On 1 July 2008 a new Marketing Practices Act entered into force. The new act implements Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and implies some new aspects for Swedish companies to take into consideration. These include a new way of qualifying commercial practices and the fact that marketing statements can, in the final instance, be subject to assessment by the European Court of Justice ...
The US judge who presided over the nation's only successful copyright infringement case for file-sharing by an individual, has declared it a mistrial. He said he had committed a "manifest error" in his instructions to the jury and the award of damages of $222,000 was "unprecedented and oppressive" ...
The Civil Justice Reforms will come into effect on 2 April 2009. The new court rules aim to improve cost-effectiveness and reduce complexity and delays in court proceedings. The purpose of this bulletin is to briefly highlight some of the majorchanges to the High Court and District Court Rules, which will come into effect on 2 April 2009. Subsequent bulletins will deal with these topics in more detail.1 ...
The Chinese insurance market has grown considerably after China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. For example, China’s annual premium income has increased from 210.9 billion yuan in 2001 to 703.6 billion yuan in 2007 and for the first half of 2008 insurers in China have collected premium income of 561.79 billion yuan which exhibits continuing growth ...
Decision-making in the planning process continues to be a complex issue. The process has been regularly challenged in the Scottish Courts through statutory appeals and judicial review, and for many years in Scotland there was a very low success rate for parties bringing such proceedings. Courts implied that they did not want to be used as a further appeal mechanism ...
Commercial disputes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are generally resolved through litigation in the courts or arbitration. Arbitration is becoming an increasingly popular way to resolve disputes. The UAE recently signed the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (New York Convention). General overview and court structure The UAE is a federation of seven Emirates established in 1971 ...
1. This paper will address of a number of issues with respect to the pollution exclusion clauses commonly contained in Commercial General Liability (“CGL”) insurance policies. In particular, this paper considers how Canadian courts have interpreted and applied the standard wording of pollution exclusion clauses, and whether the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in Zurich Insurance Co. v. 686234 Ontario Ltd ...
The controversial Indian Premier League (IPL) is now underway, with English cricket stars conspicuous by their absence. They have been banned from both the IPL and its rival tournament, the Indian Cricket League (ICL), by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Players competing in the ICL will receive a 12 month ECB ban, from all forms of English Country cricket ...
In two separate opinions, five to two majority of the New York Court of Appeals ruled that an insured can assert a claim form consequential damages for an insurer’s alleged bad faith breach of a first-party insurance contract. Bi-Economy Market, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company of New York, No. 14 (N.Y. February 19, 2008); Panasia Estates, Inc. v. Hudson Insurance Company, No. 15 (N.Y. February 19, 2008) ...
For the first time, the Court of Appeal has rendered a decision on a class action instituted under the Competition Act. A unanimous decision in favour of our client, Toyota Canada Inc. and 37 of its dealers in the Montreal region, was handed down on February 26, 2008 ...
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Finds that Student Who Was Abused Multiple Times by Fellow Students Was Entitled to Multiple Per-Claim Limits Because Each Assault Was a Separate “Claim”.In Essex Insurance Co. v. Doe, No. 06-7163, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 94 (D.C. Cir. Jan ...
An Illinois intermediate appellate court found that the insured’s failure to comply with the notice conditions in contract for general liability insurance barred coverage. Board of Education of Township High School District No. 211, Cook County, Illinois v. TIG Insurance Company, No. 1-05-1732 (Ill. App. 3d Div. December 26, 2007). The Board of Education of Township High School District No ...
On September 27, 2007, Mr. Justice Jean-Guy Dubois of the Superior Court rendered a judgment interpreting the definition of the word “insured” in an insurance policy, more particularly as regards the exclusion of damages caused to a [Translation] “person living under the same roof ”.(1)The facts: The parents of plaintiff Hugo Bérard divorced in 2000. Nathalie Gravel, his mother, who was also a plaintiff, had custody ...
A Georgia intermediate appellate court has affirmed summary judgment in favor of an insurer, holding that there can be no “advertising injury” coverage under a commercial general liability insurance contract where an underlying lawsuit concerning division of profits from a joint copyright work fails to allege a misappropriation of advertising ideas. James C. Shafe, et al. v. American States Insurance Co., No. A07A0879, 2007 Ga. App. LEXIS 1193 (Ga. App ...
The rule that a party receiving documents in litigation holds them subject to an implied undertaking to use them only in the proceedings in which they were produced has been a fixture of practice in British Columbia since 1995. However, while the rule is easy to state, it often proves more difficult to apply in practice and carries with it the potential for very serious sanctions for breach ...
On November 21, 2007, the Supreme Court of British Columbia released the decision of Mr. Justice Vickers in Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia(1). The decision dealt with a claim brought by Chief Roger William of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, on behalf of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation and the Tsilhqot’in Nation ...
Austria has approximately 140 insurance companies (including 52 Austrian insurance companies, 59 Austrian small mutual associations, and 25 branches of EU/EEA-insurers). The Austrian Financial Market Authority (Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde – "FMA"), which supervises the sector, provides a list of insurance undertakings containing all insurance companies authorized to conduct insurance business in Austria plus all insurance classes that the respective companies hold a licence for ...
On August 16, 2007, the Court of Appeal issued a judgment, written by Mr. Justice Paul-André Gendreau, pertaining to the absence of an initial disclosure of risk to the new insurer in the context of the transfer of an insurance portfolio by a broker.(1) An insurer who accepts the transfer of a policy without ascertaining its current exposure to risk, is deemed to have waived his right to this information ...
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that a primary insurer has no actionable right of contribution or subrogation against a co-primary insurer that declined to settle on terms agreed to by the first primary carrier. Mid-Continent Insurance Company v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, No. 05-0261 (Tex. October 12, 2007) ...
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana held that "actions of civil authority" that do not prohibit access to an insured’s premises do not trigger civil authority coverage under a first-party policy. Kean, Miller, Hawthorne, D’Armond, McCowan & Jarman, LLP v. National Fire Ins. Co. of Hartford, No. 06-770-C, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64208 (M.D.La. Aug ...
In Castillo v. State Farm Florida Insurance Co., No. 3D06-2874 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Oct. 17, 2007), the Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District, reversed a decision granting summary judgment in favor of an insurer, finding issues of fact about whether earth movement, an excluded peril under a homeowners’ insurance policy, played a part in a dwelling’s damage from nearby blasting ...
In its judgment in Bourcier v. La Citadelle(1) rendered on September 4, 2007, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the insured accident victim must inform the insurer no later than one year following the date of the accident, in accordance with Article 2435 C.C.Q. Failure to do so results in forfeiture of the right to the benefit provided for in the accident insurance policy.The factsMs. Bourcier was the victim of a serious motorcycle accident on September 11, 2001 ...
On September 26, 2007, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of appellant Citizens for a Quality of Life(1) (“CQL”) and upheld the judgment of the Superior Court(2) dated December 14, 2004, which had refused to grant its motion for authorization to institute a class action against Aéroports de Montréal (“ADM”) on the basis of the lack of similar or related questions raised by the recourses of the class members ...
