On April 29, 2005, the Court of Appeal rendered a judgment in Pharmascience Inc. v. Option Consommateurs et Piro1 on the constitutionality of the amendments made to the Code of Civil Procedure on January 1, 2003 regarding authorizations to institute class actions. Contrary to the arguments of the appealing pharmaceutical companies, the Court of Appeal held that the amendments are constitutional and do not violate the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in any way ...
In Canada, as elsewhere in the world, intellectual property owners have made numerous attempts to control their distribution channels through trademark law, copyright law, or exclusive contracts, without much success. However, in a recent decision ( Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. v. Simms Sigal & Co. Ltd ...
The Jersey Retail Price Index (“JRPI”), the main measure of inflation, was 7.9% higher in June 2022 than it was 12 months before - the highest rate of increase seen since 1992. 1 The next JRPI is due to be released in October 2022 and further significant increases are expected. Such a hefty rise in inflation is concerning – it is inevitable that people will suffer from a worrying financial squeeze ...
“Electrification” has become a ubiquitous term these days, although depending on who you ask, it might have different meanings. However defined, a critical component of electrification as a policy choice to reduce reliance on fossil fuels is the need to fully evaluate both its practicality and the transparency of its cost impacts, particularly as that relates to lower income and middle class families, as well as small business ...
A just-passed piece of legislation crafted to bolster countercrime defenses and crack open beneficial ownership bastions, a historical haven for criminals of all stripes, has lesser-known tethers for certain segments of the investment sector – a critical pitfall that should not be lost on compliance teams. In May 2020, a leaked investigation bulletin prepared by the U.S ...
Bolivia has just culminated the step that will have the greatest impact in the process of creating a new constitution for Bolivia. On Sunday July 2, Bolivia elected the constituents to the assembly that will be in charge with providing structure and substance to the new constitutional norm ...
The federal agency now well-known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The CFPB is a uniquely independent agency, shielded from the executive branch in a way that other agencies are not. Doing away with that independence has the potential to significantly alter the CFPB and its regulatory work ...
As was recently announced, the European Commission has yesterday (22 January 2014) published its proposal for the regulation of unconventional fossil fuels and notably shale gas. Whereas both legislative and non-legislative options were on the table, the European Commission has chosen to adopt a non-legally binding “Recommendation” rather than a Directive ...
The European Commission's January report on the energy sector competition made uncomfortable reading for the European Union's Council of Energy Ministers, who were presented with it in February and considered its proposals at the EU summit in March.The clear message from the Commission is gas and electricity is too expensive ...
In a previous article we emphasised the importance of ensuring compliance with the competition rules even during an economic crisis – there are inter alia strict rules on cooperation between competitors. The outbreak of Covid-19 has led to a shortage of certain healthcare products ...
Many companies are affected by the economic crisis resulting from the spread of Covid-19. We have previously reported that, under the EU state aid rules, there are certain opportunities for the state and other public entitiesto provide support to these companies or sectors. On 19 March 2020, the Commission adopted a temporary framework for state aid, which was amended and extended on 3 April 2020, with a view to limiting the economic and social impacts of Covid-19 ...
Currently, 33% of Ireland's Greenhouse Gas emissions are produced as a result of agricultural activities. In order to reduce emissions there must be a change in farming methods; opportunities are also present in the areas of forestry, bioenergy and land-use practices. While reducing emissions, policy in this area must also aim to: Maintain the "green" brand image of Irish food exports abroad ("Origin Green" etc.). Maintain good prices for producers ...
On Friday, June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in West Virginia v. EPA resolving the seven-year debate over the Environmental Protection Agency’s statutory authority to promulgate the President Obama-era Clean Power Plan (“CPP”). In 2015, the Obama administration promulgated the CPP regulations under the Clean Air Act § 111(d), imposing standards of operation that require a reduction of carbon dioxide from existing coal power plants ...
Charities need many things to make a difference, including good people and sufficient funding, but effective leadership underpins everything and the recently refreshed Charity Governance Code is a valuable tool in striving to practise good governance ...
As of August 7th, 2018, the amendments of the Consumer Protection Law (CPL), which includes for the first time, the consumer protection in the field of electronic commerce (e-commerce), taking that as the contracting process or the goods, services and commercial information trading through data communication webs ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded the definition of close contact to now evaluate exposure cumulatively over a 24-hour period such that “15 cumulative minutes of exposure at a distance of 6 feet or less can be used as an operational definition for contact investigation,”[1] Because the newly expanded definition is not limited, it impacts many different industries (inclu
The current regime Under the current regime in the Cayman Islands, the only option for a company to obtain a moratorium on claims, and to benefit from what is often seen as necessary breathing room to explore a restructuring, is for a winding up petition to be issued against the company and for the company to be placed into provisional liquidation, with provisional liquidators (JPLs) appointed over the company on a light-touch basis with the mandate to explore a restructuring of the company&r
In an opinion written in under 1,000 words, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal put foreclosure cases across Florida in jeopardy in Desbrunes v. U.S. Bank National Association in February ...
Last week, President Trump signed two Legislative Acts – the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA") and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). Effective April 1, 2020, the FFCRA requires employers with more than 50 but fewer than 500 employees to provide emergency paid sick leave and expanded Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") leave to employees ...
On October 17, 2022, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division 3, issued a decision in Golf & Tennis Pro Shop, Inc. v. Superior Court holding that interrogatory responses containing a combination of unverified factual responses and objections only trigger the 45-day clock to bring a motion to compel when the responding party serves its subsequent verifications ...
Published in CEE Legal Matters “In terms of national politics, when it comes to Latvia, the word of the day is ‘stability,'“ says Raimonds Slaidins, Senior Partner at Ellex Klavins in Riga ...
Is the Marcellus shale that underlies a significant part of western and central Pennsylvania itself a “mineral”? Is Marcellus shale gas the type of natural gas contemplated in prior Pennsylvania case law, or something different? Is the Marcellus shale similar to coal, so that whoever owns the shale owns the gas that is embedded in that shale? In reversing and remanding the decision by the Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas, a three judge panel of the P
South Africa has a rapidly evolving climate change policy environment, which is in-keeping with the country¡¦s view of itself as a developing country leader in the climate change arena. Part of the policy environment includes attention to financial mechanisms that can be marshaled in support of the response to climate change. Flowing from the notion of using financial mechanisms in this manner, the National Treasury has taken initial steps towards the implementation of carbon taxation ...
On October 15, 2010, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (“BOEMRE”) issued a final rule that makes mandatory and expands API RP 75, a voluntary industry standard initially promulgated in the 1990s, that addresses the management of safety and environmental risks associated with Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) operations and facilities ...
