HUNGARY Law and Practice Contributed by: István Varga and Viktor Előd Cserép, PROVARIS Varga & Partners
notary public issues an enforceable deed for the amount claimed. Settlement Attempt and Mediation If a settlement attempt is requested, the court holds a meeting after having served summons on both parties. Mandatory Proceedings Before Other Authorities as a Prerequisite for a Lawsuit In cases where an action must be preceded by other proceedings that have not taken place yet, the court seized of an action dismisses the action without examining it on the merits. For example, a civil action for damages against an administrative agency must be preceded by a final and binding judgment of an administrative court stating the breach of law by that agency during the administrative proceedings. Pre-action Evidence Gathering In cases of “emergency of statement” and “emergency of evidence” situations dealt with below at 5.4 Alternatives to Discovery Mecha- nisms , parties might be required to prudently ini- tiate evidence gathering from the adverse party even before filing of the statement of claim. 3.2 Statutes of Limitations The General Statue of Limitations According to the default rule in the Hungarian Civil Code, the statute of limitations is five years. In specific situations, different acts may provide for different limitation periods – eg, warranty claims also apply. Parties may also stipulate dif- ferent limitation periods in writing, but they can- not exclude the statute of limitations. Commencement and Suspension of the Limitation Period The statute of limitation with respect to a claim commences when a claim becomes due. The
limitation period is suspended if the obligee creditor cannot enforce the claim for an excus- able reason. In that case, the claim may be enforced within one year, or, for limitation periods of up to one year, within three months after the obstacle ceases to exist (if the limitation period has already expired or only a period of less than one year or three months has remained of it). Re-commencement of the Limitation Period The limitation period is interrupted: • by the obligor debtor’s acknowledgement of the debt; • by the amendment of the obligation by agree- ment; • by the conclusion of a settlement agreement; • if court (or arbitration) proceedings are brought to enforce the claim, provided that the court (or arbitral tribunal) renders a final and binding decision on the merits; or • if the claim is notified in bankruptcy proceed- ings. • In these cases, the limitation period com- mences anew. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant International Jurisdictional Regimes and the Consequence of the Absence of International Jurisdiction As Hungary is a member state of the European Union, international jurisdiction is regulated by EU Regulation law and – outside of its scope of application – by domestic jurisdictional law. In both regimes the main rule of general jurisdic- tion follows the principle of actor sequitur forum rei accompanied by a series of subject-matter- specific special jurisdictional heads. The general rule for the absence of international jurisdiction in the Code of Civil Procedure provides that the court dismisses the action (does not proceed on
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