Busy month in the world of legislation: multiple judicial acts have been amended

Substantial changes have been introduced by Act XXXI of 2023 amending several acts on judicial matters. The new law has been passed at the beginning of June 2023, however, most of its provisions enter into force at a later date.

Among the most important changes are the followings.

The act postpones the entry into force of the Act on the Registration and of Legal Persons and the Registration Procedure until 1 January 2026, as the preparation for the introduction of the unified register of legal persons, including the introduction of uniform and fast procedural rules for automatic decision-making, requires more time. It is planned to replace the current company act, however, based on the reasoning behind the postponement, the technical conditions have not yet been established.

The new provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act – entering into force on 1 September 2023 - allow the authorities to involve assistants in interpreting tasks who are not considered interpreters by procedural means, in order to promote the language use rights of those entitled, such as victims, financially interested parties or other interested parties.

As of 1 September 2023, it amends the Act on Notaries and determines that settlement on matrimonial property can be the subject of a settlement procedure before a notary and the Hungarian Chamber of Civil Law Notaries handles the transmission of data from family law related records to the Central Bureau for Statistics.

Based on the amendment of the Civil Code, as of 1 September 2023, judges are no longer obliged to terminate joint parental custody on the request of either parent, but they may consider whether the termination of joint parental custody is in the best interests of the child and, based on this, decide to maintain or terminate joint parental custody.

As of 1 January 2024, the amendment of the Act on Execution of Penalties, it introduces a credit system in correctional facilities which is a progression system based on credit values calculated on the basis of the convict's behaviour, cooperativeness and performance in the context of reintegration activities. The collection of credit points may result in a transfer to a more favourable category compared to the initial classification. By amending the provisions of the Act on Execution of Penalties, the motivational system to be introduced is planned to strengthen the responsibility of the convicted, making them interested in maintaining the execution order and implementing the reintegration plan.