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Within the framework of developing the international cooperation network of the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, a consultation was held in Warsaw on 15 July 2021 with the participation of Prof. Dr. habil. Przemysław Czarnek, the Polish Minister of Education and Science, Dr. Marcin Romanowski, the Polish Deputy Minister of Justice, Dr. habil. Marcin Wielec, the Director of the Institute of Justice, and last but not least, Prof. habil. Dr. János Ede Szilágyi, the Head of Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.
 
At the meeting, not only presented the Polish and Hungarian representatives the achievements of ongoing initiatives, such as that of the Central European Professors’ Network and the Polish-Hungarian Research Platform, but also outlined the possibilities for future cooperation which could further contribute to deepening academic cooperation between the two countries.

The impact of digital media on traditional media

The radio interview was focused on the impact of digital media on traditional media.

The interview was released on 25 06 2021 as the podcast on news server INFO.CZ in the section Welcome to the Future.

The interview was in Czech language. For the english summary please click here.

Stock taking event on the “Future of Europe” conferences organised by the Ministry of Justice and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law

Stock taking event on the “Future of Europe” conferences organised by the Ministry of Justice and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law on 25 June 2020 titled ‘Keynote discussion on launching the Conference on the Future of Europe: Perspectives for an interinstitutional agreement, expectations of the Member States and the European institutions’ and 21 September 2020 on ‘Dialogue on the future of Europe: how to build a more effective and genuinely strong Union?’. 

For further details please click here. 

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has elected Davor Derenčinović – Head of the Department of Criminal Law at the University of Zagreb and member of the working group on „The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom of expression and pluralism” of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law – as judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Croatia.

Mr Derenčinović, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected judge of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of nine years which shall commence on 2 January 2022.

Judges are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.

We extend our warm congratulations on his election.

Religious symbols in public sphere in the legal order

On May 31 2021, the webinar was one of the events of the Research Group Freedom of conscience and religion in Europe. The research was carried out within the framework of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.

The webinar consisted of speeches by Prof. Paweł Sobczyk Constitutional basis for the protection of religious symbols in public sphere and dr Michał Poniatowski: The presence of religious symbols in the public sphere in selected judgments of the ECHR.

For further details of the event please click here.

Dialogue on the Future of Europe:
Building a Digital European Union

The Ministry of Justice and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law are organising a high-profile international conference on 21 June 2021 in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The conference consists of three thematic panel discussions.
Amongst other experts, our first panel “Digitalisation and sovereignty: how to balance the legitimate interest of both”, will be featuring Judit Varga Minister of Justice (HU), Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, and Secretary of State Ana Paula Zacarias.
In the second panel, professionals from the economic world will be discussing the future of European competitiveness.
The third, final panel discussion will focus on “Digitalisation and European citizens: how to ensure an ethical transition?” featuring speakers primarily from the academic sphere.

For further details please click here.

Educational-professional training for university students, experts, and for others interested

In 2021, until the beginning of May, a special subject was taught to students of the Erasmus+ exchange program from the Faculty of Law of the University of Naples (Università di Napoli, Facoltà di giurisprudenza). The course was led by doc. Damián Němec, dr.

The content of the course was a comparison of individual areas of confessional law in Italy and the Czech Republic with an emphasis on the protection of human rights, especially religious freedom.

For further details please click here. 

Safeguarding the best interests of the child in adoption and the impact of the principle of proportionality
Suzana Kraljić & Katja Drnovšek

The Slovenian research was carried out within the framework of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.

“The principle of the child’s best interests (Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – UNCRC) is today a fundamental principle of family and child’s law – meaning the area where the law intertwines with the child’s real life. Following the UNCRC, the children’s rights and interests have taken on new dimensions and become necessary for decision-making in all matters relating to children.”

Continue to the English summary.

Legal Regulation of the Same-Sex Partnership in Croatia

The lecture presents the legal regulation of the same-sex unions in Croatia from 2003 to the present days. In 2003, the Act on Life Unions of Persons of the Same-Sex recognized narrow legal effects: mutual maintenance and property relationships, similar to the regulation of the extra-marital unions.

Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Sc. Aleksandra Korać Graovac
Faculty of Law in Zagreb, University in Zagreb

Date of the event:
31 May 2021

For further details please click here. 

“Together in Spirit” on the International day of families

Together in Spirit is a TV show that promotes religious freedoms, culture and traditional family values. Professor Aleksandra Korać Graovac, Faculty of Law, University in Zagreb, was asked to be a guest, the International Family Day is on the 15^th of May, proclaimed by the UN.
Prof. Korać Graovac pointed out that there are a few comprehensive scientific research on  family, and that society is not engaged in protecting the family enough.

She pointed out and stressed as one of the worthy comprehensive project by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law from Budapest, Hungary, that organized and financed Central European professors of family law, to perform a large project with the study how to legally protect the family with respect to the system of values in a particular legal system.

The video and summary of the TV show can be found here. 

Freedom of conscience and religion in pandemic times
webinar

Description: There is hardly any place in the world that remained unaffected by the ongoing coronavirus. The pandemic disrupted international commerce and travel, forced countries to strengthen their borders and introduce restrictive measures, and compelled individuals to stay at home and avoid personal contacts, to prevent the spread of the virus. Among many others, the restrictions also pertain to freedom of religion.

For further details please click here.

Presence of religious symbols in the public sphere –
Religious and Secular in the Public Sphere: 10 Years after Lautsi v. Italy

Presenters:
Izv. prof. dr. sc. Vanja-Ivan Savić
Izv. prof. dr. sc. Frane Staničić

The presenters demonstrated the position of religion in public sphere in two countries, which they are researching in a joint project Freedom of conscience, and religion in Europe.
Professor Savić presented the framework of the research topic as well as the work of Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, its importance and its aim to gather experts from Central and Eastern Europe, which then could form an important and critically orientated group, which would be able to present views of European scholars. (…)

The issue of limits to national ordre public in non-recognition of judgements in Europen Union

On 20^th of May the speech was given by Dr hab. Piotr Mostowik, assist. prof. and member of Central European Professors’ Network 2021 coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.
The topic was focused on the ordre public (public policy) clause as ground of non-enforcement of foreign judgment in civil matters.

This event was held online as part of the International Congress of Civil Procedural Law.

This conference brought together researchers and professionals who, through their scientific studies and practical experiences, could contribute to the analysis of the impact of global and digital sustainable development in matters of procedural law.

Is marriage really just a paper?
Online workshop for secondary school students
about the legally recognized partnership forms

On 29 April 2021, an online workshop under the title “Is marriage really just a paper?” was organized, with the aim to give an educational lecture to secondary school students about the legally regulated forms of partnership in Hungary and their legal characteristics.

The workshop, which was held online via the Google Meet system, was attended by 100 students, who are the 11^th grade students of the Avasi Secondary School in Miskolc, as well as the students’ teachers and class teachers.

The lecture was given by Dr. Edit Sápi (assistant lecturer, University of Miskolc, Faculty of Law, Department of Civil Law).

Dialogue on the Future of Europe:
Building a Digital European Union

The Ministry of Justice and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law are organising a high-profile international conference on 21 June 2021 in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The conference consists of three thematic panel discussions.
Amongst other experts, our first panel “Digitalisation and sovereignty: how to balance the legitimate interest of both”, will be featuring Judit Varga Minister of Justice (HU), Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, and Secretary of State Ana Paula Zacarias.

The second panel (…)

Regulation of incendiary speech on social networks

The webinar is planned and organized as a dissemination event of the research carried out within the framework of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.

Date of the event: 20 May 2021, 5 P.M., Zoom platform
Languages: English and Slovenian
Format of the event: Round table discussion

For more details please click here.

Social media, freedom of expression and its resctrictions –
countering discrimination in cyberspace

The webinar is planned and organized as a dissemination event of the research carried out within the framework of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.

Date of the event: 17 June 2021, 4 P.M., Microsoft teams
Languages: Croatian, Serbia
Format of the event: Webinar through the Google Meet  platform

For more details please click here.

Central European Journal of Comparative Law
The FMI’s Academic Journal

On 14 May 2021, the 1^st issue of Volume 2 of the Institute’s scientific journal, called Central European Journal of Comparative Law was published, which can be viewed here.

The first issue of 2021 includes a great variety of topics. Readers may peruse scholarly writings from internationally renowned experts on the rule of law, the relationship between national law and EU law, family enterprises, the recodification of private law, etc. 

Polish-Hungarian Research Platform

The Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law (MFI) and the Polish Institute of Justice (Instytut Wymiaru Sprawiedliwości – IWS) held the joint launch event of the Polish-Hungarian Research Platform on 10 May 2021.
The project is supported by the Ministry of Justice of Poland and as the Polish branch of the Central European Professors’ Network is expected to operate in its present form until 31 December 2021.

For further information please click here. 

Workshop on the regulation of social media platforms

On 5 May 2021, the Information Society Research Institute of the University of Public Service organised an online workshop to discuss the manuscript “The regulation of social media platforms in Hungary” by András Koltay.

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the regulation of social media platforms (such as Facebook) in Hungary, and it covers various dilemmas that may arise in the context of modernisation (or the lack thereof) by the platform. Matters related to the limitation of free speech, censorship, and fake news are also covered in the paper.

For further information please click here.

The application and interpretation of fundamental rights
in civil cases

Phd students and young researcers are invited to participate in an online conference related to the research projecton „Interpretation of Fundamental Rights in Europe” carried out wih in the framework of the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, with the Hungarian Association for Comparative Law and the Central European Association for Comparative Law.

For further details please click here.

Interpretation of fundamental rights in Europe

The conference titled ‘Interpretation of fundamental rights in Europe’ is organised as part of Central European Professors’ Network 2021.

The issue of fundamental rights is crucial for Europe in the 21^st century, in particular in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the event the main issue will be the application of fundamental rights in constitutional courts of seven European countries (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Protection of family in the legal system

The conference titled ‘Protection of family in the legal system’ is organised as part of Central European Professors’ Network 2021.
The conference aims to provide comprehensive and up-to-date insight into the issue of the legal protection of families in the Central European region.

The issue of family protection is crucial for Europe in the 21^st century.
Country experts all over the region present their research results on different issues in connection with family law.

At the event there will be several key issues.

The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom of expression and pluralism – the viewpoints of young scientists

The issue of digitalisation and addressing its possible disadvantages from a legal viewpoint are crucial for Europe in the 21^st century.
The main aim of this event is to enable young researchers to present their research results.

The conference is organised as a dissemination event of Bartłomiej Oręziak (the member of the research group titled The Impact of Digital Platforms and Social Media on Freedom of Expression and Pluralism).

For further details please click here.

Censorship in social networks and fake news in social networks

An Oxford debate titled ‘Censorship in social networks and fake news in social networks’ is organised as part of Central European Professors’ Network 2021.

The issue of digitalisation and addressing its possible disadvantages from a legal viewpoint are crucial for Europe in the 21^st century.

The main aim of the event is to enable young researchers to present different visions regarding (…)

Religious symbols in public sphere in the legal orders of
Central and Eastern European countries

The issue of freedom of conscience and religion is crucial for Europe in the 21^st century.

At the event there will be two key issues:

• freedom of conscience and religion relating to the possibility of manifesting one’s beliefs through religious symbols;
• case law on the issue.

For further details please click here.

The Impact of Digital Platforms and Social Media
on General Terms

The Professors’ Network, with the active participation of experts from seven different countries organises events with the primary aim to draw attention of the European citizens to the topics which are important and significant in connection with the future of Europe, in particular of Central Europe.

The issue of digitalisation and addressing its possible disadvantages from a legal viewpoint are crucial for Europe in the 21^st century.

At the event there will be two key issues.

Polish marriage law in the context of social changes and evolution of law in Europe

The lecture will be delivered and discussion hosted by
Dr. hab. Prof. INP PAN Marek Andrzejewski (Faculty of Educational Studies at Adam Mickiewicz  University)

Date of the lecture: 26 May 2021

The webinar is an event organised as a part of the project Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law in Budapest.

For more details please click here.

Family law consequences of the same-sex union

Speaker: Professor Dr. Gordana Kovaček Stanić
Place of the event: Institute for European Studies, Belgrade
Format of the event: Weblecture – Zoom
Date of the event: 17 May 2021

The main reason for choosing this theme is recent Serbian Draft on same-sex union. Regulation of the same-sex union differs in European countries. There are three main concepts.
For further details please click here.

MFI Internship Programme

The Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law calls for applications for participating in its Internship Programme

Would you like to take part in the unique Central European English-language internship programme, and be one of the first participants in the new programme launching in September 2021?

Get to know the possibilities and details of the long-term internship programme offered by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law (MFI), and be one of the seven scholarship interns selected for the programme starting this autumn!

The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom
of expression and pluralism

Speaker: Dr. Dušan V. Popović, professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law
(Member of the Central European Professors’ Network 2021)

Date of the webinar: 27 April 2021

The webinar started by exploring the foundations of freedom of speech on the Internet, the concept of ‘speech’ and the concept of social networks as a public forum.

For further details please click here.

COFOLA 2021 (Conference for Young  Lawyers)
Cohabitation in European Context

Lecture of Prof. JUDr. Zdeňka Králíčková, Ph.D.
(Member of the Central European Professors’ Network 2021)

Date of the conference: 23 April 2021

Language: English

Form of section: on-line conference (MS Teams or zoom)

“The main aim of this conference is to give the floor to the doctoral students and young scientists at their early stage of career and enable them to present the results of their scientific activities.”

For further details please click here. 

An international doctoral conference with the title „Saving families – saving values” was organized at 26 March  2021. The webinar was organized by the Central European Professors’ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law (Hungary, Budapest); by the University of Miskolc, Faculty of Law, Institution of Private Law, Department of Civil Law; by the Hungarian Scientific Academy Miskolc Regional Committee of the Private Law Scientific Working Committee; and by the Central-European Comparative Law Association.

The summary of the webinar conference can be found here.

Religious symbols in the public sphere
and the secularity of the state

The presenter was dr. Dalibor Đukić assistant professor and he presented the results of the research conducted under the support of the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law within the Central European Professors’ Network.

The online lecture was held on April 22 as a part of the master programme of the University of Belgrade “Religion in society, culture and European integration”.

For further details please click here.

“NEGATIVE MEINUNGSFREIHEIT”? – Reaction to falsifying history by using the phrase ‘Polish death camps’ in media

The issue of legal reaction to the falsifying of history by using the expression “Polish concentration camps” in mass media in light of the judgement of 22 December 2016 of the court of appeals in Kraków, BGH Beschluss von 19 July 2018 and the opinion of the ECJ advocate general of 23 February 2021.

Lecture of Dr. hab. Piotr Mostowik, Prof. UJ.
(Member of the Central European Professors’ Network 2021)

The summary of the lecture can be found here.

Interpretation of Human Rights in the Judiciary of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic

Lecture of doc. JUDr. Katarína Šmigová (member of the Central European Professors’ Network 2021, ‘Interpretation of fundamental rights in Europe’ research team) and Rastislav Kaššak

The lecture was given online and organised by Pan European University, Slovakia, within the Central European Professors´ Network coordinated by the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law, Hungary.

JUDr. Rastislav Kaššák, PhD., a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic gave his lecture on 11 March 2021 on Interpretation of Human Rights in the Judiciary of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic in relation to the material core of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic.

The summary and the video of the webinar lecture can be found here. 

Central European Professors’ Network

The Central European Professors’ Network started its international comparative law research activity on January 1, 2021, under the coordination of the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law.

The Professors’ Network, with the active participation of seven countries (Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia) and 34 main researchers, organises comprehensive international scientific activities in four research groups. The main frame issues are: „ Interpretation of fundamental rights in Europe”, “Family protection in law”, „Freedom of conscience and religion in Europe” and „The impact of digital platforms and social media on freedom of expression and pluralism”. The primary aim of the initiative is to create and organise a Central European professional network through  closer partnership.

The partial and final results of the cooperation, which will run until 31 December 2021, will be made available by each research team on various professional platforms, including conferences, and in the form of publications (scientific articles and books summarizing research results).

On the 9 December 2020, the 2^nd issue of the Institute’s scientific journal, called Central European Journal of Comparative Law was published, which can be viewed here.

The Ministry of Justice and the Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law co-organised the conference, called The Dialogue on the Future of Europe: How to Build a More Effective End Genuinely Strong Union which was held on 21 September 2020 in the Delegation Hall of the Parliament. 

In addition to dr. Judit Varga, Minister of Justice, and Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission, several jurists, and internationally recognized political experts took part in the dialogue. Due to unusual circumstances, the conference was held in hybrid form, partly online, and was available live on the Internet.

The detailed program of the conference can be found here.

Summary report of the conference can be found here. 

The lectures of the panels can be viewed here. 

The second conference of the Central European Regional Rural Law Conference series, launched by CEDR-HAAL (Hungarian Association of Agricultural Law), was hold on 17 September 2020 in the form of a webinarium with the support of Ferenc Mádl Institute of Comparative Law. The webinarium was based on two topics, on one hand, on the transfer of holdings between generations and the succession of agricultural holding/land, on the other hand, on land acquisition by legal persons.

After the opening ceremony ten presenters introduced the regulation of their own country in connection with the given topics – Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Spain and Hungary.

The detailed programme of the conference can be found here.

Some of the presentations can be found here.

The Conference in Memory of Itsván Szászy, scheduled for spring but postponed for unfortunate reasons, was held on 16 September 2020 in the Reading Room of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Under unusual circumstances,observing the epidemiological regulations, we were able to listen to lectures of highly qualified law professors, which presented some details of the work of István Szászy.

On July 20 2020, Dr. habil. János Ede Szilágyi, Head of the Institute took part in an official visit with dr. Judit Varga, the Minister of Justice,  in Warsaw, as part of which he signed a scientific cooperation agreement with the Warsaw Institute of Justice.

The purpose of the agreement is to conduct future joint legal research, to assist in the interpretation of the legal systems of the two countries and to support each other in other areas of research.

Photo made by: Guerini-Temesi Melinda /IM

On June 25 2020, the Ferenc Mádl Institute for Comparative Law and the Ministry of Justice co-organized an online conference, called Keynote discussion on launching the Conference on the Future of Europe. The topic was the expectations of the series of conferences on the future of the EU, with special emphasis on the expectations of the Member States.

Synapsis and summary report of the online conference can be found here. 

The video of the first panel can be found here.