Hungary - National Report - World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition
Andrea Vincze is Adjunct Professor of Law and Fellow of the Institute of International Commercial Law at Pace Law School (White Plains, USA). She is admitted to practice in New York. She has been teaching and researching the UN Convention of International Sale of Goods (CISG), international commercial arbitration, investment arbitration, ADR, ODR, global consumer law and European Union law in Hungary and in the USA. She has published numerous articles on international arbitration topics and the CISG. Ms. Vincze is a member of the Online Dispute Resolution Committee of the Consumer Sales Initiative “ConsumerShield,” and Vice-President of a consumer protection organization in Hungary. Previously she was an assistant professor of law at the University of Miskolc (Hungary) and coached students for the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot. She received her juris doctor degree at the University of Miskolc (Hungary), her LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies at Pace Law School (USA), and is writing her Ph.D. on ICSID arbitration at the University of Miskolc.
Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition
Preview Page
I. INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN HUNGARY – HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration
1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration
In Hungary, arbitration was first mentioned in a royal decree as early as the 11th century, however, arbitrators or “chosen judges” at the time served as conciliators rather than real arbitrators. In the 13th century they acted upon the agreement of the parties in many kinds of cases, using basically the regular court procedures. The first legislations relating to a rudimentary, early version of arbitration were made in the 17th century.
Arbitration in a more modern form has been present in Hungary since the 19th century. The Code of Civil Procedure of 1852 allowed arbitration of disputes which could be freely settled by the parties pursuant to the applicable laws. In 1868, a more restrictive approach was taken, allowing arbitration where adjudication by the courts was not mandatory, and arbitral awards were directly enforceable. The first institutional arbitration forum, the Court [of Arbitration] of the Budapest Commodity and Stock Exchange was established in 1870.
The Code of Civil Procedure of 1911, that was very modern at the time, defined arbitrable disputes as matters that the parties may freely dispose of under the applicable civil law provisions, allowing a relatively wide range of disputes to be settled by arbitration. In 1923, special arbitration institutions for investigating unfair competition were established. Several professional organizations also set up their own arbitral forums, then in 1933 the Arbitration Centre, representing a large number of business associations, was established.