On 28 May 2022, the Belgian law transposing EU Directive 2019/2161 into the Code of Economic Law (CEL) entered into force (the “Omnibus Act”). The Omnibus Act aims to modernise consumer protection given the increasing development of e-commerce. In addition to new transparency obligations for online marketplaces, the Omnibus Act has new general information obligations, and new unfair commercial practices and obligations for price reduction announcements that apply to all retailers ...
A summary of the key takeaways from a recent webinar on reducing scope 3 leased assets emissions. Shoosmiths is delighted to be sponsoring United Nation Global Compact Network (UNGC) UK’s series of webinars on ‘Reducing Scope 3 Emissions’ ...
The London Court of International Arbitration recently published its caseload statistics for 2021, which can be found here. The LCIA is one of the world’s leading international institutions for commercial dispute resolution and administers arbitrations and other alternative dispute resolution proceedings, regardless of location and under any system of law ...
Kudun and Partners recently contributed to the Thailand Chapter of the Digital Business 2022 guide by the International Comparative Legal Guide (ICLG), a leading global platform for legal reference and comprehensive comparative legal guides that cover law in more than 192 jurisdictions across 58 practice areas ...
INTRODUCTION In a previous issue of Decoded, we discussed the alarming fact that many medical devices, including those implanted in patients' bodies, are leaving the manufacturers with known cybersecurity flaws. Due to these known flaws, these devices are vulnerable to being hacked, and patients’ personal/protected health information ("PHI") stolen; or worse, the device being held hostage in a ransomware attack ...
In September 2019 government announced a review of the system for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in England. The current SEND regime introduced in 2014, is considered by many to be unfit for purpose, both in terms of accountability and consistent quality of support and adequate funding to local authorities to make the system work ...
Contents Please click on the links below to jump to the relevant section: What are the key features of a PCC? Who can be a PCC? Incorporation of a PCC Separation of assets Attributing liability and recourse against assets Information obligation Transferring cellular assets to third parties Arrangements between cells affecting cellular assets Conversions Liquidation of a PCC Administration of a PCC Receivership of cells in a PCC Tax Foreign recognition Essentially, a PCC consi
Protected Cell Companies A Guernsey protected cell company (“PCC”) is a single legal entity. It is one company with one board of directors, one memorandum and articles of incorporation and one company registration number. A PCC comprises a core and any number of cells. Assets which are not comprised in a cell are deemed to be comprised in the core. No regulatory or filing processes are required to create a cell of a PCC ...
On 10 May 2022 the UK Government announced, through the Queen’s Speech, that the United Kingdom's data protection regime is to be reformed. What is the bill? The Data Reform Bill (“the Bill”) will reform the UK’s current data protection framework. As a result of Brexit, the UK incorporated the EU data protection regime (the EU GDPR) into domestic law as the “UK GDPR” ...
The coming advent of quantum computing technologies will bring important changes to our society. In the medium term, computing calculation power will be multiplied to a level that exceeds our current understanding. This will allow for various new industrial developments and applications. This will also raise a vast number of sensitive legal issues. In this article, ALTIUS summarises what are the key takeaways that you should know about quantum computing ...
Using evidence given at the UK COVID-19 Inquiry in later criminal or other proceedings The Chair of the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, the Rt Hon Baroness Heather Hallett DBE ...
Recent reports indicate that mental health and well-being have dropped back down the business agenda, despite levels of workplace stress remaining high in the wake of the pandemic. A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that many employers are failing to keep mental health and well-being at the forefront of their business agenda despite the lingering impact of the pandemic ...
Regulation (EC) 2017/746 of 5 April came into force on 26 May 2022 and it establishes the regulatory framework for in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDs). In doing so, it replaces the previous regulations in Directive 98/79/EC of 27 October 1998 ...
Governor Mike DeWine signed Ohio House Bill 81 on June 16, 2021, codifying a significant change regarding eligibility for temporary total disability benefits (TTD) under Ohio Revised Code §4123.56(F). By enacting R.C. §4123.56(F), the legislature intended to leave behind decades of case law concerning the doctrine of voluntary abandonment ...
On May 16, 2022, the Colorado Supreme Court issued an opinion that serves as a cautionary tale for health care providers hoping to bill patients at chargemaster rates. The court’s decision in French v. Centura Health turned on the meaning of the phrase “all charges of the Hospital,” as set forth in the hospital service agreement (HSA) signed by Ms. French. Centura argued that the phrase “unambiguously refers to a hospital’s chargemaster rates.” Ms ...
Bradley attorneys Heather Howell Wright, Elizabeth R. Brusa and Andrew Tuggle authored chapter 12 of A Practical Guide to Cyber Insurance for Businesses. This book is a practical guide for insurance brokers, underwriters, risk managers and businesses as each of these constituencies work with each other to choose the right cyber insurance product for commercial businesses ...
Dear valued clients, colleagues and friends, Amendments have been made to the Patents Act 1983 (“PA1983”) and Patent Regulations 1986 (“PR1986”), via the Patents (Amendment) Act 2022 (“the Amending Act”) and Patents (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (“the Amending Regulations”). Both the Amending Act and the Amending Regulations came into effect on 18 March 2022 ...
INTRODUCTION Since its advent in 2008, cryptocurrency has been widely accepted internationally, as a viable means of investment. This is notwithstanding its volatility, as the world appears to be highly interested in the sale and purchase of digital assets. For example, bitcoin currently has about 14million in circulation.[1]Save for its volatile nature, and the period where its price drops, investors in the cryptocurrency space are often guaranteed of juicy returns ...
Aaron Harlow and Ian Hardman examine the tough new measures that are being taken to force the real estate industry to pay to remove cladding - protecting leaseholders from costs. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has requested that residential property developers fund and undertake all necessary remediation of buildings over 11m that they have had a role in developing. This includes buildings both 11-18m and 18m+ ...
Charles Arrand considers the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, with a focus on both the potential business and human costs of failing to discharge obligations under the Order. Fire safety is regulated by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Order), which applies to almost all buildings, places and structures other than individual private homes ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) has received Tier 1 rankings in “Patents” and “Copyrights/Trademarks” categories in the Philippines on Thomson Reuters’ Asian Legal Business (ALB) IP Rankings for 2022. ALB is a publication that provides insights on legal professionals throughout Asia and identifies and ranks top firms for intellectual property practice in Asia ...