Order 3547-A/2020 of the Office of the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action was published on 22 March 2020 and it went into force at midnight the next day. This Order creates the rules that give effect to the declaration of a state of emergency in Portugal made by Decree of the President of the Republic 14-A/2020 of 18 March ...
Seemingly overnight, flights and hotels emptied, and state and local governments began ordering restaurants, gyms, bars, and other “non-essential” businesses to close or to significantly curtail operations. Unemployment skyrocketed, and businesses began calling out for relief. In response, the government has proposed multiple initiatives to help stabilize businesses hit hard by current events, especially those in the hospitality industry, many of which are also franchises ...
In less than a week, SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that leads to COVID-19, has upended American lives and livelihoods.But while many are taking an unwanted break from business as usual, “essential businesses” are working overtime to rise to the critical call of keeping Americans healthy, safe, and fed while the nation shuts down and the virus spreads. First, each business must determine whether – and to what extent – it is essential ...
Decree-Law 10-A/2020 of 13 March created exceptional public procurement rules on spending authorisations and administrative authorisations. These rules are intended to ensure the immediate availability of the goods and services needed to respond to the current state of emergency. However, under article 7(6)(c) of Law 1-A/2020 of 19 March, it seems that all administrative time limits in favour of private parties are suspended ...
On Saturday 21 March 2020, the Luxembourg Parliament passed a law implementing Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements ...
On March 23, 2020, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-21 (“EO 2020-21”), which orders all Michigan residents to stay at home or in their place of residence unless exempted until April 13, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. To this end, EO 2020-21 also orders that no person or entity may conduct a business or conduct operations that require workers to leave their homes or residences unless that entity qualifies for an exemption ...
Regarding the State of Catastrophe and sanitary alert decreed in Chile in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, on Sunday 22 March 2020, the Chilean Government announced the following 12 measures: Strict quarantine for the extreme-South city of Puerto Williams (except for essential cargo freighting). Strict sanitary customs in the aerial and maritime crossing to the city of Puerto Williams ...
It is important for all companies to remember that a crisis, such as the current economic crisis that has arisen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, cannot be used as an excuse for companies to act as they please. EU and Swedish competition law, both the cartel prohibition and the prohibition on abuse of a dominant position, applies during a crisis as well ...
Pennsylvania began enforcing Governor Tom Wolf’s order closing non-essential businesses at 8:00 a.m. today, March 23, 2020. Enforcement will be conducted by a number of state and local agencies, including the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Department of Health, Department of Agriculture, and State Police ...
This afternoon, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice announced a Stay-At-Home Order that will affect all West Virginians. Once the Order takes effect at 8:00 p.m ...
The IRS has issued the several news releases in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: IRS Notice 2020-18 Tax Day now July 15. Treasury, IRS extend filing deadline and federal tax payments regardless of amount. The Treasury Department and IRS announced the federal income tax filing due date (for individual, trusts, estates, partnerships, corporations, and associations) is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020 ...
In further response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia entered an order late Sunday night that declares a statewide judicial emergency applying to all lower courts in all 55 counties. As a result of the declaration, all non-emergency proceedings, including jury trials, are stayed through April 10, 2020. All deadlines and statutes of limitation that were set to expire between March 23 and April 10 are similarly tolled until April 11, 2020 ...
The COVID-19 pandemic brings to light penal and fine regulations that have hitherto led a shadowy existence. In particular, quarantine requirements and curfews and the punishability of violations thereof are currently under discussion. Companies and executives must also familiarize themselves with the provisions and official orders to avoid sanctions. Violations of curfews and requirements by authorities as well as quarantine violations are punishable by fines or even imprisonment ...
Criminal justice and public prosecution offices are also impacted by the protective measures taken nationwide to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fact that Germany is “powering down the systems” to deal with the pandemic has implications not only for criminal proceedings that are already underway but also for future ones ...
On Wednesday 18 March 2020, the Norwegian Government put forward a bill which will give the Government vast authorization to fight Covid-19 and its consequences for the society. Today, 21 March 2020, a more narrow Corona act was adopted by the Norwegian Parliament. Read more about the initial proposal. After the initial critical voices, the Parliament chose to initiate a speedily hearing, where it invited i.a ...
Yesterday, Wednesday 18 March 2020, the Norwegian Government put forward a bill which will give the Government vast authorization to fight Covid-19 and its consequences for the society. It is called the corona act. The aim is to facilitate "sound and effective measures necessary to limit the disruption of normal social functions" of the Covid-19 outbreak (article 1) ...
Many companies are now in crisis due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The European Commission and EFTA Surveillance Authority, therefore, ease state aid rules. In practice, large parts of the state aid rules and guidelines are now virtually "suspended ...
On 15 March 2020, the Norwegian government presented their proposal for new loan and guarantee schemes in the total amount of NOK 100 billion, to strengthen Norwegian companies' liquidity during the Covid-19 outbreak. The proposal includes: A NOK 50 billion funding which will be applied to issue guarantees in favour of banks as security for new loans granted to small and medium sized companies ...
The authorities have been quick to publish public procurement law guidance for the Covid-19 crisis. In this article we argue that Norwegian authorities could have provided even more clear guidance on what is to be considered at the crossroad between public procurement law and the protection of life and health. The exceptional Covid-19 crisis has given contracting authorities new and unforeseen challenges ...
On March 17, 2020, Governor Newson issued Executive Order N-29-20 ("Executive Order") in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This order supersedes Executive Order N-25-20, which was issued on March 12, and expressly waives all requirements in the Brown Act and Bagley-Keene Act that require a physical presence of Board members, staff or the public as a condition of holding and participating in a local agency governing body or state commission public meeting ...
Updated: April 4, 2020 On March 19, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom and the Director of the California Department of Public Health ordered all Californians to stay home “except as needed to maintain continuity of operations of the federal critical infrastructure sectors ...
On March 17, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order suspending some of the notice requirements under the California WARN Act ("Cal-WARN"), the state counterpart to the Federal WARN Act. The order came in response to the sudden onslaught of workplace closings across California due to COVID-19. Under the Cal-WARN, employers with 75 or more employees must give 60-days' written notice to employees and unions before layoffs occur ...
UPDATE - On March 20 in the evening, Governor Wolf issued a revised list classifying businesses as life-sustaining and non-life-sustaining. The press release, list and frequently asked questions can be found here. In addition, Governor Wolf has extended the timeframe for enforcement of the order. The Pennsylvania General Assembly recently completed the Appropriations hearings related to the FY 2020-2021 budget. The plans to resume the legislative session were altered due to COVID-19 ...
Recently, both INAPI and TDPI implemented temporary measures in terms of deadlines, procedures and legal requirements for the submission of original documents, with the aim to facilitate to applicants and users of the system to comply with legal obligations, taking into account both the difficulties in meeting these obligations and the purpose of safeguarding people's health ...
