Érvek és ellenérvek a polgári házasságról, külföldi minták hatása a magyar törvényhozásra

Although in fact it is not an ecclesiastical act, the examination of our Act XXXI of 1894 on matrimonial law (1894. évi XXXI. tc., Házassági törvény), which introduced the civil marriage, cannot be omitted, because it meant the beginning of the State’s appearance in matrimonial matters and it has influenced to a certain extent the matrimonial proceedings before ecclesiastical courts. Consequently I have presented the long process and the „fights” in connection with the creation of this Act. A special attention should be given to the matrimonial legislation of the State, because Hungarian ecclesiastical courts have applied (in addition to universal provisions of the canon law) the norms of the State matrimonial law in their procedures, more exactly, they have cited the provisions of the substantive law in the reasons for their judgements. I have posed another question: Has the foreign law influenced the Hungarian legislation? After the examination of the most significant (mainly German) foreign acts relating to the introduction of the civil marriage and after the analysis of the documents of the Hungarian National Assembly (the Diet of Hungary), it could be affirmed that our legislators, the creators of our Marriage Act of 1894 have taken into consideration the foreign methods, the foreign legal institutions and the practical experience following the introduction. During the legislation, the main aspect has been the application and the improvement of wellknown and well-functioning national legal institutions, but the legislators have also made efforts to incorporate the successful foreign examples