More countries, that have, until recently, been considered the pandemic’s epicenter, are easing COVID restrictions. Serbia takes the same direction and cancels majority of COVID-19 related restrictive measures.

Over the recent years, digitalisation and digital services have been at the core of many innovative advantages for businesses and end users alike. These benefits range from online intermediation services to software application stores. This variety offers better and more efficient choices for users while increasing competition within the digital markets industry.

A good idea is the cornerstone of a successful start-up. In practical terms, however, it is often not enough. Here is an overview of legal mistakes founders of start-ups often make but that can be easily avoided on the way to the next step towards success.

Several amendments to the by-laws passed to the Law on Electronic Invoicing (“the Law”) are published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia no. 46 dated 8 April 2022, i.e.:

This year, the Croatian Companies Act (Act) was amended again (amendments enter into force on 1 June 2020 and on 1 August 2023).

On 14 April 2022, the Civil Cassation Court of the Supreme Court issued its judgement in case No. 308/9708/19 (“Judgement”). The Judgement establishes that national courts have jurisdiction over claims for compensation of damage caused to individuals by military actions of the Russian Federation.

Screening of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been present in Hungarian law since 2019 in relation to certain specific investment-related activities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, additional FDI screening legislation was introduced in May 2020. The 2020 regime has had an impact on a significantly wider range of business transactions and, therefore, this summary focuses solely on the 2020 regime (FDI Rules). Given that a real estate asset deal may also fall within the scope of the FDI Rules, assessing the potential application of the FDI Rules has become an important item on the real estate due diligence to-do list. Below you will find a summary of the applicable regime based on our experience to this date.

Relatively recently, the legislative process has once more turned its attention to the former Draft Law amending Law no. 186/2013 on the establishment and operation of industrial parks (DL-x no. 250/2014) adopted by the Senate on 28 April 2014 and by the Chamber of Deputies, as decisional chamber, on 4 May 2022 ("Amending Law"). The Amending Law will enter into force after promulgation by the Romanian President, who, nevertheless, has the prerogative of sending it back to the Parliament for re-examination.

On 28 April 2022, Resolution of the Government of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Resolutions of the Government of Ukraine on Notaries’ Activity and Functioning of Unified and State Registers Held by the Ministry of Justice, during Martial Law” No. 480-2022-p, dated 19 April 2022 (“Resolution”), entered into force, amending several previously adopted resolutions (as described in the Legal Alert, dated 29 March 2022).

The Russian aggression in Ukraine has many people enquiring about the possibility of holding the Russian Federation accountable for the acts it has committed in the territory of Poland’s eastern neighbour. Yet, at this stage, what should be considered is not only the actual accountability, but also the ontological fact of the existence of liability, which is an inherent condition for the existence of law.

To ensure the implementation and realisation of infrastructure projects, including those financed under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), the Romanian Government adopted the Emergency Ordinance No. 26/2022 on amending and supplementing certain regulatory acts in the field of public investment (GEO 26/2022). GEO 26/2022 entered into force upon its publication with the Official Gazette of Romania on 21 March 2022.

The past months have brought some important decisions from European data protection authorities (“DPA”) with respect to the use of cookies and the transfer of personal data outside the EEA, especially to the USA. This article aims to highlight the context and content of the decisions in question. 

The Law on the Amendment to the Consumer Protection and Property Ownership Law numbered 7392 [“Amendment Law”] was published in the Official Gazette on April 1, 2022. Most changes will enter into force six months later, i.e., as of September 1, 2022. In this article, we will explain the significant amendments introduced to the Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 ["CPL"] as per the Amendment Law [available in Turkish only].

A sound investment requires an understanding of all the risks involved in the transaction. The main objective of real estate financial due diligence is to thoroughly inspect the fundamentals of the property, financing, seller and compliance obligations to be able to reduce and mitigate financial uncertainties.

Ukrainian Parliament currently considers bill No 7232 that increases tax rates for Ukrainian businesses related to Russia (the “Measure”). The aim of the bill is to discourage corporations from Russian business activities. If successful, it should decrease Russian fiscal revenue, which will leave Russia with less funds available for warfare. There is, obviously, a huge social request and support for such measures. However, actual effect of the bill is far not that definitive.

On March 4, 2022 the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) published the Communiqué No. 2022/2 on the Amendment of Communiqué No. 2010/4 on the Mergers and Acquisitions Subject to the Approval of the Competition Board (the “Amendment Communiqué”). The Amendment Communiqué introduced certain new rules concerning the Turkish merger control regime, which fundamentally affect merger control notifications submitted to the Authority.

Recent changes in the work of Ukrainian intellectual property institute (Ukrpatent), which performs the functions of the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO).

Amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance (“the Law”) from 2019, notably Article 11 thereof, have eradicated the practical issues that used to exist in relation to the mandatory social insurance of persons working for foreign employers in Serbia.