Annual Report 2015

Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies

1014 Budapest, Országház street 30.

Postal Address: 1250 Budapest, P.O.B. 20.

Tel.: (1) 355 7384; fax: (1) 375 7858

Director: Dr. Jakab, András

E-mail: jakab.andras@tk.mta.hu

Website: http://jog.tk.mta.hu/

 

 

I. Main duties of the research unit in 2015

The main duty of the institute is to carry out basic research within the field of legal studies. Basic research refers to the primary aim of drawing the attention of the scholars and the inherent scientific content of the research. It does not explicitly exclude the possibility/idea that legal practice might apply the results of the research. Within basic research (which is carried out under the aegis of universities as well) our most significant and specific task is to accomplish large-scale common projects (e.g. the creation of an online encyclopaedia and scientific commentaries) due to the simple fact that the universities cannot carry out such projects, in such an extended way. Besides, the institute offers several publication fora, such as the Hungarian periodical entitled Állam- és Jogtudomány, the bilingual MTA Law Working Papers and the JTI blog. Beyond, the institute launched the fortnightly Newsletter on Legal Studies as well as the Legal Studies Search Engine in 2015.

Secondary tasks are prescribed by the normative acts of the Act on the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the statutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Centre for Social Sciences, as well. These tasks are the following: organizing scientific endeavours and co-operation in Hungary and abroad; receiving foreign researchers; strengthening the legal knowledge of the public; disseminating scientific results and their social applicability.    

A third set of tasks are the consultation of legislation, the training of experts, providing general consultation methods and delivering expertise. The institute sets guidelines in order to perform such tasks, which are as follows: (a) the request must be explicit from a competent body based on laws; (b) the outcome of the commission must have significant theoretical advantages and benefits as well; (c) charge is paid in return for the work of the Institute (irrespective of whether the source of the payment is the state or a private party). In order to pledge the commission, the subject shall be suitable for the research unit; thus, it must not morally compromise the institute or ruin the prestige of the applicable research unit.

In sum, inevitably the most important task is to carry out high-quality basic research in an international context, which shall also be disseminated at various international fora.

In the year under review, the number of researchers was 56 (11 of them were employed by the so-called research project), 31 of them were full-time, while 25 researchers were part-time employees. 20 researchers were employed on indefinite duration contracts, while 36 researchers had definite duration contracts. In 2015, 3 research professor emeritae had research status at the institute.

The administrative duties of the researchers are carried out by each of them, which is the precondition of the balanced and qualitative science organization and science support. These portfolios are public and uploaded to the homepage of the research unit. The institute is eager to assist our guest researchers from abroad (whether or not they are of Hungarian origin) thus, the formal and informal internal letters, emails and messages are written both in Hungarian and English; beyond, the research unit provides a bilingual sheet for new researchers about essential information.

 

II. Outstanding research and other results in 2015

a) Outstanding research results

2 researchers headed and completed the successful and popular series of discussions (The Legal System Viewed from Within – only in Hungarian) aiming to provide an insider view for the legal scholars and the public on the functioning of relevant institutions within the field of legal studies. The leaders or the leading office-holders of such institutions delivered lectures; the video recording of the events can be downloaded from the YouTube channel of the institute (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCctUfjLIQvWkJwyXiS619Ug).

The project on the science of law had been successfully completed in 2015. The outcome was an authoritative volume of proceedings edited by two researchers of the institute [A jog tudománya. Tudománytörténeti és -elméleti írások, gyakorlati tanácsokkal (The Science of Law: Essays on the History and Theory of Science with Practical Advices), Budapest:HVG-ORAC Lap- és Könyvkiadó Kft., 2015.]. That volume is useful for legal theorists and legal practitioners as well, while the work focuses on methodological and institutional knowledge of the science of law.

The programme entitled A magyar jogrendszer állapota – 2015 (The Status of the Hungarian Legal System – 2015) has been successfully organized in 2015. The event represented the widest spectrum of legal theorists and practitioners at a two-day conference, and they undertook an in-depth scrutiny of the domestic legal system.

Under the aegis of the project entitled Hungarian open access online encyclopaedia of legal scholarship, prestigious authors from the Hungarian legal scholarship community will promote the spreading of legal culture as well as develop Hungarian legal scholarship, legal practice and legal consciousness. In 2015, 1500 encyclopaedia articles were assembled; the debates on the articles on legal branches were been carried out.

Under the project entitled MTA Lendület (Momentum) Hungary's opportunities of public policy in the European Unionanalysis of legal frames (1st September 2013 – 31st August 2018) the researchers took part in the annual conference of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies in Bilbao. At this conference, the research group organized 4 panels focusing on the theoretical, economic, constitutional and regulative aspects of the national interests within the European law and policy. Due to these efforts, several further cooperation and mutual projects had been initiated. Similarly to the previous years, in 2015 the researchers pursued the series of workshop discussions on the subjects and main topics of national interest within the EU.

Under the aegis of the project ‘Momentum Project Federal Markets’ (1 July 2014 – 30 June 2019, cca. 50 000 EUR) the enrolment and organization of the personal and infrastructural background of the research has been completed. Several workshop seminars and other events were organized and further analysis on the subject of ‘state granted monopolies’ was carried out. The head of the research group obtained a one-year long Fulbright scholarship at Indiana University; that kind of partnership could gain further research perspectives.

One researcher drafted a report (in cooperation with the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law) on the ’unlawful international abduction of children’; the report had been sent to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament.

The journal of the institute, entitled Állam- és Jogtudomány (Studies in Law and Political Studies) published 4 issues in the year under review; the double blind peer-reviewed ‘A’ category (upon the system adopted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) periodical was and is a leading journal in the Hungarian legal literature. The editors were eight researchers of the institute, while the editorial board consisted of the academicians in legal studies and the deans of the Hungarian law faculties.

MTA Law Working Papers (with ISSN number) edited by four researchers of the institute published 36 papers in 2015. The working paper series is the first level within the hierarchy of the scientific publications, it is a publication forum for papers not completed but worthy of the attention of the scholar community. The main objective is to promptly publish works for the scientific community and legal practice. The periodical offers a prompt and open access forum for papers written under the aegis of several projects at the institute.

Department for the Study of Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law

Among the significant scientific results of the researchers at the department, it should be highlighted that one researcher headed and completed a project entitled CONREASON – constitutional reasoning (with the partnership of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law), the edited book of the project will be published by Cambridge University Press. The Budapest Research Group on Constitutional Theory founded in cooperation with the Andrássy Universität had a successful year (the events of the group are held monthly in German or in English). One researcher is one of the Editors-in-Chief of the Hungarian open access online encyclopaedia of legal scholarship.

The project on the science of law had been successfully completed in 2015 by the leading role (editorial activities) of one of the researchers at the department. The outcome was an authoritative volume of proceedings edited by two researchers of the institute [A jog tudománya. Tudománytörténeti és -elméleti írások, gyakorlati tanácsokkal (The Science of Law: Essays on the History and Theory of Science with Practical Advices), Budapest: HVG-ORAC Lap- és Könyvkiadó Kft., 2015.]. By presenting the book review on the afore-mentioned book, the researchers of the department organized a related event entitled ‘A jogtudomány helye, szerepe és haszna’ (The Place, Role and Usefulness of Legal Studies), where several leading Hungarian experts took part.

One researcher of the department as a principal investigator started the project entitled Institutional Reforms in the Ageing Societies. The research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, and it includes a wide variety of experts: lawyers, political scientists, economists and sociologists.

The researchers of the Incubator project (The development on the regulation of elections and the functioning of the party systems in Central and Eastern Europe) analyzed the previous results of the research, because two of the examined countries (Poland and Ukraine) had general elections in the year under review. In connection with that, the researchers interviewed a Ukrainian politician of Hungarian origin. The research project got a 6-month extension with regard to the Slovakian general election held in March 2016.

As part of the research conducted under the aegis of European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRALEX) (2011-2015) researchers published annual and national reports as well as thematic articles for the Agency, and they successfully completed the project.

One researcher of the department delivered a speech (focusing on the topic of hate crimes) on behalf of Hungary at the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues.

Number of the researchers at the department: 15.

Department for the Study of the Domestic Implementation of International and European Law

During the project entitled OTKA PD/113010 The Phenomenon of Hybridization in the Course of Application of the International Criminal Norms (1 September 2014 – 31 August 2016, cca. 12 000 EUR), the researcher of the department took part in 3 international conferences (Toronto, Harvard Law School, Shanghai), where the researcher had the unique opportunity to consult with the leading experts of the subject.

One researcher of the department had been granted a project financed by the Bolyai János Research Scholarship under the title ’The Soft Law within the practice of the European Ombudsman”. The project analyzes the dimension of the procedure of ombudsperson and the legal sources of the European Union with special regard to the soft law mechanisms.

One researcher of the department successfully acquired an Incubator grant with the topic of ‘The Interpretation and Functioning of the Right to Healthy Environment within the Central and Eastern European Region – Legal and Public Policy Frames’. The substantial phase of the project will start in 2016, while in 2015 the background of the research infrastructure as well as the stakeholders were assembled.

One researcher from the department was the principal investigator of the project entitled Human Rights Encyclopaedia, which was/is a path-finder research within the Hungarian legal scholar community. The project (including the leading experts of human rights from the institute and the Hungarian legal scholar community as well) proposed the publication of cca. 100 encyclopaedia articles; which refers to the full-scale analysis of human rights, both in the Hungarian and the international aspects. The overwhelming majority of the articles were completed in 2015, the publications of the encyclopaedia is expected in the near future.

Two researchers took part in the human rights online course entitled Massive Open Online Course organized by the University of Leuven. The course offered an in-depth knowledge on the relations of European Union and human rights aiming to focus on the simple review of the functioning of EU. The lectures concentrated on the foreign relations of the EU as well as the domestic implementation of human rights.

An Italian visiting researcher had been enrolled at the department in the year under review.

Number of the researchers at the department: 25.

Department for the Study of the Private, Criminal and Administrative Law Guarantees of Market Economy

In the project ‘OTKA K/105552 Legal Culture in Hungary - Theory and Empirical Research’ (1 October 2012 – 30September 2015) the researchers elaborated a complex questionnaire that was administered in the Fall of 2016 and the data file is available for in-depth analysis. A workshop was organized to discuss draft papers of team members on legal culture. The principal investigators invited numerous representatives of the legal sociology/theory departments of all Hungarian universities. In 2015, the current results of the project were published in a leading Hungarian law journal (in Hungarian), while the summaries and general considerations of the project were disseminated as journal articles in a Serbian journal of sociology (in English). The most important outcome of the project is that the general legal knowledge has increased in the last five decades; and its cause is the advanced level of education.

Under the aegis of the project Bolyai János Scholarship BO/00747/14/9 (The Criminal Law Protection of the Credit System, 1 September 2014 – 31 August 2017), the principal investigator and researcher published articles in the following topics: integrity approach of the corruption crimes, corruption within the administration and public services, and the border issues of the topic with the law of misdemeanour.

One researcher of the department took part in a research dealing with the regulation issues of the service providers on internet traffic direction; the researcher focused on the theoretical aspects of the legal information and notification methods of internet-related issues.

Researchers of the department published articles in the following topics: modification within the Hungarian scientific research funds, Hungarian leading professionals and thinkers, access to justice in legal process, the protection of the “weaker” party in the law of procedures, legal philosophy, comparative law, and the theory of decision-making.

In 2015, the Hungarian government nominated two researchers of the department to the Committee for the Codification of Private International Law.

Two researchers of the department carried out the project entitled The Legal System as the Infrastructure of Economic Development (only in Hungarian) and Public Policies and the Legal Environment (only in Hungarian). These projects raised the attention of the legal experts and the public as well. Under the aegis of these projects, numerous events and discussions were organized (the videotapes are uploaded to the YouTube channel of the institute) and several working paper articles were published.

Number of the researchers at the department: 16.

 

b) Science and society

Researchers of the institute contributed to the scientific discourse, being in the focus of public attention, and disseminated academic knowledge in various fields. The events of the institute are almost without exception open to the public (although subject to prior registration on occasion), and their programmes and highlights are always published on the institute’s new, updated, and informative bilingual (Hungarian and English) website, on the newly established Jogtudományi Hírlevél (Newsletter on Legal Studies), Jogtudományi Kereső (Legal Studies Search Engine) and on the frequently updated Facebook profile of the institute (https://www.facebook.com/mtatkjti). In addition to publication on the website, all events are circulated among relevant Hungarian research units via email and other electronic communication (and in the case of foreign language events, the researchers' professional contacts and certain foreign faculty units are informed as well). In 2015, the researchers uploaded 44 videotapes to the official YouTube channel of the research unit:

(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCctUfjLIQvWkJwyXiS619Ug)

Two projects, namely The Legal System as the Infrastructure of Economic Development (only in Hungarian) and Public Policies and the Legal Environment (only in Hungarian) were successfully completed. Numerous papers published in the MTA Law Working Papers can be mentioned as the main outcomes of these projects; and additionally the videotapes of the events and roundtable discussions of these projects are uploaded to the public YouTube channel of the research unit.

One of the main aims of the institute is to support the Hungarian legal scholarship community with scholarly administrative service. Upon this objective and following foreign examples the institute launched the Jogtudományi Hírlevél (Newsletter on Legal Studies), published every two weeks in an online form containing news on the current calls for conference participations, PhD procedures, habilitations in legal scholarship, book reviews, personal information, and scholarships as well. In 2015, 23 newsletters were sent to numerous recipients.

The institute organized the award events where the Iuris Consulto Excellentissimo Award as lifetime achievement award as an oeuvre went to Prof. József Ruszoly from the University of Szeged; the Peschka Vilmos Medallion for outstanding theoretical work went to Prof. Horváth M. Tamás, professor of the University of Debrecen; and the Pulszky Ágost Medallion for work of legal science having practical relations was handed out to Prof. Tamás Lábady, professor of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, former president of the Court of Appeal of Pécs as well as former member of the Hungarian Constitutional Court. Decision on the adjudication of acknowledgements was made by a committee based on incoming nominations from the deans of the Hungarian faculties of law.

The Institute, along with other institutes of the Centre, took part in the series of events entitled “Researchers’ night” in 2015 as well, aiming to bring the non-professional public into legal scientific discourse and to spread the scientific results achieved by experts among the broader society, where there was an excellent opportunity for the dissemination of the achieved scientific results of the researchers. Under the aegis of the programme, five researchers of the research unit delivered lectures on the leading projects with regard to their aims and potential outcomes. Based upon the number of participants and their feedback, continued support and demand for this series is anticipated.

 

III. A presentation of national and international R&D relations in 2015

One of the research groups, namely the Budapest Research Group on Constitutional Theory organized altogether 9 scientific events, chiefly in cooperation with Andrássy Universität Budapest (Budapest Andrássy University).

The institute and the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute for State and Law jointly organized the conference titled ‘Status of the Judge in the Era of Judicialization: Czech-Hungarian Experience’. The event was assembled and sponsored under the aegis of the Incubator grant (The Development of Electoral Laws and Party Systems in East-Central Europe). Besides, it followed the long-standing mutual tradition of bilateral conferences and workshop seminars held annually by either the Czech or the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (either in Prague or Budapest). Such conferences regularly focus on current academic topics, which draw attention of the research community of the Czech Republic and Hungary as well.

A newly started Incubator project will inspire further cooperation with the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute for State and Law through the support of a head of department whose contact and professional experiences could frame an ideal opportunity to strengthen and widen our partnership.

The overwhelming majority of the institute’s researchers were involved in teaching in bachelor, master and doctoral programmes of several institutions (as part of relevant R&D activities), such as Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, University of Debrecen, Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, Central European University, University of Miskolc, University of West Hungary, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, University of Pécs, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Semmelweis Ignác University of Medicine, Széchenyi István University, National University of Public Service, Bibó István College, Universität Wien, Universität Heidelberg, Mathias Corvinus Collegium and University of Hull.

In the year under review, researchers taught 166 theoretical courses and 110 seminars, and supported the work of students in the completion of 151 theses at Masters level, which proves the high-level quality of their teaching skills. During this period, one researcher served as the head of a doctoral school, 27 researchers were involved in teaching in postgraduate doctoral schools, and 10 research fellows participated as core members in certain doctoral schools. Research fellows of the institute acted as supervisors in the preparation of altogether 57 PhD theses.

During the year under review, the majority of researchers participated in professional activities as members of various national and international professional associations, including 39 national (Hungarian) and 33 international professional associations and 5 Hungarian branches of international scholar associations. Researchers of the institute also served as chairpersons of 4 national associations, as an honorary chairman of one, as deputy chairman of another international association and as a chairperson of the Hungarian branch of an international association. Additionally, the researchers worked as members of editorial boards for 15 Hungarian and 13 international scientific journals.

 

IV. Brief summary of national and international research proposals, winning in 2015

The International Visegrad Fund standard grant (Application of Competition Law in the Visegrad Countries, 15 824 EUR) started in the year under review. The research analyzes the special characteristics within the law of competition of the V4 countries. The participants took part in numerous international conferences and organized one (The Procedural Aspects of the Application of Competition Law: European Frameworks – Central European Perspectives – Hungarian Academy of Sciences with the cooperation of the Central European University, July 2015).

A project entitled OTKA K/112900 Institutional Reforms in the Ageing Societies (1 January 2015 – 31 December 2017) started in the year under review. The researchers completed the basic conditions in order to start with the project.

One project (financed by the Bolyai János Research Scholarship) had been launched under the title ’The Soft Law within the practice of the European Ombudsman” (2015-2017). The project analyzes the dimension of the procedure of ombudsperson and the legal sources of the European Union with special regard to the soft law mechanisms.

A project entitled OTKA K/116979The regulation issues of the service providers on internet traffic direction’ (2016-2020) was granted in the year under review; however, the realization will start in 2016. The institute is a consortial partner within this project.

The Centre sponsored a project entitled The Interpretation and Functioning of the Right to Healthy Environment within the Central and Eastern European Region – Legal and Public Policy Frames (Incubator-project, duration: 1 September 2015 – 31 August 2017). The substantial phase of the project will start in 2016, while in 2015 the background of the research infrastructure as well as the stakeholders were assembled.

 

V. List of important publications in 2015

1. Balázs István, Nagy Marianna, Rozsnyai Krisztina: La reconnaissance des actes administratifs étrangers en Hongrie. In: Rodriguez J, Munoz A (szerk.): Recognition of Foreign Administrative Acts.: Recognition of Foreign Administrative Acts in Hungary. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2015. pp. 193-217. http://real.mtak.hu/31804/

2. Kühn Zdenek, Matczak Marcin, Bencze Mátyás: EU Law and Central European Judges: Administrative Judiciaries in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland Ten Years after the Accession In: Michal Bobek (szerk.): Central European Judges under the European Influence: The Transformative Power of the EU Revisited. 464 p. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2015. pp. 43-71. http://real.mtak.hu/32951

3. Chronowski Nóra, Varju Márton: Constitutional backsliding in Hungary. TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR CONSTITUTIONEEL RECHT 6:(3) pp. 296-310. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/31902/

4. Danilo Vukovic, Balazs Fekete: Sociology of Law in the Region: From Histories of Socio-Legal Thinking to New Research and Teaching Agendas. SOCIOLOGIJA 58:(4) pp. 549-570. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/31913/

5. Fekete Balázs, Gajduschek György: Changes in the Knowledge about Law in Hungary in the Past Half Century. SOCIOLOGIJA 58:(4) pp. 620-636. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/31912/

6. Friedery Réka: Unaccompanied Minors in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. In: Ralf Rosskopf (szerk.): Unaccompanied Minors in International, European and National Law. 267 p. Berlin: BWV-Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, 2015. pp. 51-65. http://real.mtak.hu/32993   

7. Gajduschek György: Measuring Cross-Sectorial Law Enforcement Capacity of Regulatory Agencies in Hungary. TRANSYLVANIAN REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES 11:(44) pp. 108-125. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/32990

8. Sajó András, Ganczer Mónika: Socialist Law. In: James D Wright (szerk.): International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second edition). Oxford: Elsevier, 2015. pp. 844-848. http://real.mtak.hu/32952

9. Gárdos-Orosz Fruzsina: Preliminary Reference and the Hungarian Constitutional Court: A Context of Non-Reference. GERMAN LAW JOURNAL 16:(6) pp. 1569-1590. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/33202/

10. Győry Csaba: The comparative political economy of financial crimes and their enforcement: The case of insider trading. In: Judith van Erp, Wim Huisman, Gudrun Vande Walle (szerk.): The comparative political economy of financial crimes and their enforcement: The case of insider trading. London: Routledge, 2015. pp. 453-471. The Routledge Handbook of White-Collar and Corporate Crime in Europe; http://real.mtak.hu/32983/

11. Halász Iván: The Institutional Framework and Methods of the Implementation of Soviet Legal Ideas in the Czechoslovakia and Hungary during Stalinism. JOURNAL ON EUROPEAN HISTORY OF LAW 6:(2) pp. 29-37. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/33055

12. Jakab András: Staatslehre – Eine deutsche Kuriosität. In: Christoph Schönberger (szerk.): Der „German Approach“. Die Staatsrechtslehre im Wissenschaftsvergleich, mit Kommentaren von Atsushi Takada und András Jakab. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck Verlag, 2015. pp. 75-121. http://real.mtak.hu/32953

13. Jakab András, Menyhárd Attila (szerk.): A jog tudománya: Tudománytörténeti és tudományelméleti írások, gyakorlati tanácsokkal [The Science of Law: Essays on the History and Theory of Science with Practical Advices]. Budapest: HVG-ORAC Lap- és Könyvkiadó Kft., 2015. http://real.mtak.hu/32954

14. Koi Gyula: Magyary Zoltán összes munkái (1919-1922) [The Works of Zoltán Magyary (1919-1922)], 237 p. Budapest: Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem, 2015. 

http://real.mtak.hu/25214/

15. Könczöl Miklós: Dikologia: Törvényszéki rétorika és jogi érvelés Aristotelésnél [Dicology: Forensic Rhetoric and Legal Argumentation by Aristotle]. Budapest: Gondolat, 2015. 200 p. http://real.mtak.hu/32955

16. Lachmayer, Konrad: Rethinking Privacy Beyond Borders: Developing Transnational Rights on Data Privacy TILBURG LAW REVIEW 20: pp. 78-102. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/32995

17. Majtényi Balázs: The Nation’s Will as Trump in the Hungarian Fundamental Law. In: Wolfgang Benedek, Florence Benoît-Rohmer, Matthias C Kettemann, Benjamin Kneihs, Manfred Nowak, Wolfgang Benedek, Florence Benoît-Rohmer, Matthias C Kettemann, Benjamin Kneihs, Manfred Nowak (szerk.) European Yearbook on Human Rights 15. Cambridge: Intersentia, 2015. pp. 247-260. http://real.mtak.hu/32989   

18. Nagy Csongor István: The new concept of anti-competitive object: a loose cannon in EU competition law. ECLR: EUROPEAN COMPETITION LAW REVIEW 36:(4) pp. 154-159. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/32992

19. Nagy Csongor István: The European Collective Redress Debate after the European Commission’s Recommendation: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? MAASTRICHT JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN AND COMPARATIVE LAW 9:(4) pp. 530-552. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/32991

20. Nótári Tamás: On the Role of Ethical Maxims in the System of Classical Interpretation of Law. In: Hörcher Ferenc, Mester Béla, Turgonyi Zoltán (szerk.): Is a Universal Morality Possible? 263 p.  Budapest: HAS Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Philosophy, L'Harmattan, 2015. pp. 83-93. http://real.mtak.hu/32196/

21. Pap András László: Is there a legal right to free choice of ethno-racial identity?: Legal and political difficulties in defining minority communities and membership boundaries, COLUMBIA HUMAN RIGHTS LAW REVIEW 46:(2) pp. 153-232. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/32956

22. Salát Orsolya: The Right to Freedom of Assembly. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2015. 304 p. http://real.mtak.hu/32994

23. Sulyok Gábor: General Principles of Law and International Law-Making. In: Charles Sampford, Spencer Zifcak, Derya Aydin Okur (szerk.): Rethinking International Law and Justice. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2015. pp. 313-331. http://real.mtak.hu/17024/

24. Sulyok Gábor: Treaties, Origin. In: Rüdiger Wolfrum (szerk.): Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. pp. 1-12. http://real.mtak.hu/29747/

25. Gárdos-Orosz Fruzsina, Szente Zoltán (szerk.): Jog és politika határán: Alkotmánybíráskodás Magyarországon 2010 után [On the Border of Law and Politics. Constitutional Jurisdiction in Hungary after 2010]. Budapest: HVG-ORAC Lap- és Könyvkiadó Kft., 2015. 409 p. http://real.mtak.hu/32957

26. Váradi Ágnes: The Concept of “Authority” and Procedural Principles in the Administrative Procedural Law of the European Union. ACTA JURIDICA HUNGARICA: HUNGARIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES 56:(1) pp. 72-85. (2015) http://real.mtak.hu/30881/