\u201cThe hot topic in Hungary right now is the January 2021 amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure\u201d says Komor Hennel Attorneys Managing Partner Ildiko Komor Hennel. \u201cThe act passed in the 1950s had one previous major overhaul back in 2017,\u201d she says, adding that the recent amendments were necessitated by \u201cmodern times, technological updates, procedural effectiveness and business reality \u2013 just imagine not being able to file documents electronically!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current amendments, although slight compared to the ones made four years ago, are still significant, though largely concerned with bringing greater sense and flexibility to court procedure. \u201cThese show that the lawmakers realized that there was still considerable room for improvement, particularly with respect to the harsh sanctions\/penalties which the 2017 act imposed,\u201d Komor Hennel says. \u201cThe voices of the legal community, those of both lawyers and courts, were heard and these most recent changes finally allow for a less constricted environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawmakers have done a lot to improve the framework for civil litigation with these newest amendments, making it more, in her words “user-friendly,” while also retaining the effectiveness of the act. \u201cIt is clear that the last (2017) act was fraught with meaningless formalities and ineffective rules and provisions, and it is clear that the lawmakers wanted to get rid of these,\u201d she says. \u201cFor instance, the court can no longer simply reject your letter of claim if you fail to include even some minor detail, but now has to set out all the errors you need to rectify, and gives each party one opportunity to put things right and to provide any missing information and statements,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendments have also created a \u201chappy medium\u201d to the Civil Procedure framework, Komor Hennel says, by removing certain \u201charsh provisions.\u201d For example, she says, \u201cthe letter of claim that you have to submit to the court has been streamlined significantly by eliminating many of the meaningless formalities and redundancies.\u201d She also adds that the amendments now require the courts to let legal representatives know not just whether their letters of claim have been accepted, but also if they have been properly delivered to the opposing side. \u201dJust imagine being forced to pester the court to get an answer as to whether your letter of claim is deemed valid, and whether the adverse party has seen it at all \u2013 most of the time, lawyers were operating blind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another important gesture is to allow a hearing to be postponed once, should the original date clash with another hearing for one of the legal representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, even with all these improvements, Komor Hennel says that disputes in Hungary remain a challenging prospect, even for highly qualified legal representatives. \u201cIt would still be more advisable for businesses to settle their differences more amicably \u2013 the procedure could still take two to three years and be very costly, not to mention that getting the proper legal representation to navigate these murky waters can be very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrija Djonovic<\/p>\n\n\n\n