Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Iurisprudentia

Academic deontology. Legal nature

2026-03-20T13:38:32+00:00

The last few years have also been marked by an intense effort to regulate the academic discipline, especially in the field of doctoral studies. The adoption of a new law on higher education, which also required the adoption of new codes of ethics at the university level, might seem to be the solution to a practical problem of public morality: the multiple scandals linked to the doctoral plagiarism of politicians. What we are analyzing here is the definition of academic ethics, as it appears from the said law, its relations with the social phenomenon called applied ethics, as well as its possible moral sources. What is fundamental is to know whether academic ethics really constitutes a moral current or it remains only a circumstantial juridical reaction whose public impact we will measure later.

A Perspective on the Nature of Set-Off

2026-03-20T13:46:45+00:00

A Perspective on the Nature of Set-Off The study examines the legal nature of set-off, proposing a departure from its characterization as a form of simplified double payment, and instead advancing its understanding as a legal justification for refusing payment. It emphasizes the voluntary aspects of invoking set-off, in contrast to the automatic operation suggested by the wording of the legal provisions. Set-off is thus conceived as a benefit conferred by law upon the debtor, enabling the refusal of payment, which provides a coherent explanation of its legal regime and preserves the conceptual unity of all forms of set-off.

Legal fact and (in)dependence to the norm

2026-03-18T09:51:13+00:00

Can the holder of a subjective right arising from a legal fact claim its enforcement independently of the law, or, on the contrary, is it devoid of any legal effect in the absence of a law establishing the legal means for its enforcement? Does the law have a creative role or is it limited to enshrining a pre-existing reality? To what extent does the legal norm exclude any ethical or moral basis? These are just some of the questions that this study aims to outline a direction for reflection and analysis.

Imputability in the judicial enforcement of contact orders: the first five years of the Hungarian model

2026-06-01T16:05:17+00:00

The article examines the role of imputability in the judicial enforcement of contact orders during the first five years of Hungary’s reformed enforcement system. Following the transfer of jurisdiction from the guardianship authorities to the courts on 1 March 2020, the enforcement of contact orders became part of non-contentious civil proceedings, introducing significant changes to both the procedural framework and the substantive conditions of enforcement. The paper analyses the transition from the former fault-based approach to the objective standard of imputability, explores its doctrinal foundations, and evaluates its application in judicial practice. Drawing on legal analysis and court file research conducted at the Debrecen District Court, the study assesses whether the new model has achieved its intended objectives of enhancing legal certainty, procedural efficiency, and the protection of the best interests of the child.

Does special guardianship prevent a judge from granting a protection order?

2026-09-27T20:30:39+00:00

Under Romanian law, can a protection order be issued against a person who is subject to special guardianship and lacks the capacity to act?Courts are divided on this issue, and these uncertainties stem precisely from the aggressor’s status as a protected adult, a status that is difficult to grasp: should such a person be subject to proceedings whose meaning they do not understand? Would they be able to comply with the ‘obligations, duties and prohibitions’ imposed on them by the protection order? Would these not, in all likelihood, be ignored? Furthermore, failure to comply with these obligations entails criminal liability, whilst it is assumed – by an illogical leap – that persons lacking the capacity to exercise their rights are implicitly lacking in discernment, and would therefore not be criminally liable in the event of a breach of the protection order. Following this line of reasoning, the introduction of such a measure would be entirely ineffective and, as such, pointless.In Decision No. 73/2026, the panel of the High Court of Cassation and Justice responsible for preliminary rulings on points of law found that no ruling was warranted in this case. As no binding decision on the merits was ever issued, the question remains open. It is all the more pressing because the Court’s own reasoning merely set out the arguments supporting each side, without refuting either or explaining how they might be challenged.However, no special provision or provision of ordinary law restricts the scope of application of the protection order on the basis of the aggressor’s status. Nor does the protection regime enjoyed by a person placed under special guardianship shield them from any civil or criminal liability. Nor do the obstacles cited by the courts stand up to close scrutiny. The question remains: has an appearance of a gap in the interpretation of the text of the law – which formed the subject of the Supreme Court’s referral – crept into the judges’ thinking?

The price in commercial contracts: limits and case law applications

2026-02-19T13:41:41+00:00

The aim of the article is to analyze in detail various perspectives on what it concerns the price in business contracts in the light of the national and the international law: from the possibility of qualification and interpretation of a contract on the basis of the price that the parties established by mutual agreement to the advantages of introducing the hardship, the indexation and also the alignment clauses in the contract, concluding with the description of the conditions that a third party chosen by the parties must meet when it comes to determine the price of a contract. Last, but not least, there will be exposed some extra arguments regarding the definition of the determinable price in order to clarify the potential issues with the provisional price, the approximate price, the differences between them and the validity of the clauses that include such prices. All these will be complemented concluded with the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, by exposing the principles and the guidelines that are relevant both in the research field and in the court, when it comes to practicing law, theories that govern the price in business contracts.