Recodification of the Hungarian Civil Law

European Review of Private Law, 5/2007. page 702-722

The first document issued by the Codification Committee in 2002 was titled ‘Conception of the new Civil Code’. After having published, a public discussion was launched about the Conception. Based on the comments received in these discus­sions, the Codification Committee published a new version (‘Conception and Regu­latory Syllabus of the New Civil Code’ in February 2003, which comprised of two parts. The conception itself, embodying the most important elements of the new Code was adopted by the Government, these statements, therefore, may only be amended with the approval of the Government. The regulatory syllabus serves merely as a guideline for the codification. This was approved of by the Codification Committee, thus no Government approval is necessary for deviation.

Following the approval of the Conception, the drafting of the Code could be started. Books I and II were published in January 2006, whilst Books III and IV in spring 2006. The first two Parts of Book V were released in July, and the remaining Parts of Book V and Book VI in December 2006.

Since the publication of Book I, a public discussion has been initiated. Comments are welcome from lawyers and ‘laymen’ alike, until the close of the discussion in the second half of 2007.
In the course of this year the published draft will be revised, and a new draft will be submitted to the Government at the end of 2007, which will then be sent for inter-governmental co-ordination. The submission of the revised text to the Parliament is foreseen for 2008. Supposing that the text is approved in time, the new Civil Code might be applied from as early as 2010.

3.         Basic Questions of Codification

3.1       Chances for Codification in the 21st Century

The advantages of codification in general have often been stated. ‘The core advantages of codification are typically seen as being that the system is made explicit and that rules can more easily be found’. As the Conception poetically states, ‘Abstract and systematised, i.e. codified norms can more efficiently follow the quick changes life create, than the labyrinth of custom-made norms, quickly chasing each other, which get lost in details’.

Still, the first question that has to be answered is whether codification is possible at all in the 21st century. ‘The creation of a civil code today is in certain respects even more difficult than a century ago. Confidence in the success of com­prehensive codification is lost, the perspectives of national legislation have been challenged, and – last but not least – the legal relations that a civil code needs to regulate have become even more complex’.

The problem has become even more complex since Hungary’s accession to the European Union. A couple of years ago European legislation in the field of civil law was clearly limited; the directives regulated almost exclusively consumer-related issues. This could change fundamentally in the coming years. The publication of the Commission’s Communication on European Contract Law led to two projects namely the revision of the consumer directives and the creation of a Common Frame of Reference, the outcome of which is difficult to predict. The former is clearly defined in the First Annual Progress Report on European Contract Law and the Acquis Review, aiming a thorough revision of the consumer acquis. The green paper of the Commission on the Review of the Consumer Acquis was released in February 2007. The second project is more difficult to define, as the purpose of the Common Frame of Reference (CFR) has never been clarified. Although the First Annual Report stated that this would not measure up to a European Contract Code, this could result in a significantly deeper level of harmonisation in the field of civil law.

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