The Lack of Conformity and Consumer Rights in Hungarian Law - Acta Universitatis Sapientiae

Acta Univ. Sapientiae, Legal Studies, 12, 2 (2023) 75–94

DOI: 10.47745/AUSLEG.2023.12.2.05

Abstract. This paper aims to analyse the rules defining the lack of conformity of consumer goods with the contract and those governing the remedies at the consumer’s disposal in Hungarian law.Together with the regulation representing the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/771 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods that are in force today, this paper covers the respective rules inspired by Directive 1999/44/EC on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees contained in the Civil Code enacted in 2013, with the principal intent to compare them and determine similarities and divergences. The definition of the lack of conformity differentiating subjective and objective requirements and the existence of the hierarchy of remedies available to the consumer may be considered the crucial similarity uniting the examined legal rules. On the other hand, reducing the number of claims at the consumer’s disposal may be deemed the fundamental difference influencing the consumer’s position. The hierarchy of claims stipulated in the Civil Code consisted of repair and replacement as the primary set of remedies and self-repair, repair at the seller’s expense, appropriate price reduction, and the termination of the contract as the subsidiary remedies. Under the influence of the above-mentioned Directive (EU) 2019/771, the application of self-repair and repair at the seller’s expense has been excluded in the case of consumer sales contracts.

Keywords: lack of conformity, Hungarian Civil Code, Government Decree, hierarchy of rights, repair, replacement, appropriate price reduction, termination of the contract