On 28 April 2023, a new law was adopted on additional restrictions on devices for the consumption of nicotine-containing products (the “Law” and “Devices”, respectively). The Law introduces special new aspects on the retail, advertising and manufacturing of Devices as well as further restrictions on turnover of nicotine-containing products ...
On May 7th, 2023, it was held the election of the members of the Constitutional Council, the body in charge of preparing the Proposal for a New Constitution based on a preliminary draft that is currently being prepared by the Expert Commission. According to the election results, the Constitutional Council will be composed of 51 members, politically distributed as follows: 23 elected members representing the Partido Republicano (right-wing political party) ...
The EU regulator has harmonized the maximum levels for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in hemp seeds throughout the Union within the food contaminants framework. This EU harmonization puts pressure on conservative national food laws such as the Belgian Royal Decree of 31 August 2021, which treats hemp seeds as a prohibited food.The situation in Belgium, however, is changing to better align it with EU law ...
The SEC Division of Examinations (“Examinations”) issued a Risk Alert on April 26, 2023 to highlight the importance of establishing written policies and procedures for safeguarding customer records and information at branch offices. Examinations provides that a branch office includes any location other than a firm’s main office, including offices of any independent contractors through which a firm may offer investment products and services ...
The Pensions Regulator's General Code could be published any day now, but what is it, and why has it been so delayed? Back in March Charles Counsell, then CEO of the Pensions Regulator (TPR) confirmed in an interview with Pensions Age Magazine that the long anticipated consolidated code of practice would be published in the spring, under the new title of the “General Code” ...
Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill – House Bill 89 – that would bar medical, nursing, and other medical-professional students from performing pelvic, prostate, or rectal exams on anesthetized or otherwise unconscious patients without prior approval.[1] Intimate exams are used in clinical rotations as an opportunity for training, but opposition to the practice involving unconscious and uninformed patients has grown in recent years ...
Following the passage of House Bill 122 last year, the State Medical Board of Ohio (“Ohio Board”) has released final administrative rules governing the provision of telehealth services by Ohio physicians and certain other provider types.[i] The final rules, which became effective February 28, 2023, continue the recent trend of regulators, such as the Drug Enforcement Agency,[ii] largely reverting back to pre-pandemic telehealth restrictions ...
Prejudgment interest may not come to mind when drafting a settlement agreement. But it can become a crucial issue if one settling party later sues another for misrepresentation related to the agreement and the parties disagree over which state’s prejudgment interest rules apply. States vary widely in the amount of prejudgment interest available. In some cases—as in Conway v. Planet Fitness Holdings, LLC, 101 Mass. App. Ct ...
On March 11, 2023, the West Virginia State Legislature enacted the Student Journalist Press Freedom Protection Act (the “Act”), Senate Bill 121. The Act requires “public high schools, colleges, and universities [to] allow for the free expression of student journalists in school sponsored media ...
Rodney Keister was challenging the University of Alabama’s grounds use policy, which requires individuals to obtain a permit before speaking publicly on campus. In his arguments, Keister asserted that the space he was using to preach and distribute religious literature is a “traditional public forum” protected by the First Amendment ...
We are pleased to announce that Emi Rowse (Igusa), partner and head of Japan Practice at Kudun and Partners, has been officially enlisted in the Thailand Arbitration Center (THAC) Panel of Arbitrators! THAC has granted Emi the THAC Empanelment Certificate, recognizing her extensive experience and expertise in the field of arbitration. At Kudun and Partners, we are committed to providing our clients with the highest quality legal services, including effective and efficient dispute resolution ...
Private companies doing business with the federal government won a major COVID-19-related victory recently when the Sixth Circuit held in Ciraci v. J.M. Smucker’s Co.[1] that government contractors are not subject to constitutional limitations merely because they follow federal requirements for contracting. The Sixth Circuit—covering Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee—rejected a claim by former employees of the J.M ...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has announced that several notifications of enforcement discretion issued during the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”) will expire concurrently with the expiration of the PHE on May 11, 2023 at 11:59 PM ...
Introduction An EU Regulation on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation (“Deforestation Regulation”) was agreed upon by the EU legislators in December 2022. The European Parliament has now green-lighted the Provisional Agreement at this month’s plenary session ...
On 21 November 2022, the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (“MISTI”) issued Prakas 252 on the Implementation of General Principles of Food Hygiene in Factories, Enterprises and Handicrafts (“Prakas 252”) to establish standard requirements for food factories, enterprises and handicrafts in Cambodia ...
Ohio legislators are once again attempting to transform the state’s medical marijuana control program after a similar effort stalled out last year. Proponents of the proposed legislation, Senate Bill 9, seek to expand medical marijuana access to Ohioans and revamp the structure of the current program. The proposal would establish the Division of Marijuana Control (“DMC”) under the Department of Commerce ...
With the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) set to end on May 11, 2023, federal agencies have published FAQs explaining how the end of the PHE will affect previously extended deadlines relating to COBRA, HIPAA special enrollment, and claims and appeals under group health plans. This article provides (i) a recap of the deadlines, (ii) rules of thumb for determining the deadlines, and (iii) tables more specifically addressing some of the most common deadlines that arise ...
The month of March 2023 has brought with it a new legislative Act to amend the Financial Markets Act (Chapter 345 of the Laws of Malta) and to provide for other matters ancillary or consequential thereto in the form of Act No. IX of 2023. This Act was passed by the House of Representatives on the 8th of March and assented to by the President on the 14th of March ...
Part of the fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the condition labelled ‘long-covid’. This is still a relatively new condition that remains under study, but symptoms include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, loss of smell and muscle aches. Some people experience further complications and suffer memory problems known as ‘brain fog,’ difficulty sleeping, dizziness, depression and anxiety ...
What is the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill? Many UK consumer laws originate from European law. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the government wanted to provide legal continuity and certainty and to allow consumers to retain the benefit of such EU derived laws. This was achieved through Retained EU law, a form of domestic law, that was created to preserve the law of the UK following Brexit ...
