THE LAW OF LANGUAGE USE IN HUNGARIAN CIVIL PROCEEDINGS, THE APPLICABILITY OF TRANSLATION SOFTWARE
The new Hungarian Civil Procedure Act entered into force on 1 January 2018 and, among other things, re-regulated the rules on the use of language in civil proceedings. In addition to the national law, EU and international law provisions apply to exercising the right to use language.
The study presents the rules of Hungarian civil procedural law concerning the use of language, i.e., the range of languages that can be used orally and in writing, and the rules on the bearing of costs related to the use of language. It details how these rules reflect Hungary’s international legal obligations under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It also explains which language use provisions must be considered when applying EU law. The Regulation on the service of documents gives the addressee the right to refuse to accept the document. The study explains the content of this right of refusal and the translation obligation of the party requesting service.
Interpretation and translation are closely related to language use. Technological developments have led to the widespread availability of translation and interpreting software. This paper will show to what extent their use in civil proceedings is appropriate in light of the above provisions.
Keywords: use of language, civil procedure, service of documents in EU, EU law.
Ammon, U. 2006. Language conflicts in the European Union. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 16(3), pp. 319-338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2006.00121.x
Cao, D. 2013. Legal Translation. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0679
Láncos, P. L. 2022. A nyelvtechnológia szerepe a kisebbségi nyelvek és a nyelvi kisebbségek társadalmi, politikai és gazdasági részvételének elősegítésében. In Medias Res, 5, pp. 67-77.
Szalayné Sándor, E. 2016. A nyelvhasználat jogi szabályozhatósága, Acta Humana, 3, pp. 9-18.
Szabó, P. 2022. Nyelvi sokféleség és terminológiai kihívásokaz Európai Unió Bíróságán. Európai Jog, 1, pp. 1-13.
Legal sources and case law
Act III of 1952 on the Code of Civil Procedure.
Code of Civil Procedure of the Republic of Hungary.
Constitution of the Republic of Hungary of 2011 (rev. 2016).
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Council Regulation (EU) No 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019 on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments and decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility and the expulsion of children Article 55, OJ L 178, 2. 7. 2019.
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 5 November 1992.
European Commission. eTranslation – The European Commission’s Machine Translation system. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/resources-partners/etranslation_en (15. 7. 2024).
General Assembly of the UN. 2014. Factors that impede equal political participation and steps to overcome those challenges – Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Available at: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g14/069/52/pdf/g1406952.pdf (15. 7. 2024)
Hungarian Constitutional Court’s Decision No. 2/2021 (I. 7.).
Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 19 December 2012 in Case C-325/11 Alder [ECLI:EU:C:2012:824].
Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 16 September 2015 in Case C-519/13 Alpha Bank Cyprus [ECLI:EU:C:2015:603].
Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 7 July 2022 in Case C-7/21 LKW Walter [ECLI:EU:C:2022:527].
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 21 June 2016 in Case C-15/15 New Valmar [ECLI:EU:C:2016:464].
Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 9 February 2006 Case C-473/04 Plumex [ECLI:EU:C:2006:96].
Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 8 May 2008 in Case C-14/07 Weiss [ECLI:EU:C:2008:264].
Opinion No. 3/2006 (XI. 27.) PK on the advance payment and bearing of the costs of interpreters and translation in connection with the use of the mother tongue, regional or minority language.
Order of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 28 April 2016 in Case C-384/14 Alta Realitat [ECLI:EU:C:2016:316].
Regulation (EC) No 1246/2004.
Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Small Claims Procedure Article 6, OJ L 199, 31.7.2007.
Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters Article, OJ L 351, 20.12.2012.
Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents), OJ L 405, 2.12.2020.
Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice of the European Union.