With the new year, a significant amendment to the Czech consumer protection laws came into force that further strengthens consumer rights and increases transparency in providing information to consumers. But there are also important changes in the marketing area, including tighter restrictions on using influencers to promote products and services.

Social and economic changes in 2022 have broken a long downward trend recently, with the number of tax categories increasing from 51 to 59 last year. We give you the latest lowdown.

Many books have been written and just as many films have been made trying to show what the future will look like, but we are much closer to knowing it with the advent of artificial intelligence and, more specifically, generative artificial intelligence. Generative artificial intelligence is a type of artificial intelligence that can generate new content, as opposed to systems that simply analyse or act statically on an existing data set.

Since the parties cannot resort to state courts as long as there is an arbitration agreement (Article 5 of the ICC and Article 413 of the CCP), the parties may be deprived of the right to resort to state courts if the arbitration proceedings take longer than necessary. On the other hand, one of the most important advantages of arbitration is that arbitral proceedings can be completed in a shorter period of time than state courts. Taking these principles into consideration, the legislator has limited the arbitration proceedings to a time limit in the International Arbitration Law and the Code of Civil Procedure.

The answer is simple: to make EU membership top priority, to form the team with the capacity to drive and stay on the train until the final destination. But it is not only important for the team to have only the Loco pilot only to drive the train, the team must have other members with the understanding who is in the train, the train route both in Serbia and EU and who share strong belief that the final destination will bring the benefits not only to the country of the departure (passengers) but also to the countries and citizens of  the destination. If something is missing in that chain, it may happen that the Loco pilot may drive the train via Antarctica to EU with the possibility that the train may get stuck somewhere on the route and may never reach its final destination.

New legislation amending the Labor Code and other relevant acts was signed by the President and published in the Journal of Laws. This legislation implements two European Union Directives: Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union. New provisions will come into force on 26 April 2023.

Croatian Consumer Protection Act authorizes qualified entities such as consumer organizations and public authorities to bring civil proceedings against traders or trade associations engaged in practices that violate Croatian consumer protection laws. Under the current regime, the competent court is authorized to (i) establish that the infringement occurred, (ii) order the respondent (e.g., trader) to cease the prohibited behaviour and, if possible, to adopt measures necessary to eliminate the harmful effects of respondent’s prohibited conduct, and (iii) prohibit any such or similar future behaviour.

Initially regulated as a voluntary mediation system, through its official introduction to our legal system with the adoption of Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes in 2012, such was later accepted as "mandatory" in labor disputes, then in commercial disputes, and finally in consumer disputes.

The Slovak Republic was one of the last countries in the region to adopt the Foreign Direct Investment Screening Act, which introduces a comprehensive mechanism for screening foreign investments for the purpose of protecting security and public order based on Regulation (EU) 2019/452.

In 2022, the Romanian competition authority focused on closing important investigations, recorded the highest number of cleared mergers in recent history and set the legislative framework for new directions of action and analysis.

The Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic will soon decide whether to pay for the Czech Republic to become part of the prestigious MICHELIN Guide. The MICHELIN Guide is asking for CZK 10 million for this "service" for the next three years.

In judicial proceedings, parties prefer arbitration because it is often faster than state courts. However, arbitration proceedings also require a certain period of time to reach a final arbitral decision. During this period, interim protection measures are needed to ensure that the proceedings achieve the desired goal and to guarantee the rights to be obtained as a result of the proceedings. In case of the protection of monetary receivables, a precautionary attachment is decided, and in case of the protection of rights other than money, a precautionary injunction is decided.

New amendments entered into force in relation to the Croatian land registry legislation.

Promulgated in December 2022 more than 3 years after its initiation, the new law on social dialogue, Law no. 367/2022, has the declared aim of facilitating social dialogue and the exercise of certain employee rights.

 When a plaintiff decides to litigate only part of his claim, the question arises whether the ‘res judicata’ effect of the final judgment precludes a new lawsuit for the unclaimed part of the claim? The Hungarian Supreme Court’s recently issued a uniformity decision on this question. What will be the impact of this ruling? We address the question by analysing the uniformity decision.

Tax information exchange aims to enable tax authorities to receive information about their residents' foreign financial accounts and assets and identify potential tax evasion or non-compliance.

On 24 January 2023, a new law called LEX OZE I. (Act No. 19/2023 Coll.) entered into force. The goal of this law is to remove obstacles and speed up the construction of renewable energy sources ("RES").

According to the Labour Law (Off. Gazette of the RS no. 24/2005, 61/2005, 54/2009, 32/2013, 75/2014, 13/2017 – decision of the CC, 113/2017 and 95/2018 – authentic interpretation), an employee with health issues, established by the competent medical authority pursuant to the law, shall not be allowed to pursue work that could result in deterioration of their health or consequences dangerous for their environment (Article 81, paragraph 2).