A brief introduction to the new Code of Civil Procedure (Novella) which simplifies civil litigation

Three years ago, on 1 January 2018, Act CXXX of 2016 on the Code of Civil Procedure entered into force, renewing civil litigation in Hungary. The new procedural law, among other things, introduced the principle of concentration of proceedings and emphasized the responsible litigation of the parties. The main aim of the new Act was to shorten the duration of litigation, in line with European trends.

Based on the procedural experience and decisions of the Constitutional Court of Hungary after the entry into force of the new Code of Civil Procedure, it became necessary to simplify and make more flexible the rules of procedural law. To this end, Act CXIX of 2020 (Novella) amending Act CXXX of 2016 on the Code of Civil Procedure was enacted, and it entered into force on 1 January 2021. In this article I will outline some of the provisions of this Act.

The primary goal of the new Amendment is to facilitate access to courts while the principle of concentration of proceeding is maintained and the benefits of the split procedural structure are realized. The Principle of concentration of proceedings is based on Section 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which stipulates that the court and the parties shall strive to make available at the appropriate time all facts and evidence necessary to deliver the judgment, so that the legal dispute can be adjudicated, if possible, during a single hearing.

According to the split procedural structure, in the preparatory phase of the litigation, the parties must provide the necessary evidence as well as their legal reasoning, while the court must indicate any inconsistencies and deficiencies that hinder the decision-making.

As a general rule, the rules introduced by the Amendment will be applied to all cases pending on 1 January 2021 with the exception of the rules on material or territorial jurisdiction which will be applied in the cases filed after 1 January 2021.

The Amendment simplifies the mandatory content elements of the statement of claim. From now on, it is not obligatory to indicate in the statement of claim the identity of the defendant other than his or her name, role in the procedure and place of residence or domicile.

From 1 January 2020, in the case of a legal person, the court may not request the party to certify the data published in a publicly certified register established by law. This rule is applicable only to legal entities registered in publicly certified registers, for instance, companies or condominiums. In the case of unregistered legal entities, the court has the right to request the party to certify such data.

From now on, even in case of a party acting with a legal representative, the court will be obliged to call the party to rectify the deficiencies in the event of a formal or substantive deficiency in the statement of claim. This modification is justified by the fact that applications submitted by parties acting with a legal representative were often rejected by the court without giving any chance to rectify the deficiencies.

Any deficiencies in the application must be fully indicated by the court in an order, and if the plaintiff has rectified all the identified deficiencies, the court must accept the application.

This is an important modification because in the past the court could call the parties to rectify deficiencies more than one time and rejected the application if one of the deficiencies was not rectified.

The plaintiff will now be notified by the court if his or her application has been accepted and declared suitable for litigation.

According to the Amendment, in actions related to personal status, such as action for the establishment of parenthood or action related to parental custody, the interests of the children are given greater emphasis.

The modifications highlighted above are only a small part of the Amendment. In conclusion, it can be stated that the rules entered into force on 1 January 2021 will facilitate civil proceedings on the part of both the plaintiff and the defendant.

dr. Csanád Kandikó