The Validity of Cartel Agreements in Hungarian Cartel Law in the Period between the Two World Wars with a European Perspective

The regulation of Hungarian cartel law is the legislative product of the period between the two world wars: the appearance of state intervention in law became very significant at this time, as a result of which the Cartels Act in 1931 had a strong public law nature. Cartel agreements were also subject to the general rules of Hungarian private law. My paper intends to focus on the validity of cartel agreements and to substantiate my findings with archival sources on the practice in Hungary in the interwar period. It shows that the first Hungarian cartel law contained rules that were introduced for the purpose of cartel supervision, but which also affected private cartel law. This paper will provide new insights not only into the history of Hungarian private cartel law, but also into the history of the European codification of cartel law before the Hungarian act came into effect.