1. Consensual and Real Contracts in Hungarian Civil Law – The Basic Framework
Hungarian private law traditionally classifies contracts into two major groups according to the manner in which they are formed:
Consensual contracts
- They are concluded through the mutual and concordant declarations of will of the parties.
- The contract comes into existence upon agreement; performance is temporally separate from formation.
- The majority of contracts regulated by the Civil Code fall into this category (sale, contract for work, mandate, etc.).
Real contracts
- The mere agreement of the parties is not sufficient.
- The contract is formed only upon delivery of the object or commencement of performance.
- Classical examples include deposit, loan, and loan for use.
This distinction primarily focuses on the moment at which the contract is formed.
2. Where Does the “Unilateral Contract” Fit into This System?
The concept of the unilateral contract known from German law is not distinguished along the axis of consensual versus real contracts, but rather according to a different criterion:
👉 not the manner of formation,
👉 but the structure of obligations.
It must therefore be clarified that:
The “unilateral contract” does not constitute a third category alongside consensual and real contracts.
Within the system of the Hungarian Civil Code, these constructions may display functional proximity to real contracts, yet they must be assessed as dogmatically distinct.
3. An Offer Acceptable by Performance: A Transition between Consensual and Real Contracts
The core of the unilateral contractual constructions discussed lies in situations where:
- the offeror makes a unilateral declaration of intent,
- acceptance takes place not by declaration, but by actual performance.
Under Hungarian law, this constitutes:
📌 a consensual contract,
📌 in which acceptance occurs through conduct implying consent.
From a dogmatic perspective:
- consensus is not established in advance,
- but is only completed ex post by performance.
Accordingly, it may be concluded that:
these contracts are functionally akin to real contracts,
while being technically consensual in nature.
4. Public Promise: Outside the Classical Concept of Contract
The public promise (reward offer) goes one step further.
In this case:
- at the time of publication, there is no counterparty,
- there is no one who could accept the offer,
- the legal relationship comes into existence only upon actual performance.
According to Hungarian civil law dogmatics, this therefore constitutes:
👉 neither a consensual contract,
👉 nor a classical real contract,
👉 but an autonomous unilateral undertaking.
At the same time, its mode of operation is:
closer to that of real contracts,
since legal effects arise exclusively upon performance.
5. Systematic Overview – Classification of “Unilateral” Constructions
| Criterion | Consensual Contract | Real Contract | “Unilateral” Construction |
| Basis of formation | Agreement | Agreement + delivery | Promise + performance |
| Mode of acceptance | Declaration | Performance-related | Performance |
| Structure of obligations | Reciprocal | Reciprocal | Initially unilateral |
| Time of legal effect | Upon agreement | Upon delivery | Upon performance |
| Qualification under the Civil Code | Contract | Contract | Unilateral undertaking / special form |
6. Dogmatic Conclusion
Formulated with systematic precision:
So-called “unilateral contracts” do not constitute an alternative to the distinction between consensual and real contracts in Hungarian law,
but rather represent either special manifestations of consensual contracts or autonomous unilateral undertakings,
in which acceptance occurs by performance and which therefore exhibit functionally real characteristics.
7. Summary
Within the system of the Hungarian Civil Code, unilateral contracts do not form an independent category of contracts, but encompass those cases of consensual contracts and unilateral undertakings in which legal effects arise exclusively upon actual performance and which are therefore functionally close to real contracts.
An excellent line of reasoning 👍 – it genuinely brings dogmatic clarity to the subject matter. Above, I have integrated the summary of unilateral contracts and unilateral undertakings into the classical distinction between consensual and real contracts, consistently aligned with the dogmatics of the Hungarian Civil Code.
Dr. Katona Géza, LL.M.
Attorney at law
Katona & Partner Attorneys’ Association
H-1106 Budapest, Tündérfürt utca 4.
Tel.: +36 1 225 25 30
Mobile: +36 70 344 0388
Fax: +36 1 700 27 57
g.katona@katonalaw.com