Author: Vajk Varai-Jeges

Refusal to Cooperate with the Liquidator May Give Rise to the Unlimited Liability of a Hungarian Managing Director

In Hungary, holding executive officers of legal entities liable is a recurring issue in legal practice. In the past, the courts were not always consistent in this respect. Recently, however, our firm obtained a decision of fundamental importance, which established that a court may find an executive officer to have unlimited liability not by relying […]

We Continue to Represent Clients Before Any English Court After Brexit

For many law firms, it remains uncertain in what form they will be able to act on the other side of the Channel after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. Until now, in view of the freedom to provide legal services, a foreign professional qualification — for example, as a German lawyer — was […]

VW scandal: Even the software updates disappoint

No pointless software updates, but rather an obligation on car manufacturers to retrofit vehicles to Euro 6 standard, at their own expense. This is the demand made by Hartmut Bäumer, a former Green Party politician, to Michael Müller, the Governing Mayor of Berlin. Bäumer, who is himself affected, had subjected his diesel vehicle to a […]

CJEU: Lawyers admitted in another EU Member State may deduct mandatory pension contributions

Lawyers admitted to practise in Germany who are not resident in Germany may deduct part of their contributions. This was decided by the CJEU in its judgment of 6 December 2018 – C-480/17. The CJEU ruled following a request for a preliminary ruling from the Finance Court of Cologne, before which a lawyer admitted in […]

EU E-Evidence Regulation Remains Uncertain

Greater criminal-law cooperation between EU Member States is the objective of the E-Evidence proposals. Whether this objective can be achieved, however, remains uncertain. Half a year after the proposal was introduced, the parties involved are still disputing the design of what may become a future EU regulation. The proposal, which concerns the securing of evidence […]

Baden-Württemberg sues VW

Baden-Württemberg is likely to become the first German federal state to file a statement of claim against the VW Group. This is despite the fact that the company manufactures vehicles in that very state, in Neckarsulm. The state government intends to claim damages from the corporate group in court, primarily on the grounds of intentional […]

Regional Court of Augsburg: in the case of a manipulated VW, the full purchase price plus interest must be refunded

The German press has reported another devastating victory. The Regional Court of Augsburg awarded the full purchase price of €29,907.66, plus interest, to a claimant who returned his manipulated VW Golf TDI vehicle. Until now, German courts had generally deducted some form of notional compensation for use up to the time of return. This time, […]

The New Hungarian Code of Civil Procedure and the Rejection of Statements of Claim: European Judges with a Soviet Bureaucratic Mentality?

The new Hungarian Code of Civil Procedure, which entered into force this year, has been making life more difficult for those seeking legal redress for almost a year now through the numerous technical detailed rules it introduced, many of which we consider unnecessary. As a result, initiating litigation in Hungary has become significantly more difficult. […]

Diesel Scandal: A Further 26,000 People May Sue in Germany

According to information from the German magazine Der Spiegel, Volkswagen expects tens of thousands of new claimants in the form of a collective action in connection with the diesel scandal. According to Volkswagen’s information, 23,800 proceedings had been initiated by September, and judgments had already been handed down in 6,000 cases. We have also reported […]

The Staged Action in Distribution Law

I. General remarks on staged actions The staged action under section 254 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) is of considerable practical importance in distribution law, particularly in commercial agency law. Typical disputes concern, for example, possible claims of the commercial agent for further commission payments. In order to quantify such claims, certain […]