The long-discussed amendment to the Labour Code is finally here! Let's take a moment to review what changes will come into effect on October 1, 2023. 

Investigating and handing out penalties for illegal work has been a long-term priority for the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and labour inspection authorities in general. This was confirmed by the State Labour Inspectorate in a press release on 11 March of this year.

The world is dynamic and changes over time. Clearly, agreements concluded yesterday took into account the particular circumstances of the day and tomorrow’s circumstances could only be vaguely predicted by the parties. When concluding long-term agreements whose performance is rendered over several years, one cannot always estimate every possible circumstance or change that might have a crucial impact on the agreement.

Everything necessary and reasonably expected: since 1 January 2014 these four key words are crucial in determining whether (former) company body members will be held personally liable vis-à-vis creditors.

One of the advantages of arbitration – a form of alternative dispute resolution – is that it is discreet. This not only applies to disputes between businessmen but also to investment arbitration between states and foreign investors. However, investment arbitration is now slowly changing, with new transparency rules adopted by UNCITRAL having been introduced in April of this year.

The New Civil Code (“NCC”) has brought a number of changes and introduced several new institutions to competition law.

If you are interested in finding out about some of the very first court decisions under the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities and Related Proceedings (the “Act”), look no further. As you may already know, under the newly effective Act so far three companies have been convicted, two have received criminal orders, and charges have been dropped with regard to another.

Rescission, which is one way of cancelling outstanding commitments and is often connected with a breach of contract, is reserved solely for cases set forth by law or stipulated in the contract itself. Unless the contract sets forth otherwise, the legal grounds for exercising one’s right to rescind will apply. But as you will see, the law is unable to precisely specify all possible cases and, therefore, the grounds for rescission should be stipulated contractually to ensure both parties are protected.

If you conclude a purchase contract in 2014, it will no longer be subject to the “old” Civil Code and Commercial Code but to the “new Civil Code (“NCC”). Although the new legislation does not bring about a revolution for purchase contracts, there are several changes worth noting.

On 1 January 2014 the new Civil Code (“NCC”) brought changes to the process of concluding agreements. Attention should be paid in particular to the fact that under certain circumstances an agreement can be concluded even in the case of modified acceptance. Pursuant to the “old” legislation, this could not be done unless the offeror agreed to the changes. The option of modified acceptance, however, can also be excluded from the agreement by the offeror.

The new Civil Code has changed certain well-established rules in a number of fields, including the conditions under which a landlord may terminate a rental agreement with a tenant. Moreover, since 1 January 2014, the new Civil Code (“NCC”) also automatically regulates rental relationships that were concluded before the first of this year.

In Part I, we looked at the consequences of breaching the duty to act with due care. The new legislation also brings changes and clarifies the penalties to be faced by statutory body members in the event of a company bankruptcy. It must be emphasized from the outset that the penalties will be far from trivial.

Doing business will be easier in many respects starting this year. We have all heard about one-crown limited liability companies and the end to the requirement to have an employee representative on the supervisory board. But less is spoken about the greater demands placed on statutory body members. Although the new Corporations Act brings a number of advantages for businesses, it is also stricter in certain respects. Let’s take a look at the changes.

The new Civil Code, which took effect on 1 January 2014, has significantly changed the process of concluding an agreement. Let’s look at some of the major changes.

Penalties are often used by parties to a contract as protection against a breach of obligations. Even though the law does not restrict such parties very much in how they formulate the penalty, the general principles of private law and established case law need to be considered. Otherwise, contractual penalty covenants could be invalid or the penalty could be reduced by the courts. Let’s look closer at why and when this could occur and what the new Civil Code has to say about such penalties.