Are the Hungarian tertiary education institutions autonomous, independent entities or are they controlled entirely by the state? This hypothetical question has been asked continuously ever since the democratic transition of Hungary because each government tried to change something about the legal status of Hungarian tertiary education. This year, the government decided on the transformation of the mode of operation of seven Hungarian higher education institutions, which many see as a further reduction in autonomy. In my publication, I deal with this issue and after it is presented briefly, I will bring pro and contra arguments both for and against the transformation of the legal status of concerned Hungarian universities. Read more... (Péter Soltész)

In its judgment in Case C-66/18 Commission v Hungary, delivered on 6 October 2020, the European Court of Justice condemned Hungary for failing to fulfil its obligations under EU law by adopting Law XXV of 2017 amending the Law on national higher education (commonly referred to as “lex CEU”). Read more... (Daniel Szilágyi)

Many things have changed in the global economy over the last 40 years. The trade of goods used to be carried out through relatively controllable and predictable routes, so the market surveillance measures, institutions and powers that could form the foundations of an efficient system are now not necessarily capable of providing the same high level of consumer safety. Rules created in the context of identifiable manufacturers, distributors established in the internal market, physical shops and markets are no longer suitable for facing the market surveillance challenges of the online market. Read more... (Zsolt Hajnal)

In its judgment in Case C-78/18 Commission v Hungary, delivered on 18 June 2020, the European Court of Justice condemned Hungary for its 2017 adoption of the “Transparency Law” which imposed an obligation on civil organisations to register as “organisations in receipt of support from abroad” if the yearly sum of the donations they received from abroad exceeded a certain threshold and to publicly disclose the donations received, including the name, the country and the city of residence of the donors whose donations reached HUF 500,000 (around €1400). The Court found that, by adopting these provisions, Hungary has introduced discriminatory and unjustified restrictions in breach of its obligations under Article 63 TFEU and Articles 7, 8 and 12 of the Charter. Read more... (Daniel Szilágyi) 

It is doubtless that counterfeiting is historically coeval with the existence of money, as Karl Binding, a German legal scholar stated at the beginning of the 20th century, that: „invention of the money leads to the invention of counterfeiting.” To the commission of a crime like this, mostly competent specialists, technicians and experts of computer systems are needed. But the build-up network cannot be neglected beside the suitable technical infrastructure, since organised criminal networks diffuse counterfeit currency in the whole world and we can say that, by now – apart from unique cases – it is a global and organised crime. Read more... (Petra Ágnes Kanyuk)

The European Court of Justice recently published its judgment in Case C‑456/18 P Hungary v European Commission, bringing an end to a five-year legal dispute. According to the judgment, the Commission failed to provide proper reasons as to why it regarded as necessary to order that Hungary suspend the application of the progressive tax rates of the health contribution to be paid by tobacco manufacturers and the food chain inspection fee imposed on certain food business operators until the conclusion of the Commission’s investigation. The Court of Justice has also set aside the judgment of the General Court at first instance which held up the suspension injunctions set by the Commission. Read more... (Daniel Szilágyi)