Customary Law vs. Codified Law in 1930s Hungary: Insights from the Work of Károly Szladits

This chapter explores the delayed codification of Hungarian private law, tracing its roots to ideological divisions and historical circumstances unique to Hungary. While neighbouring states codified civil law early to signal modernization, Hungary relied on customary law, leading to sustained debates between anti-codification advocates and proponents of a formal code. Compelling arguments were presented both in favour of maintaining the characteristically uncodified, customary nature of Hungarian private law, akin to the common law system, and for establishing codified civil law. Key figures, such as Károly Szladits, argued for codification as a means to modernize Hungarian law. The eventual codification under the Soviet regime in 1959, and in principal the new Civil Code of 2013, still reflects a compromise between codified law and the flexibility of customary principles, capturing Szladits’s vision of a living legal system.

Keywords: Hungary, codification, customary law, civil law, Károly Szladits