Mustafaen Kamal was shortlisted as a top five finalist for the UK Supreme Court Essay Prize. The prize was commissioned to mark the 15th anniversary of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. In October 2009, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom replaced the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the highest appeal court in the United Kingdom. The prestigious essay competition was judged by Lady Simler, Justice of the Supreme Court.…
Effective January 1, 2025, twelve commercial courts have transitioned to become Tribunals for Economic Activities (hereinafter referred to as ‘TEA’). This reform was enacted under Law No. 2023-1059 of November 20, 2023, on the orientation and programming of the Ministry of Justice for the years 2023-2027, as well as Decree No. 2024-1225 of December 30, 2024 (the ‘Decree’). This initiative is part of a four-year pilot program designed to evaluate the advantages of consolidating the…
Mustafaen Kamal was shortlisted as a top five finalist for The City of London Solicitors’ Company Prize, awarded every year to promising trainees. The City of London Solicitors’ Company is a working company. Its members are required to practise or to have practised as a solicitor within one mile of the Bank of England or at Canary Wharf. For many years, the Company also functioned as the local Law Society for the City of London…
Our last Wirecard update was some time ago.[1] For those who have erased Wirecard from their memories: Wirecard AG is the former German “stock market miracle” from Aschheim, a small community in Bavaria with around 10,000 inhabitants. Wirecard went bankrupt in June 2020 after it had turned out that EUR 1.9 billion in supposed funds in the Philippines were non-existent. It is one of the biggest financial scandals in post-war German history. There is a…
In its decision of 12 August 2024, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (“SFSC”) deliberated on the enforcement of an order for payment by a court of a Lugano Convention (“LC”) member state in Switzerland (case no. 5A/94/2024 [in French], intended for official publication). Factual background A court in Bologna, Italy, issued an order for payment (so-called “decreto ingiuntivo telematico provvisoriamente esecutive”, which is a “Mahnbescheid” or “Zahlungsbefehl” in German) ordering the respondent in the Italian proceedings (and…
Baker McKenzie’s Joanna Ludlam and Jon McLeod of DRD Partnership set out how to deliver combined legal and communications response to contentious ESG challenges ‘The problem’ In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations have become pivotal for organisations across all sectors. ESG has become an established framework that helps stakeholders understand how an organisation manages core risks and opportunities beyond traditional financial metrics. Under a broad spectrum of factors, businesses…
In brief The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has held that Article 6a(1) and (2) of Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers (“Directive 98/6”) must be interpreted as meaning that a price reduction of a product announced by a trader in the form of a percentage, or in the form…
In brief On 2 July 2024, the Luxembourg law (“Law”) implementing the new European framework for the effective and harmonized management of digital risks in the financial sector, namely the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), was published in the Luxembourg official gazette. Like DORA, the Law will apply as of 17 January 2025. The Law designates the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) and the Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) as the competent Luxembourgish authorities responsible for ensuring that DORA is…
In its decision of 6 May 2024, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFSC) clarifies the conditions for a claimant to appeal an interim decision ordering it to provide security for the defendant’s costs due to appearing insolvent or having liquidity problems (case No. 4A_93/2024 [in German]; intended for official publication). The SFSC held that, in this case, a claimant must prove that it is unable to pay this security and thus the legal disadvantage of being…
In brief In Germany, a new criminal offense of improper lobbying came into force on 18 June 2024[1]. Its impact on the lobbying activities of companies may not be underestimated. Amongst others, the practice of paid lobbying at ministries or other public bodies by mandate holders is now subject to criminal prosecution. It will hence be vital for companies to critically review lecture and consultancy fees for mandate holders as well as remuneration for supervisory…