The right of preemption and arable land - new rules, new methods?

Abstract

In Hungary like in the case of most of the European Union member states we can see particular rules
regarding ownership of land. Corresponding to the special role and strategic importance law is building up a
defence system that would help the protection and preservation of the soil. Fast land legislation followed the
new governments step into power in 2010 along a new land policy: the Act LXXXVII of 2010 on the
National Land Fund (NLF) was born which brought with it the “rethinking of land-related legislation”. The
new rules, most importantly the changes in the institution of the right of preemption do not justify the highsounding
rhetoric of “the land belongs to the person working on it”. We can say that: the new regulation has
not fulfilled it goal, it even brought more uncertainty for the players of the land market. So the law is still not
able to handle the decade practise of pocket contracts, neither did it help to decide – despite the legislative
goals – whether the government is backing family farmers or large plants. In this current study I want to
show one of these restrictions regarding the new rules brought in 2010 on pre-emption right on agricultural
land in the lights of the land policy goals of the new government primarily examining its constitutionality.