In the last five years, the number of labour lawsuits in Hungary has dramatically decreased by because of the new Civil Procedure Code. However, due to the recent amendment of the Hungarian Labour Code from January2023, a new category of labour lawsuits may emerge. Do employers face a real risk because the new rules? We analyse this question below.

Crucial amendments to the Hungarian Trademark Act entered into force on 1 January 2023. This Legal Insight briefly describes the most important changes.

In its judgment 2021:504 in Case C 439/19, the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that those national rules that oblige the public bodies registering penalty points to disclose such information to persons requesting access without a specific interest, is contrary to GDPR.

The Hungarian Government is planning to amend its investment promotion regulation, therefore, it published the related documentation on 1 February 2023. The amendments would ensure that aid may be granted for primary agricultural production if the subject of the aid is a research and development project relating to primary agricultural production. In addition, aid for research and development would not only be available for investors that qualify as large enterprises, but also for medium-sized enterprises, in case their combined average statistical headcount reaches 100 persons.

Major changes have come into force under the 2023 tax law amendments in Hungary, which mainly include reliefs, such as the extension of the application of the 5% VAT rate on the sale of new housing on the one hand, but on the other hand, bring restrictions to real property related duties.

Employees are entitled to compensation from their employers for commuting from another town or city. Due to the significant increase in fuel prices, the corresponding thresholds have been doubled by the end of the ‘state of emergency’ in effect (end of June 2023, for now).

The General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) offers more types of remedies to individuals whose rights were infringed. Can those remedies be exercised parallelly, or shall the person concerned choose among them? The Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) provides an answer to this question in its fresh decision, delivered in a Hungarian case.

The European Court of Justice ("ECJ"), in its judgment of 9 February 2023 in Case C-453/21, considered the interpretation of the dismissability of a Data Protection Officer and the performance by the DPO of other duties that may give rise to a conflict of interest. The ECJ ruled that an appointed DPO cannot hold a position within the organisation that would result in him or her determining the purposes and methods of processing personal data. The decision has significant implications for organisations wishing to entrust their DPO with additional tasks that may conflict with the DPO's duties.

Lakatos Koves & Partners has advised ConvergenCE on leasing over 1,000 square meters in the Kalvin Square Office Building to Singapore's Trax. Colaw Kolcsey-Rieden and Partner reportedly advised Trax.

The use of social media content – particularly posts and comments – in advertising has become a prevalent practice in recent years. However, it is crucial for businesses and advertisers to be aware of the potential legal implications associated with such use. Besides copyright and advertising law considerations, it has also become essential to understand the relevant provisions of data protection law when contemplating the usage of social media content in advertising.

Lakatos Koves & Partners has advised Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed Nippon Paper Industries on a HUF 15 billion green field investment in Hungary including the acquisition and development of an industrial site and the construction of a plant in Vacratot, on the outskirts of Budapest.

A growing number of employment and consumer protection-related disputes are on the horizon in Hungary, while revised arbitration rules promise swift and more efficient alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, according to Smartlegal Schmidt & Partners Managing Partner Richard Schmidt.

The entire concept of golden shares can be explained in one sentence: golden shares make the adoption of certain corporate measures as well as decisions on amending certain provisions of the articles of association of a company dependent on the “yes” vote of the holder(s) of the golden shares.

It’s time to use the RRF for the promotion of energy storage in the CEE region.

A new trend is emerging in the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition’s (OGYEI) recent case law on medicinal product promotion in Hungary. The OGYEI is more active, imposes higher fines, and its investigations extend to longer time periods and to a variety of promotional practices of pharma companies, instead of focusing on specific infringements as before. In numbers, the OGYEI published two to three times as many decisions annually in the past two years than before. Further, the imposed fines regularly exceed USD 75,000 and, in 2022, the OGYEI imposed its highest fine (approximately USD 100,000) in the last ten years.

On November 9, 2022, Magyar Telekom’s Legal Service Evolution Squad unveiled its largest service development project yet – the Legal Magic Book – during the company’s annual Love Your Lawyer Day event. We sat down with Magyar Telekom Group Legal Director Daniel Szeszler and Legal Service Evolution Squad Product Owner Botond Ungvary to learn more about the book and the team behind it.

The new NIS2 Directive will replace the current NIS Directive on security of network and information systems.

The most prestigious Hungarian permanent arbitration body, the Court of Arbitration attached to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCAC) revised its rules of proceedings with effect from 2023. Will the revised rules increase the speed and efficiency of arbitral proceedings in front of the HCAC, or it is just a facelift of the former regime?