Author: Péter Gárdos
European Review of Private Law, 5/2007. page 702-722
The problems regarding the quality of the various directives are well presented in the communications of the Commission, it is, therefore, not necessary to elaborate on these. Just to pick one example, it is often criticised that there are directives which calculate the time for withdrawal in working days, while other directives calculate this in calendar days. (Directive 97/7/EC calculates in working days, Directive 90/314/ EEC simply refers to days, while computation of time is based on calendar days in Directive 94/47/EC). The Hungarian Civil Code, just like all other civil codes on the Continent clearly defines how time shall be computed. The implementation of the differing directives raises significant problems.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the published draft deviates from the original principle. Part II of Book V (i.e. the general part of contract law) will contain rules implementing directives 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts and 99/44/EC on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees. Directives 87/102/EEC on consumer credit and Directive 90/314/EEC on package travel, package holidays and package tours will be regulated among the specific contracts (Part III of Book V). Directive 85/577/EEC on the protection of consumers in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises, Directive 97/7/EC on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts and Directive 2000/31/EC on E-Commerce will not be incorporated into the new Civil Code, as their implementation would cause more trouble than the legislator would gain by regulating all areas of private law in the Civil Code.
Besides the question whether the new Civil Code should cover business-to-consumer relationships, a decision was required whether the Code should also deal with business-to-business, i.e. commercial transactions. Hungary already enacted a Commercial Code in 1875 prior to having a Civil Code. However, with the adoption of the Civil Code in 1959 the dualist approach ceased to exist. Civil law legislation in Hungary has followed a monist approach ever since, which will not be changed by the recodification either. The Conception stated that the new Code shall be formulated in a way that fits professionals and non-professionals alike. The Codification Committee examined the foreign examples, and came to the conclusion that the distinction between classical private law and lex mercatoria leads to more problems than it solves. It causes parallel regimes and thus leads to difficult cases of distinction.
The question whether a certain legal institution is applied typically by professionals or non-professionals shall be examined when drafting the regulations. Three scenarios may be distinguished.
There are types of transactions, which are typically applied by professionals (e.g. carriage contracts, certain contractual securities etc.). In these cases the provisions have to be drafted in a way that fits the expectations of the world of business.
There are contracts which are used almost exclusively by private persons (the most typical examples could be gift agreements). These contracts have to be drafted to serve a different purpose.
Problems of the monist approach could arise in the third group, which covers transactions equally used by professionals and laymen (e.g. sale, lease etc.). The Codification Committee stated that – as a result of the improving level of education and the general acquisition of business knowledge – general contract law itself has been commercialised in the last decades. The Codification Committee also concluded that ‘[d]evelopment of law in the twentieth century clearly demonstrates that, while a modernised general contract law is able to balance the requirements of professional commerce, the contracts used in business have no characteristics that would necessitate special legal provisions’. Legal institutions belonging to this third category will, therefore, be drafted in a way that would primarily meet the higher expectations of professionals.
Honlapunk sütiket használ annak érdekében, hogy személyre szabott módon tudjuk megjeleníteni Önnek a tartalmakat. Kérjük, olvassa el Süti Kezelési Tájékoztatónkat, amelyben további információkat olvashat a sütikről és azok kezeléséről. Beállításait módosíthatja ezen a linken vagy saját böngészőjének beállításaiban.
Ezek a sütik szükségesek a weboldal futtatásához, és nem kapcsolhatók ki. Az ilyen sütik csak olyan műveletekre vonatkoznak, mint például a nyelv, az adatvédelmi preferenciák. Beállíthatja a böngészőjét, hogy blokkolja ezeket a sütiket, de webhelyünk esetleg nem megfelelően fog működik.
A Süti Adatkezelési Tájékoztatót megismertem és hozzájárulok ahhoz, hogy a Gárdos Mosonyi Tomori Ügyvédi Iroda, mint adatkezelő a Google Analytics sütikkel kapcsolatban az IP címemet statisztikai célból kezelje. Tudomásul veszem, hogy a hozzájárulásomat bármikor visszavonhatom.
