The international public health emergency due to the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to the urgent and succession introduction of a range of legislative measures. These measures are an exceptional and temporary response to the pandemic in Portugal and they include the declaration of a state of emergency across the whole country that has already been extended twice ...
The Bay Area counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara, and the City of Berkeley have jointly issued new Shelter-in-Place orders superseding their existing March 31, 2020 Shelter-in-Place orders ...
Key Points: EPA is marching forward with its plans to prevent sham COVID-19 cleaners and disinfectants from entering the marketplace. Manufacturers should continue to adhere to EPA's policy regarding products that make disinfectant efficacy claims. EPA warns consumers against injecting disinfectants into their bodies. On April 23, 2020, the U.S ...
Key Points A recent order from the Santa Clara County Superior Court suggests that California courts intend to uphold and implement SB 35's goals of fast-tracking housing developments that meet established, objective criteria. California courts will closely scrutinize the objective planning standards cities and local governments utilize in determining whether a project is compliant with local land use criteria and building codes ...
Key Points A federal district judge has invalidated the Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit 12 for failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act, in response to a case filed against the notorious Keystone XL pipeline. As a result of the decision, the Army Corps has halted new and pending approvals under the permit, which is required for construction projects that will discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States ...
It might seem that in the time of the "coronavirus", everything revolves around veils, disinfection or restriction of operation of various production facilities, and energy is talked about only in connection with the need to keep the elements of critical energy infrastructure running ...
As Nigeria joins the rest of the world in grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic (“the pandemic”), the Federal Government has declared a curfew in the Federal Capital Territory and two other major States as well as restricting interstate travel. Prior to this, several organizations had commenced remote working as precautionary measures against the spread of the virus ...
Businesses preparing to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic and the essential businesses that have remained open through the pandemic should make a good faith effort to implement health and safety measures recommended by the federal, state, and local authorities to protect themselves from potential premises liability claims from third-parties such as customers and other non-employees entering the premises ...
The U.S. Supreme Court creates a test for when discharges to groundwater trigger NPDES permitting requirement, but its failure to include a bright line will make it difficult to predict whether a particular situation meets that test ...
In light of the social distancing orders put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.7 on March 19, 2020 which authorized notary publics to notarize documents remotely. The initial order was in effect through April 18, 2020; however, Executive Order 202 ...
On April 27, 2020, a group of petitioners asked the Supreme Court of the United States to stay the enforcement of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s March 19, 2020, executive order that closed many of the Commonwealth’s businesses. The case Friends of Danny DeVito et al. v. Wolf et al., No. 19A1032, reaches the Supreme Court from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, where the petitioners’ King’s Bench petition was denied on April 13, 2020 ...
Summary On 29 January 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave its ruling in the long-awaited case C-371/18 Sky v SkyKick. The judgment provides for two key findings. First, it confirms that a trademark cannot be declared invalid on the grounds that the terms used to designate the goods/services lack clarity and precision ...
Introduction In light of cessation of routine judicial activities in recent times on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision of the High Court at New Delhi on April 20, 2020 in Halliburton Offshore Services Limited vs. Vedanta Limited and Another comes as a welcome breather in an area otherwise seemingly parched for development of case law ...
Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of businesses are seeking some form of rent relief from their landlords. When negotiating a rent relief agreement, there is a balance to be struck between providing meaningful relief to a tenant so that its business has a better chance of long term survival, while still allowing the landlord to meet its ongoing obligations, which may include mortgage payments on the property, and other costs which it may not be able to defer ...
Introduction In light of cessation of routine judicial activities in recent times on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the decision of the High Court at New Delhi on April 20, 2020 in Halliburton Offshore Services Limited vs. Vedanta Limited and Anothercomes asa welcome breather in an area otherwise seemingly parched for development of case law ...
The government has started the announce the dismantling of certain Covid19 measures and from Monday, April 27, 2020, itnow allows business trips for foreigners to the Czech Republic, in respect of which entrepreneurs have been repeatedly demanding. However, it set a number of conditions and rules ...
Superior Council of the Judicial Branch extended suspension of procedural terms and deadlines until May 10th, with initial exceptions and some others. Agreement PCSJA20-11546 April 25, 2020 The Superior Council of the Judicial Branch extended the suspension of procedural deadlines until May the 10th, with certain exceptions: Constitutional (tutela) and Habeas Corpus actions*. The ones related to fundamental rights of life, health and personal freedom, are prioritized ...
Key Points: An executive order from the governor's office modifies California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") noticing procedures, requiring local agencies to take extra steps to notify the public that environmental review processes are underway or have concluded for development projects. Extra steps include posting notices on agency websites and active outreach to interested parties ...
Key Points A discharge of pollutants to groundwater may require a permit under the Clean Water Act. The new “functional equivalent of a direct discharge” test will be difficult to apply. It will be a long and arduous process to reach uniformity as agencies, courts, and the regulated community try to figure out how to proceed on a case-by-case basis. On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court published its much-awaited opinion in County of Maui v ...
The Ministry of Finance proposes the abolition of a 4 percent real estate acquisition tax. The proposal will be discussed on Friday 17 April by the Coalition Council of the Government and the National Economic Council of the Government (NECG) ...
A draft bill [1] passed preventing lessors of real estate, including flats and non-residential properties, to unilaterally terminate lease due to delay of lessees with payment of rent, including payments for performance usually associated with the lease, which are due during the period between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2020 ...
In promoting a collaborative partnership in the delivery of public works projects, the Hong Kong Government has adopted the “New Engineering Contract” (NEC), which aims at improving construction efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds. Since its first publication in the UK in 1993, the NEC contract has become increasingly popular in the UK, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong and New Zealand ...
On 1 October 2019, Hong Kong and the PRC brought into force the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Arrangement). The Arrangement empowers the courts of both jurisdictions to award interim measures in support of arbitration seated in the other territory ...
In X v Jemmy Chien, HCCT 31/2019 the Plaintiff applied to set aside an arbitration award on the ground that there was no valid arbitration agreement between the Plaintiff and Defendant. The Plaintiff’s case was that the Defendant was not the true party to the Service Agreement containing the arbitration agreement, as he had signed it as agent for another (Chen) who was the principal and true party to the Service Agreement ...
West Kowloon Cultural District Authority v AIG Insurance Hong Kong Limited [2020] HKCFI 569, concerned a bond obtained by the contractor, Hsin Chong Construction Company Limited (Hsin Chong), from the Defendant, AIG Insurance Hong Kong Ltd (AIG), in favour of the Plaintiff, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (West Kowloon), as required under a construction contract ...
