# ELTE Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law of Eötvös Loránd University was founded in 1667 and it is located in Egyetem tér in Belváros-Lipótváros, Budapest, Hungary.

## History

The Faculty of Law was founded in 1667, 32 years later the foundation of Eötvös Loránd University. Between 1667 and 1872, law education was only at the Faculty of Law in Hungary. Since the foundation of the Babeș-Bolyai University (at that time called Franz Joseph University) in 1872, there had been more universities offering courses on law.
Since the nineteenth century, there had been a high quality of law education attributed to the following educators: Gusztáv Wenzel, Jenő Balogh, Győző Concha, László Fayer, Béni Grosschmid, Sándor Plósz, Gusztáv Szászy-Schwarz, and Tamás Vécsey. For a long time, the professors of the Faculty were at the same time members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
In 1900 the edifice of the Faculty was inaugurated. The building was designed by Sándor Baumgarten and Zsigmond Herczegh.
Between World War I and World War II, there had been high quality of education related to the following professors: Ferenc Eckhart, László Gajzágó, Zoltán Magyary, Géza Marton, Gyula Moór, Ákos Navratil, Endre Nizsalovszky, and Károly Szladits.
In 1948, several changes were implemented following the principles of Socialism causing damages to the entire structure of the Faculty. These changes included the introduction of the obligatory seminars, the structure of the Faculty, the foundation of student associations etc.
In 1987, Viktor Orbán graduated from the Faculty. During his studies at the Faculty, he also founded the journal Szászadvég.
Miklós Király, Dean of the Faculty, wrote an open letter to Viktor Orbán in connection with the situation of the Central European University.

## Departments

There are 16 departments at the Faculty of Law. Apart from 16 departments, there is one institute and one lectorate.
* Department
* Center for Theory of Law and Society
* Department of Administrative Law
* Department of Agrarian Law
* Department of Civil Law
* Department of Civil Procedure
* Department of Constitutional Law
* Department of Criminal Law
* Department of Criminal Procedures and Correction
* Department of Criminology
* Department of Economics and Statistics
* Department of Fiscal and Financial Law
* Department of International Law
* Department of Labour Law and Social Law
* Department of Private International Law and European Economic Law
* Department of Roman Law and Comparative Legal History
* Department of the History of Hungarian State and Law

## Organisation
### Faculty leadership

| Title | Name |
| Dean | Pál Sonnevend |
| Sub-dean | Réka Somssich |
| Sub-dean | Krisztina Rozsnyai |
| Sub-dean | István Varga |

### Deans

* Attila Harmathy
* Lajos Ficzere
* Miklós Király (1 July 2008 – 1 July 2016)
* Attila Menyhárd (1 July 2016 – 1 July 2019)
* Pál Sonnevend (1 July 2019 –)

## Programs

The university currently offers three Master programs in English: Master in European and international business law, Master in European human rights, and Master in international and European taxation. There are two doctoral schools at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciencies: the Doctoral School of Law and the Doctoral School of Political Science.

## Notable researchers

| Department | Researcher |
| Department of Civil Law | Ferenc Mádl, János Németh, László Sólyom |
| Department of Criminal Law | Kálmán Györgyi, Péter Polt |
| Department of Politics | Tamás Fellegi |

## Notable alumni

In parentheses, the year the degree was obtained.
* János Áder, former President of Hungary
* Peter Bakonyi, Hungarian-born Canadian Olympic foil and épée fencer
* István Balsai, politician
* György Bónis, lawyer
* Gyula Budai, politician
* Gábor Demszky, former Mayor of Budapest
* Tamás Deutsch, politician
* Klára Dobrev, politician
* Alajos Dornbach, lawyer and politician
* Dóra Dúró, politician
* Tibor Farkas, jurist
* András Fekete-Győr, politician
* Tamás Fellegi, politician
* Gábor Fodor, politician
* Árpád Göncz, former President of Hungary
* Csaba Gyüre, politician
* János Halmos, lawyer
* Balázs Horváth, politician
* Csaba Hende, politician and former Minister of Defence
* Francisc Hossu-Longin, Romanian lawyer
* Gergely Karácsony, current Mayor of Budapest
* László Kelemen, attorney and writer
* Imre Kónya, politician
* László Kövér, politician
* László Krasznahorkai, novelist
* Kálmán Kulcsár, politician and jurist and former Minister of Justice
* László György Lukács, lawyer and politician
* György Magyar, lawyer, politician, and professor
* Simeon Mangiuca, Romanian folklorist
* László Majtényi, jurist and university professor
* Rodion Markovits, journalist, writer, and lawyer
* Gábor Máthé
* Ferenc Mádl, former President of Hungary
* Krisztina Morvai, politician
* Tibor Navracsics, politician
* János Németh, jurist
* Lajos Oláh, politician
* Balázs Orbán, politician (PhD, 2024)
* Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary
* Csaba Őry, politician
* Sándor Pintér, politician
* Péter Róna, economist and lawyer
* Endre Ságvári, lawyer and activist
* András Schiffer, lawyer and politician
* István Simicskó, politician
* László Sólyom, politician and former President of Hungary
* István Stumpf, politician (1982)
* János Szabó, politician and Minister of Defence between 1998 and 2002
* József Szájer, politician
* Kristóf Szatmáry, politician
* Dezső Szilágyi, politician
* András Tasnádi Nagy, politician
* József Torgyán, politician
* László Trócsányi, lawyer
* Béla Turi-Kovács, politician
* Ferenc A. Váli, lawyer
* Miklós Vámos, writer
* Pál Völner, jurist and politician
* Sándor Wekerle, politician

## Honorary doctorates

* Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland

## Library

The Library of the Faculty of Law is located in Egyetem tér.

## Gallery

* Bird view
* The façade
* At night