Application of EU Competition Law by the Hungarian Judiciary: Cooperation with the ECJ and Relying on the Case Law of the ECtHR

Abstract

This chapter deals with the application of EU competition law by the Hungarian judiciary. It will first sketch the contours of requesting a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice as an ordinary practice of Hungarian courts. As Hungarian courts are very active in posing preliminary questions, it comes as a surprise that in competition law matters the judiciary seems to be more inclined to rule on the interpretation of EU competition law without the help of the ECJ. Since 2015, two ECJ judgments were issued on antitrust matters. The second part of the chapter provides a deeper examination of a recent Supreme Court judgment and a Constitutional Court judgment. Both judgments concern the nature of competition law proceedings as decided by the European Court of Human Rights. The penal nature of antitrust procedures and its implication on the standard of proof was in the centre of discussion at the highest level of the court system in Hungary.