s electronic ICG system. In Hungary, authorisations are issued by the Cultural Goods Department. For categories not requir - ing authorisation but covered by the Regulation, an importer’s statement must be filed via the ICG system with the competent customs office. In Hungary, no fees are charged for these procedures. 6.3 Gallery and Auction House Liability for Fake Art Disputes over attribution and authenticity of art - works depend on the contractual terms governing the underlying transaction. In general, however, there are “leading experts” on various artists who may or may not have published exhaustive catalogues rai- sonnés about their respective oeuvres. In addition, a Hungarian court may appoint a separate independ - ent “expert” in an authenticity dispute to opine on whether the artwork is by the master’s hand or not. The opinion of the judge may therefore be informed by a person who is different from the expert accepted as being the authority on that artist by the international art market. There are also legal provisions that govern the responsibility and liability of expert opinion, which tends to be scrutinised even more where the expert is part of an interested party, such as a dealership, auc - tion house or art adviser involved in a prospective sale and expecting to earn a commission from that sale. For that reason, Hungarian auction houses and gal - leries must conduct thorough due diligence, includ - ing provenance checks and expert authentication, and use clear disclaimers in contracts and catalogues to limit liability. They must also maintain transparency and communicate all known information about an
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