Recent Articles

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  07/05/2024

  International

  Energy and climate change: The most significant climate change litigation decision yet?

  In Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland (application no. 53600/20), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued arguably the most impactful and far-reaching ruling on climate change by any European court. The decision has the potential to impact individuals, businesses, and governments in a radical way by casting the law (and courts) rather than governments (and parliaments) as the ultimate body responsible for deciding whether public authority action and inaction are appropriate in the context of climate change. Furthermore, if NGOs determine that a public authority...

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  07/05/2024

  United Kingdom

  JCT 2024: a closer look

  The official launch of the JCT’s 2024 suite was held last week, focusing on the recently published Design and Build Contract, Sub-Contract and Guide. Updated contracts for the remainder of the suite are to follow over the course of this year. In this Law-Now, we take a detailed look at the new Design and Build Contract and the legal and market developments behind the changes made. We also explore the areas in which these developments have not been addressed.Modernisation, collaboration and sustainability  The JCT DB 2024 has given a firm nod to the Construction Playbook and calls for...

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  07/05/2024

  Luxembourg

  CSSF publishes Q&A on the new requirements for credit institutions on Lombard credit

  On 29 March 2024, the CSSF released a question and answer regarding the provisions of Circular CSSF 22/824 (the “CSSF Q&A”) for the application of the Guidelines of the European Banking Authority on Loan Origination and Monitoring (the “EBA Guidelines”). Under the CSSF Q&A, Lombard loans mean loans collateralised by securities pledged for the benefit of the lending institution, which may enforce the pledge and sell the collateral in the case of a breach of the terms of the loan agreement by the borrower. The pledged securities must be sufficiently diversified...

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  07/05/2024

  Germany

  Obligation to include a "No Russia clause" in supply agreements

  For some export transactions, re-exportation to Russia must be contractually prohibited. Model clauses present conflicts with German law on general terms and conditions.Companies must keep abreast of the sanctions against Russia, especially when it comes to export transactions, and as far as possible prevent any attempts by their customers to circumvent these sanctions. Companies have been aware of this for a long time. What is new, however, is that since 20 March 2024, companies are legally required to explicitly prohibit re-exportation to Russia or re-exportation for use in Russia in...

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  06/05/2024

  Hungary

  Hungary passes legislation to expand scope of consumer protection provisions

  The following article summarises the main obligations contained in these legislative updates.Amendment of statutory warranty periods in case of certain non-perishable consumer goodsGovernment Decree No. 151/2003. (IX. 22.) on the Statutory Warranty for Certain Non-Perishable Consumer Goods currently prescribes one-, two- and three-year warranty periods, depending on the sales price of the specific goods. By passing Government Decree No. 93/2024. (IV. 23.) on the Amendment of Government Decrees Related to Consumer Protection, the government made the following changes to statutory warranty periods:Two-year...

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  03/05/2024

  South Africa

  Access to the beneficial ownership register

  IntroductionFollowing the coming into effect of the General Laws of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorism Financing Amendment Act, 22 of 2022 ("GLA 2022"), companies and close corporations have had to familiarise themselves with the requirements of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission ("CIPC") requiring them to keep beneficial ownership information and, in certain circumstances, to file such information with the CIPC.The keeping of beneficial ownership information was initially meant to serve as a repository of natural persons who own or exercise control over legal entities...

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