Lunches on course days:
Műhelycafe: 6 days
07,09,10,14,16,17 of July
Address: 1088, Budapest. Múzeum krt. 6.
The political, economic, and technological changes that accelerated in the second half of the 20th century have raised countless questions that require societies to reexamine the legal tools at their disposal. These issues are the focus of this course. The introductory sessions of the course explore the role of law in today's society and economy, with an emphasis on topics such as changes in the economic system, the relationship between state intervention and the market, and the different legal responses to the issues examined, which arise from the different natures of 'law' and 'regulation'. The subsequent sessions of the course, building on the introduction, will focus on the processes that will most determine the future of societies, namely the rise of digitalization and artificial intelligence, and the legal implications of environmental protection and bioethics, working through the social science and legal, theoretical, and practical background of these issues in an interactive format. The aim of the course is to provide participants with a picture of law that goes beyond the traditional view, as a coordination tool influenced by social and economic factors, in relation to the defining processes of our time.
Menyhárd Attila
Attila Menyhárd is a professor of civil law at the Department for Economics and Technology Law of Eötvös Loránd University’s Faculty of Law. Also affiliated with Oppenheim Law Firm, European Centre of Tort and Insurance Law (Wien) and a research professor to the Information Society Research Institute to the Ludovika University of Public Service. Contributed to different international research projects and legislative projects in Hungary. The scope of his research activity is wide, embracing technology law, private law, commercial law, private law and human rights, law and economics, law and literature.
Török-Tóth Soma
Soma Török-Tóth is assistant lecturer at the Civil Law Department of Eötvös Loránd University’s Faculty of Law. Before getting involved to teaching, he worked as a practicing lawyer. Over the course of his research, he focuses on the interplay between private law and ecological issues, with special regards to the private enforcement of environmental law.
7th July 2026 (Tuesday)
9.00 – 10.30 The Impacts of Industrial and Technological Development on Law and on the Society. The Role of Consent.
11.00 – 12.30 Why, how, what? Values and Norms: The Reactions of the Law to Social and Economic Challenges. The Regulatory Landscape in Europe
13.30 – 15.00 Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Liability Issues
9th July 2026 (Thursday)
9.00 – 10.30 Blockchain and Digital Assets
11.00 – 12.30 Artifical Intelligence and Internet of Things: Property or Personhood?
13.30 – 15.00 Legal Consequences of the Platform Economy
10th July 2026 (Friday)
9.00 – 10.30 Consumer Protection, Competition Law, Vulnerability.
11.00 – 12.30 Cases for Automated Systems and AI Application: Self-driving Cars, Health Care and Banking. Sectoral Approach
13.30 – 15.00 Large Language Models and Legal Technology
14th July 2026 (Tuesday)
9.00 – 10.30 Basic questions of environmental protection I. The social and economic nature of nowadays’ ecological crisis.
11.00 – 12.30 Basic questions of environmental protection II. Who should protect the environment?
13.30 – 15.00 Market economy and state intervention. The story of a pendulum move.
16th July 2026 (Thursday)
9.00 – 10.30 A newer rationale to intervene: state tasks in environmental protection.
11.00 – 12.30 Cooperation between states: international environmental law.
13.30 – 15.00 The tragedy of the commons. Why the state fails?
17th July 2026 (Friday)
9.00 – 10.30 Private enforcement of environmental law. The example of Erin Brockovich.
11.00 – 12.30 Examples from the newest practice of environmental litigation.
13.30 – 15.00 Expanding legal imagination: further legal opportunities of promoting ecological interest.