12 research outputs found
Masterclass: international law and constitutional development in 19th century Europe (Part II)
1. Today, Hungary is a small Central-Eastern-European country making headlines with its domestic political and constitutional controversies. Yet, throughout its 1000-year history, this country had many struggles and developments, which, when put into a European comparative context, are relatively unknown and nevertheless very interesting. Hungary was similar to its Western-European counterparts in many ways: it was a monarchy, which joined the Roman Catholic Church upon its founding. It established a domestic administrative system, regulated land ownership and eventually established feudal representation. The pace of its development may have been a little slower sometimes than that of the West, but Hungarian scholars studied at the Western Universities, its rulers fought and consulted their foreign counterparts and the country had a normal-size territory to be considered a country, like any other, in Europe.
2. At the same time, Hungary was also different in many ways than its Western counterparts. The country only had a so-called historical constitution and no written constitution until the 20th century. Due to certain elements of this historical constitution, the structure of land ownership, local public administration and social structures remained the same throughout the middle ages. As a result of the Turkish occupation in the 16th-18th centuries, the country dipped into the second wave of serfdom. It did not embark on the road to a civil society as the West has after renaissance and reformation. Roman law was never officially received in Hungary and multiple codification attempts for domestic laws failed throughout the 18th-19th centuries. A closer examination of the 19th century constitutional development in Hungary and especially the rather unique dualist state of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy may provide additional meaning to legitimacy, sovereignty and multi-level governance in international law. A multitude of questions arise in this regard, such as the true significance of the 1867 Ausgleich between the Austrian Empire and Hungary from the perspective of international law, the relevance of domestic constitutional order within related states, etc.
Taught together with dr. F. Dhondt (Legal History Institute)
Az amerikai elnökök inaugurációja, különös tekintettel az 1867-1918 közötti időszakra
„MĂ©gis, aki ezen [n. b. állami] ceremĂłniákat kritizálja, figyelmen kĂvĂĽl hagyja,
hogy az emberek is aprĂł rĂtusokra Ă©pĂtik Ă©letĂĽk nagy rĂ©szĂ©t. Olyan mindennapos
esemĂ©nyek, mint egy kĂ©zfogás vagy egy csĂ©sze tea elkĂ©szĂtĂ©se ugyanĂşgy rĂ©szei a
dolgok általános rendjének, mint egy koronázás vagy a Parlament ülésszakának
ĂĽnnepĂ©lyes megnyitása.”1 Michèle Brown Ă©rvel Ăgy az angol monarchia ceremĂłniáit
részletesen bemutató és elemző könyvének bevezetőjében. A tekintetben mindenképpen
igaz a megállapĂtása, hogy az emberek az ĂĽnnepeket, az aprĂł szertartásokat
– legyenek azok általánosak, vallási jellegűek vagy a legteljesebb mértékig
személyesek – életük szerves részének tekintik. Vitatható azonban, hogy egy adott
állam egĂ©szĂ©t Ă©rintĹ‘, valamely többletjelentĂ©ssel bĂrĂł, olykor udvari pompát Ă©s
hatalmi szimbolikát sem nélkülöző időszakos esemény azonos lenne a mindennapok
szertartásaival. Eltér egyfelől gyakoriságában, méreteiben és az emberek
ráhatásátĂłl relatĂv elkĂĽlönĂthetĹ‘ voltában, másfelĹ‘l pedig alkotmányos, szimbolikus
és legitimációs többlet-jelentésében
Transferring the presidential power Âżhistoric overview of the u.s. presidential inaugurations
The inauguration is the ceremonial legitimization process of the American head of state. This institution has not been regulated in the United States; the elements of the programs have developed through tradition and customs over time since George Washingtonďż˝s first inauguration in 1789. This writing aims to introduce the history of the early U.S. presidential inauguration days; at the same time it also raises the question whether the inauguration has a legal role apart from its social one. The conclusion shows that the oath-taking is the single omnipresent element in the head of stateďż˝s induction into office, therefore, that is the legally relevant and necessary element sufficient in itself to complete the Presidentďż˝s ceremonial legitimization.La toma de posesiĂłn es el proceso de legitimaciĂłn ceremonial del jefe del Estado norteamericano. Esta instituciĂłn no fue regulada; los elementos de programa se desarrollaron con el tiempo por medio de tradiciones y costumbres desde la primera toma de posesiĂłn de George Washington en el año 1789. El objetivo del presente ensayo es de introducir la historia de los dĂas de las primeras inauguraciones, al mismo tiempo planteando la cuestiĂłn de si la inauguraciĂłn tiene importancia legal, aparte de su importancia social. La conclusiĂłn es que el juramento al cargo es el Ăşnico elemente omnipresente en el procedimiento de la introducciĂłn del jefe del estado al cargo y, por consiguiente es el Ăşnico elemente necesario y suficiente para completar la legitimaciĂłn ceremonial del President