Closely Watched Servants. Establishment and Early Development of Administrative Disciplinary Law in Hungary, With Special Regard to the Liability of Municipal Officials

Abstract

The paper aims to provide a general and comprehensive image of Hungarian administrative disciplinary law with respect to its nature as a legal field, its normative sources and its specific regulations, with special regard to the disciplinary liability of municipal officials. This, of course, requires a comparison with the legal development of foreign countries (mainly France, Germany, Austria) under some aspects. The division of administrative disciplinary law can be found in this essay on the basis of two aspects: one is based on the hierarchical structure of the administrative organizational system, and the other is determined according to the legal sources regulating the given area. The presentation of the legislation governing this kind of liability of municipal officials in chronological order makes it possible to briefly describe the development of this legal institution. Some characteristically controversial aspects of the regulation are also presented here, such as political influence, legal representation (by a lawyer), or adversarial proceedings.