Blog articles #hungarian

Previously, access to the case file was only possible for litigants in person, in the proceedings before the court, at the court's administrative office, during office hours.

Today, however, it is possible to consult the documents in a civil case online without having to be present in person.

To do this, you will need a personal government Client Gateway+ access. In the first step, we need to register for a Client Gateway, which we can do at the government offices or document offices of the capital and county government offices and district offices, at the National Tax and Customs Administration's priority customer services, and at Hungary's diplomatic and consular missions abroad, or electronically at the website of the National Tax and Customs Administration, which we can access from 1 January 2016. 

If you are in possession of a valid permanent ID card with an electronic signature issued after 1 January 2016, we can carry out the authentication at ugyfelkapu.gov.hu/regisztracio/regEszemelyi or by using the identification service via video technology at https://magyarorszag.hu/szuf_fooldal under the Client Gate menu.

If you already have a Client Gateway, you can use it to set up the one step more secure Client Gateway+ access, which already requires the user to provide two-factor authentication using a mobile phone authentication program.

This higher level of security can also be achieved with an ID card with an appropriate electronic signature. This enhanced digital protection, which provides access via a more stringent protocol, will result in only the authorised persons having access to our litigation data.

Once these preliminary steps have been taken, we can log on to the court online at https://eakta.birosag.hu/, where our application will be examined in the first instance in relation to our specific case, to see whether we are entitled to access.

Once we have received authorisation from the judge, we can access the legal documents of the case at any time of the day or night through this online Client Access System (CASS). This facility is open not only to the parties to the litigation but also to their lawyers who have registered as legal representatives in the litigation.

It is important to emphasise that for access to any document, it is necessary that the judge in charge classifies the document accordingly, depending on which party is entitled to access it. It may be that a document cannot be opened in the system because the judge presiding over the case has not given us electronic authorisation to do so.

The documents include pleadings of the parties, minutes of hearings, summons and other orders, time limits and internal court orders.

This system will greatly facilitate the work of clients and their legal representatives involved in litigation and will also reduce the workload of the courts, as they will no longer have to visit the courts in person to examine paper files and will no longer have to spend time moving files and supervising access to them, as this will be done automatically through digital control.

However, it is still possible that, on request, the old method of examining paper files in the court's administrative office may be used.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

A summons to a pre-suit settlement attempt, especially in simpler disputes, can provide a fast and cost-effective dispute resolution forum for citizens seeking redress.

The procedural rules laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure provide that a party to a dispute may, prior to the commencement of proceedings, request the district court or tribunal which would otherwise have jurisdiction to hear the case to summon the other party to a settlement attempt.

The procedure is considered to be fast, as the court sets a deadline for the attempted settlement within thirty days of receipt of the request.

If the parties manage to reach an agreement, the court will record it in the minutes. A settlement approved by the court has the same effect as a judgment: if one of the parties fails to comply, it can be enforced by execution.

If no agreement is reached by the deadline, the court will issue an order declaring the proceedings ineffective and closing them. 

If the applicant fails to appear, the court shall, at the request of the opposing party who has appeared, order him to pay the costs.

An important procedural rule is that, in cases falling within the jurisdiction of the courts, the parties must also appoint a legal representative when attempting to reach a settlement.

The costs of summoning a lawyer to a settlement attempt are relatively low, as the fee payable is limited to HUF 15 000, but the rules on legal aid apply in the same way as in litigation.

A court summons may also be requested if the parties have previously been in mediation and one of them wishes to have the agreement reached in mediation put into a court settlement. In this procedure, legal representation is no longer mandatory and the court will also set a deadline of thirty days from the date of receipt of the request for an attempt at conciliation.

A settlement attempt summons thus allows the parties to a dispute to discuss their case relatively quickly and at low cost before the court as the main dispute resolution forum and then to reach a settlement with the court's assistance.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

In order to ensure the public authenticity of the company register, the Court of Registration enforces the lawful operation of the company by means of the supervision procedure.

 The supervision procedures can be divided into two main categories: ordinary and special supervision procedures. In previous posts, we have dealt with the general rules and, among the special procedures, we have described the procedures for the winding up of a company with an unknown registered office and the procedure for the application of a person registered in the commercial register. We have also previously touched on the special statutory procedures for declaring companies in liquidation and for members of limited and general partnerships. In the present post, we present two special legality supervision procedures which have not yet been discussed and which occur relatively less frequently: the suspension of the operation of a company and the initiation of proceedings before another authority.

The suspension of the operation of a company [Section 85 of the Companies Act] may take place if the Commercial Court becomes officially aware that the company or its member is subject to a financial or property restriction measure based on an international legal obligation or an EU law order.

The background legislation for the suspension is contained in Act LII of 2017 on the Implementation of Financial and Property Restrictive Measures Ordered by the European Union and the UN Security Council. The UNSC may decide to impose restrictive measures in order to maintain or restore international peace and security, which UN member states must implement. In addition to general trade embargoes against individual countries, it is also possible to adopt targeted sanctions, which directly impose sanctions only on persons or entities that may be responsible for acts that threaten international peace and security (so-called "sanctioned persons"). The European Union decides to impose restrictive measures within the framework of its Common Foreign and Security Policy, both with a view to implementing the above-mentioned UNSC resolutions at EU level and autonomously, in order to implement EU foreign policy.

The Commercial Court may initiate proceedings before another authority [Section 86 of the Companies Act] if it deems it necessary to do so in order to protect the interests of members or the rights of creditors due to the unlawful operation of the company or the unlawful activities of its management. Such an initiative is typically taken when the company is carrying out a supervised activity without a licence or in excess of the limits of the licence; for example, the commercial court initiates a supervisory procedure with the National Bank of Hungary as the authority supervising the financial intermediary system if it detects unauthorised financial or investment services activities. 

The authority that initiated the procedure must inform the company court within 30 days whether or not it has initiated the procedure, given that the authority concerned has discretion as to whether or not to initiate the procedure and the company court has no right of appeal if the authority decides not to initiate the procedure. The requested authority is also obliged to subsequently notify the company court of the termination of the proceedings initiated and of the measures taken.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

On 1st of January 2022, the new provisions of the Act on the Shaping and Protection of the Built Environment on the Glass Gate entered into force. In this blog article, Dr. György Zalavári, partner lawyer of Ecovis Hungary Legal, summarizes the essential elements of the new law.

The official name of the Glassgate is the Construction Monitoring and Data System; it is an IT solution that is part of the National Construction Monitoring and Data System. It aims to facilitate legal employment in the construction industry, monitor construction contracting and provide the possibility to analyse the data collected. Glassgate records data on entries and exits to and from construction sites and makes this information available to the bodies and registers specified in the legislation.

The Glass Gate records, in real time, the details of employees authorised to be present on the construction site for work purposes and of persons (guests) entering and leaving the site for non-work purposes. Employees and guests may only enter the construction site after using the access control system. Guests may only enter the construction work area after their data has been recorded.

All employers are required to register with the system before using the Glassgate and to update their registration regularly as necessary. Registration is done electronically. The registration must record the quality of the business, the tax number taken directly from the electronic construction logbook, the business or person with whom the person concerned has a contractual relationship for the execution of a construction project, the names of the employees, the tax identification number and the unique identifier of the identification device. The employer is responsible for providing the data.

During the stay on the construction site, the name of the employee, his/her tax identification number, his/her professional activity, the time of entry and exit from the construction site and the tax identification number of the employer shall be recorded. When logging the guest's details, the name is required to be the identification of the identity document, the date of entry and exit and the purpose of entry.

In order to protect personal data, the operator shall process the entry and exit data to and from the Glassdoor using encryption procedures and provide the authorised bodies with an unencryption key. Only the state tax authority and the employment supervisory authority are entitled to access the data concerning the employee for the purposes and only to the extent necessary for the purposes. Data relating to the stay of the guest, with the exception of personal data, may be accessed only by the State Tax Authority for the purposes of verifying the lawfulness of employment, checking tax and contribution obligations and analysing construction data. The building control authority is entitled to access the data stored in the Glasshouse without disclosing personal data. The National Construction Monitoring and Data System automatically transmits the attendance data of the employees to the e-Construction Logbook and automatically takes the company's tax number from the Construction Logbook.

The obligations concerning the use of the Glass Gate System are monitored by the authority. The employer shall be responsible for the legality of the stay of guests on the construction site and for the correct use of the Glass Gate System. This responsibility shall be discharged if the employee is unable to use the Glass Door properly due to the actions or omissions of the main contractor or if the proper use is prevented by a malfunction or other extraordinary event. The general contractor shall be liable for any omissions or infringements attributable to him during the use of the Glass Door.

According to the justification of the law, the installation of the Glass Gate will facilitate physical, on-site inspections under the General Administrative Procedure, reduce administrative burdens and make it easier to establish whether the presence of an employee or other person on the territory is lawful and whether the company is complying with labour rules. The Glassdoor system facilitates tax audits of companies' tax obligations in relation to employment.

The Glass Gates Act will apply to construction works for which the public procurement procedure was launched after 31 December 2021 and where a legal penalty for non-compliance cannot be imposed and established until 1 July 2022.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

Act XXV of 2023 on Complaints, Whistleblowing of Public Interest and the Rules for Reporting Abuse (hereinafter the Complaints Act) and the Whistleblowing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council require that companies with more than 50 employees and those subject to Article 1(1) and (1a) of Act LIII of 2017 on the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing must operate an abuse reporting protection system.

The latter category includes, inter alia, accountants, auditors, tax advisors, tax consultants, lawyers, law firms and head office service providers.

Dr. György Zalavári, attorney-at-law, points out that the above-mentioned companies must also inform employees and their service partners in a clear and easily accessible manner about the availability and functioning of their internal whistleblowing system and the procedure for reporting abuse, in accordance with the Complaints Act.

In previous articles, we have discussed in detail who should operate the internal whistleblowing system and how. This article will look at what issues and suspected wrongdoing can be covered by it.

The Complaints Act is a laconic generalisation that any information about illegal or suspected illegal acts or omissions or other misconduct can be reported to the internal whistleblowing system.

It is essential that, in order to ensure the proper use of the system, businesses provide employees with detailed information and explanations, in a verifiable manner, as to the specific cases in which complaints and reports can be made in addition to the protection afforded to the whistleblower, in the context of the seemingly general wording of the Complaints Act.

The following non-exhaustive list of possible topics for notifications will help you to fulfil this obligation:

- criminal offences (corruption, fraud, embezzlement, unauthorised financial activity, money laundering, etc.)

-fraud, corruption, financial fraud, financial irregularities, etc,

-abuses in public procurement procedures,

-insider dealing or other illegal influence on the functioning of the market,

-breaches of consumer protection rules

-breaches of any rules of conduct protecting the public interest or overriding private interests,

-violation of the employer's internal rules,

-discriminatory conduct in relation to a candidate for a position, in violation of the principle of equal rights or equal treatment,

-breach of labour law, harassment,

-violation of human rights, equal opportunities or equal treatment,

-breach of health and safety obligations at work,

-pollution of the environment, breaches of environmental standards,

-breaches of international sanctions standards,

-data protection incidents, misuse of personal data

The above list is, of course, far from exhaustive, since the concise wording of the Act is precisely intended to allow complaints to be made in the event of any unlawfulness, and the Complaints Act does not define exclusively applicable subjects for this purpose.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

In the context of the recently issued Act XC of 2023 on the General Rules for the Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals, Dr. György Zalavári, attorney-at-law, has already analysed the conditions of the visitor investor visa in his previous blog post.

In this post, we will take a look at the most important conditions of the visiting investor residence permit.

A guest investor residence permit is a residence permit which entitles the holder to reside in Hungary and to pursue activities for consideration in accordance with the law, either independently or as a manager of a company, cooperative or other legal entity established for gainful purposes.

A family member of a third-country national who holds a residence permit for a foreign investor may enter and reside in Hungary, as defined by law.

A residence permit for the purpose of family reunification issued to the holder of a residence permit for the purpose of a visiting investor and the related residence permit for the purpose of family reunification entitle the holder to work for or under the direction of another person on the basis of his/her employment relationship for remuneration, and the third-country national is entitled to work in Hungary without any restriction.

A third-country national may be granted a residence permit as a guest investor,

a) whose entry and residence in Hungary is in the interest of the national economy in view of his/her investment in Hungary,

b) who fulfils the following conditions:

- holds a valid travel document,

- has a valid travel permit for the return or onward journey,

- he/she has a valid document proving the purpose of his/her entry and stay,

- has an accommodation or residence in Hungary,

- is not subject to expulsion or prohibition of entry and residence, or if his/her entry or residence does not endanger public policy, public security, national security or public health interests of Hungary,

- is not subject to an SIS alert,

and

c) who holds a valid visitor investor visa, or who is legally residing in Hungary as a third-country national without a visitor investor visa, and who can prove that they meet the following conditions:

- whose entry and residence in Hungary is in the interest of the national economy in view of their investment in Hungary,

- who declares that he has or intends to have at least one of the necessary investments,

- who certifies that he/she has an amount of money corresponding to at least one of the required investments, of legal origin, which must be available or transferable in Hungary,

- who submits a written commitment to undertake to make at least one of the necessary investments within three months of entering the territory of Hungary on the basis of a visitor investor visa.

For the purposes of the Act, the following investments shall be considered to be of national economic interest:

-the acquisition of units of at least EUR 250 000 issued by a real estate fund registered by the National Bank of Hungary,

-the acquisition of ownership of a residential property with a value of at least EUR 500 000, located in the geographical territory of Hungary and registered in the land register according to its parcel number, free of legal title, encumbrances and claims, not including the prohibition of alienation and encumbrance required by law, or

-making a financial donation of at least EUR 1 000 000 to a higher education institution maintained by a public trust with a public-service mission for the purpose of supporting educational, scientific research or artistic creation.

-The maximum period of validity of the residence permit for visiting investors is ten years, renewable for a maximum period of ten years for the same purpose only. The period of validity of a residence permit for visiting investors may exceed the period of validity of the applicant's travel document.

-The third-country national, when applying for the issue of a residence permit for a foreign investor, shall, within three months of his/her entry into the territory of Hungary, provide proof of having fulfilled the obligatory and committed investment via the electronic platform for the opening of aliens' files.

A third-country national who chooses to invest in a real estate fund must have held an investment certificate issued by a real estate fund complying with the legislation for at least five years.

With regard to the expected real estate investment, at the time of acquisition of ownership of the residential property by the third-country national, a prohibition on alienation and encumbrance of the residential property shall be registered in the Land Register for a period of 5 years from the date of conclusion of the sales contract and the property shall be owned for a period of 5 years only by (i) the third-country national or (ii) the third-country national and one or more family members of the third-country national who has applied for the residence permit.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

To ensure a uniformly high level of cybersecurity across the European Union, the Cybersecurity Certification and Supervision Act (Cybersecurity Act) 2022/2555 (NIS2) aims to secure the EU's digital infrastructure and enhance the ability to defend against cyber threats.

The Act imposes a number of requirements on companies whose activities or organisations fall within its scope. Each company should check whether the provisions of this legislation apply to its business.

If the Cybersecurity Act applies to the company, it must submit an application for NIS2 registration to the Regulated Activities Supervisory Authority (RPAA) by 30 June 2024. In addition, the company must classify its activities into a security class and define specific security measures in accordance with the Cybersecurity Act, Decree No. 7/2024 (VI. 24.) MK. Furthermore, it is mandatory to choose a cybersecurity auditor, to conclude a contract with it and to carry out the cybersecurity audit.

These obligations apply mainly to medium and large enterprises, as defined in Act XXXIV of 2004 on Small and Medium Enterprises. Companies with at least 50 employees or an annual turnover of at least €10 million should take into account these obligations.

It is also important to consider the activity of the SME in question. The Cybersecurity Act. Annexes I and II of the KiP Directive set out in detail which firms fall into the critical and highly critical sectors.

Exceptions to the main rules include electronic communications trust service providers, DNS providers, top level domain name registrars and domain name registrars, as they are subject to the provisions of the Act even if they are not medium-sized and large companies.

If a company is not directly covered by the Act but subcontracts to one of these companies, they must agree in their contract to comply with the Act.

Companies that fail to comply can face substantial fines and even be banned from doing business if their managers fail to comply.

Dr. György Zalavári, lawyer and partner at Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary, stresses that it is important to note that only a person who is authorised to use the company's company gate can apply for registration.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

The recently adopted Act XC of 2023 on the General Rules for the Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals creates new opportunities for foreign nationals seeking to reside in Hungary while investing. The new legislation allows for residence in Hungary by means of a visiting investor visa and residence permit. A visitor investor visa entitles the holder to enter the country more than 90 days and more than once within 180 days, while a visitor investor residence permit entitles the holder to apply for a residence permit.

A number of conditions must be met before a visitor investor visa can be issued. The conditions are that a third-country national who:

-has a national economic interest in entering and staying in Hungary in view of his/her investment in Hungary,

-hold a valid travel document,

-holds the necessary permit for return or onward travel,

-provides proof of the purpose of his/her entry and stay,

-has sufficient means of subsistence to cover his/her subsistence and subsistence costs and the costs of departure for the entire duration of his/her stay,

-is insured for the full cost of health care or is able to cover the cost of health care,

-is not subject to expulsion or a ban on entry and residence, or if his/her entry or residence does not endanger public policy, public security, national security or public health interests in Hungary,

-is not subject to a Schengen Information System (SIS) alert,

-holds or intends to hold at least one of the appropriate investments,

-certifies that he/she holds an amount corresponding to at least one of the required investments, of lawful origin, which must be available or transferable within the territory of Hungary,

-submit a written commitment to make at least one of the required investments of a specified amount and type within three months of entering Hungary on the basis of a visitor investor visa.

For the purposes of the legislation, the following investments shall be considered to be of national economic interest:

-the acquisition of units of at least EUR 250 000 issued by a real estate fund registered by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank,

-ownership of a residential property with a value of at least EUR 500 000, situated in the geographical territory of Hungary and registered in the Land Register under its parcel number, free of legal title, encumbrances and claims, or

-a monetary donation of at least EUR 1 000 000 to a higher education institution maintained by a public trust with a public-service mission, for the purpose of supporting educational, scientific research or artistic creation.

At the time of acquisition of the real estate investment by a third-country national, a prohibition on alienation and encumbrance of the residential property shall be registered in the Land Register for a period of 5 years from the date of conclusion of the sale and purchase contract. For a period of 5 years, the property may be owned exclusively by the third-country national or jointly by the third-country national and a member of his/her family who holds the residence permit for the purpose of the host investor.

The maximum validity period of the visitor investor visa is 2 years.

The Visitor Investor Visa expires once the Visitor Investor Residence Permit has been issued.

Dr. György Zalavári summarises the conditions of the new residence permit for visiting investors in a separate article on a related topic.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

The provisions of Act XXXIX of 2023 amending Act CLXXVI of 2013 on the transformation, merger and division of certain legal entities, and amending Act XXXIX of 2023 on the amendments to the law in order to increase the competitiveness of the economy have created a new legal possibility in company law in relation to the transformation of companies.

 The provisions of the Civil Code (Civil Code), the Companies Act (Companies Act) and the Accounting Act (Accounting Act) have also been amended accordingly in connection with the rules of this new legal institution of transformation.

 A spin-off is effected by the survival of the original legal entity and the creation of a successor company with certain assets, of which the original legal entity becomes the sole member. The original company thus becomes the parent company of the new company. 

In the case of a demerger, the court will not remove the original going concern from which the company being demerged is being removed from the register when the demerger is registered.

 In the case of a demerger, only the original, predecessor company can change ownership, so only a preliminary assessment is required to determine whether a new member will join or whether a former member will cease to be a member of the company.

 In the case of a separation, all members of the original legal entity remain members of the predecessor company, unless they cease to be members at the time of the separation.

In determining the subscribed capital of the remaining legal person, the shareholding of the legal person created by the divorce shall not be taken into account.

It is important to note that a demerger cannot be interpreted as a transformation of a beneficiary, and therefore a liability to pay duty may arise in relation to tangible assets that are transferred in return for consideration in the process.

It is interesting to note that a demerger is an exception to the prohibition of division in the case of public limited companies.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

Arbitration is a legal process used to settle disputes whereby two or more parties agree in a contract in advance or in writing at the outset of a dispute to try to resolve their dispute not through the traditional court system, but before an adjudicative body independent of the state, an arbitral tribunal. These arbitration procedures are usually based on predetermined rules set by the industry, chambers, professional or other organisations.

What can be the advantages of arbitration? Speed and efficiency: traditional court proceedings can often be lengthy and take a long time to conclude a case. Arbitration is often much quicker, as the procedural rules are simpler and more flexible, and there are typically no legal remedies, with only exceptional and narrowly tailored cases for review of arbitral awards through the traditional court system.This single-stage, faster procedure can also have the advantage of reducing the time that businesses have to endure financial and business uncertainty in a dispute

Specialised expertise: parties often choose an arbitral tribunal whose members are experts in a particular field or industry, this ensures that the case is heard by people who are familiar with the field and the specific legal and professional issues involved.

Exclusion of the public:Arbitration proceedings usually arise in specialised business cases, where the information that can be obtained is often confidential and constitutes a trade secret. Businesses often prefer this procedure, as traditional court proceedings are essentially open to the public, with a closed hearing only being ordered by the presiding judge on specific request.

Cost-effectiveness: although in some cases the costs of arbitration are high, in general the lack of legal remedies means that in the longer term it may ultimately cost less time and money than traditional court proceedings.

Flexibility and customisation: arbitration gives the parties the possibility to design their own procedural rules and systems. This allows the procedure to be flexible and offer a solution tailored to the needs of the parties. International legal and business agreements: international legal matters and international business transactions often involve parties from different countries. Arbitration allows them to agree to settle the dispute in a third country or internationally, thus avoiding possible legal conflicts.

Enforceability: when an arbitral tribunal makes a decision on a case, that decision usually has the same legal force and enforceability as a traditional court decision. Dr. György Zalavári points out that the Bar Association also provides the possibility for the parties to hire lawyers instead of the court to conduct an ad hoc arbitration in disputes, and even provides appropriate procedural model rules for this purpose.

Dr. György Zalavári points out that the Bar Association also provides the possibility for the parties to hire lawyers instead of the court to conduct an ad hoc arbitration in disputes, and even provides appropriate procedural model rules for this purpose.

Accordingly, in case of dispute, the parties concerned can obtain an enforceable judgment by not using the court but by asking the lawyers acting as arbitrators. Arbitration is therefore a flexible and effective legal instrument that offers many advantages to the parties. However, it is important to understand that arbitration procedures have their own limitations and risks and that all circumstances must be taken into account according to the particular case and the parties' own needs.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

Act XXV of 2023 on complaints, whistleblowing and whistleblowing rules and the European Parliament and Council (EU) Abuse Reporting Directive 2019/1937 requires that businesses with more than 50 employees and a number of specified activities, including accountants, auditors, tax advisers, tax consultants, lawyers, law firms and head office providers, must have an abuse reporting protection system in place.

The system and other means of reporting should be made available to those who are entitled to complain through it.

For a number of professions, the professional chambers have undertaken to operate a central whistleblowing protection system for their members. This has also been the case for the lawyers' and accountants' advocacy organisations.

Dr. György Zalavári, attorney at law, also points out that a complaint under the Complaints Act can typically be filed orally, by telephone or in person, in writing, by postal letter or e-mail, and even through a special online filing interface.

The channels for reporting can be made known to the affected parties through online, electronic and offline paper-based solutions. A good solution is to publish it on the company's website or send it by e-mail. It is essential that some form of acknowledgement of the obligation is provided to the obliged company by the data subject. For those with whom the company has personal relations, the simplest form of accountability is to hand over the paper and sign a receipt. But an electronically signed reply message is now easily obtainable.

Who can make an anonymous or named declaration? Who should be notified?

We have tried to bring together the stakeholders entitled to lodge a complaint below:

(a) employees employed by the undertaking or persons employed under a contract of agency or a contract for work on behalf of the undertaking,

(b) an employee whose employment relationship with the undertaking has been terminated, 

(c) a person wishing to enter into an employment relationship with the undertaking in respect of whom the procedure for the establishment of such a relationship has been started, 

(d) a self-employed person, a sole proprietorship or a sole proprietorship if it has a contractual relationship with the undertaking, 

(e) a person who holds a participation in the undertaking and a member of its administrative, management or supervisory body, including a non-executive member,

(f) a contractor, subcontractor, supplier or person under the supervision and control of a trustee who has entered into a contractual relationship with the undertaking, or who is or has been in a contractual relationship with the undertaking, 

(g) trainees and volunteers working with the undertaking, 

(h) a person who wishes to enter into a legal relationship or contractual connection with the undertaking within the meaning of points (d), (e) or (f) and in respect of whom the procedure for the establishment of such a legal relationship or contractual connection has been initiated, and 

(i) a person who has ceased to have a legal or contractual relationship with the undertaking within the meaning of points (d), (e) or (f).

It is important to note that the company's customers do not belong to the above group, they have other procedures and channels for reporting their comments and complaints.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu

In everyone's life, you may find an object of great or small value. In the following article we explain the rights and obligations of the finder.

Within eight days, the finder has to hand over the property to the person who lost it (the owner) or to the notary in the place where it was found. In the latter case, he must also state whether he claims ownership of the property and, in addition to proving his identity, give his name, the name, date and place of birth, the name of his mother, the address of his place of residence (registered office) and the place and date of the find, or that of his representative, if any. The notary shall issue a certificate of the declaration.

If the identity of the person entitled to the found object can be established, the notary shall hand it over to him or her; if no such person can be established, the notary shall keep the object for three months from the date of handing it over. If the person entitled to the thing has not come forward within three months of the delivery and the finder has not claimed ownership of the thing at the time of delivery, the notary shall sell the thing found and the proceeds shall be paid to the State. Any object which cannot be kept or preserved shall be sold immediately.

If no claimant comes forward within the above period, but the finder claimed ownership of the thing at the time of delivery, the finder shall be released. The finder may use the object delivered to him without prejudice to its condition, but may not alienate it, encumber it or transfer its use to another person. The finder shall acquire ownership after one year from the date of discovery, if the right-holder has not made himself known within that period.

However, if the beneficiary does apply, the item must be released to him/her, whereas if the beneficiary applies after the sale, the amount received must be paid to him/her. In the case of a find of greater value, the finder is entitled to a reasonable finder's fee, provided that he has made every effort to recover the item. The finder's acquisition of the object is considered to be an original acquisition, so that the third party's rights to the object cease when the finder acquires it.

A special rule applies in the case of objects found in a place open to the public: objects found in such a building or premises, or on the means of transport of a public transport company, must be handed over by the finder to the employee of the operator without delay and the finder cannot claim ownership of the object.

The ownership of found objects that are protected cultural property belongs to the State. Objects hidden by unknown persons or property the ownership of which has been forgotten but which does not belong to the category of cultural property shall be offered to the State by the finder for an appropriate remuneration.

Dr. György Zalavári LL.M.
Ecovis Zalavári Legal Hungary
Lawyer | Mediator | Corporate Law and Data Protection Specialist
gyorgy.zalavari@ecovis.hu