With the enactment of the new Law on Personal Data Protection (“Law”) in 2020, North Macedonia largely harmonized its data protection legislation with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The Government of Ukraine has recently implemented additional measures to prevent and counteract the legalization (laundering) of proceeds of crime, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Thus, Ukraine made one more step towards implementing 4th Money Laundering EU Directive.

The Law on the Protection of Business Secret (Official Gazette of RS, no. 53/2021, “LPBS“) entered into force on 5 June 2021 and it completely repealed the previous law that regulated this matter.

According to the Turkish Commercial Code [“TCC”], the governing and representative body of a joint stock corporation is the “board of directors” [“Board”]. Board members are obliged to carry out their duties with the due care of a cautious manager and to protect the interests of the corporation in good faith. Board members can be held liable for the damages incurred by the corporation, the shareholders, or creditors in cases where they fail to fulfil their duties arising from the law or the articles of association. [TCC Art.553(1)]

The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Electronic Document, Electronic Identification and Trust Services in Electronic Business (hereinafter "Amendments to the Law"), on May 20, 2021.

Interim attachment is a provisional remedy under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 [the “EBL”] which individuals or legal entities can request for their monetary claims. Thanks to this institution, the debtor’s assets could be frozen to secure due yet unsecured debts, and as a result, the debtor would be forced to pay its debt.

In the first half of 2021, we at VEGAS LEX completed a survey among 100+ foreign lawyers to reveal myths concerning dispute resolution in Russia. In most questions, the respondents were asked to choose “True” or “False” on the proposed statements.

Arbitration is usually a more favored dispute resolution mechanism in the international arena compared to national courts for its many advantages, such as cost efficiency, speed, and confidentiality. That being said, an enforcement procedure also needs to be pursued if and when the arbitral award is not performed willingly by the losing party – which is usually the case. Accordingly, if an arbitral award is rendered in a foreign country or it is considered to be “foreign” according to Turkish law [as explained below], a court process will have to be followed for the enforcement of the award in Turkey.[1]

For the purposes of this review below we assume a hypothetical scenario whereas a company is illegally deprived of assets or investments in Ukraine.

The Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 [the “TCC”] designates the Board of Directors [the “Board”] as one of the two compulsory executive bodies of the joint stock corporations (in Turkish: anonim şirket) – the other one is the general assembly of shareholders [the “GA”]. Accordingly, the Board is entitled to take all necessary decisions in order to carry out all business and transactions required to perform the company’s scope of activity excluding those falling within the exclusive authority of the GA stipulated by law and the articles of association [the “AoA”] of the company. That is to say, the Board is designated as the main competent body of a joint stock corporation under Turkish law. 

On the 10th of June 2020, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic passed a judgment in case Ref. No. 31 ICdo 36/2020, which dealt with the validity of a contract concluded between the sole proprietor of a company and the same company represented by its sole proprietor. In this case, the Supreme Court deviated from its past decisions on the issue of interpretation of the notion of manifest disruption of public order. Whereas the Supreme Court had previously interpreted the word “manifest” as expressing the degree of intensity of public disturbance, the current decision accepted that a manifest disruption of public order could be interpreted as an undoubted or unambiguous disruption of public order, without regard to the intensity of the disruption.

The Supreme Administrative Court is gradually granting more rights to environmental organisations (EOs) in nature conservation procedures. Following a December 2020 ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the party status of EOs (for further details please see "New ruling expands environmental organisations' rights in nature conservation procedures"), the Supreme Administrative Court remains on course with its pro-EO case law. In recent months, the court has issued several more interesting rulings that seem to strengthen EOs' position in nature conservation proceedings.

International arbitration is a highly popular instrument of the dispute resolution, and, therefore, the actual recovery of debts is a matter of high importance. Meanwhile, creditors often face problems in the process of recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Russia. Statistics for 2020 shows that 87 of 244 claims submitted to Russian courts were dismissed (35.6%). This means that each third claimant cannot count on receiving the funds in reality.

The global pandemic has impacted all markets, with subsequent ramifications for M&A. Investors are now seeking greater protection against general lock-downs and supply-chain disruptions, while governments aim to protect critical supplies and services by imposing new regulations on foreign investment in crucial or strategic industries. ​If you are considering investment opportunities in Lithuania, take a look at this overview to get insight into the regulations on foreign investment in strategic industries.

The VAT legislation applicable to cross-border e-commerce will be modernised at EU level by new EU e-commerce rules with effect from 1 July 2021. The new rules will allow companies selling goods online to fulfil certain VAT obligations at EU level via a digital online portal (the “One-Stop Shop”, OSS), hosted by their own revenue agencies and in their own languages. These rules have been in place for online sellers of e-services since 2015, when the “Mini One-Stop Shop” or MOSS was implemented.

Capital Markets Board of Turkey [the "Board"] released a public press on February 1, 2021 regarding the issuance of the Draft Communiqué Amending the Communiqué on Tender Offers No. II-26.1 [the "Draft Amendment”] which envisages to make certain amendments to the Communiqué on Tender Offer No. II-26.1 [the "Communiqué"]. In this respect, while some existing provisions will be clarified with the Draft Amendment, the scope of the circumstances which do not trigger the tender offer obligation and the exceptions to mandatory offers will be expanded.

The "Regulation on the Conduct of Trials by Audio and Video Transmission in Civil Procedures" ["Regulation"] was published in the Official Gazette dated 30 June 2021 numbered 31527 and entered into force on the same date. The Regulation sets out the procedures of e-hearings, which have become more important due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Regulation, e-hearings will have the same legal consequences with the physical hearings.

On 30 June 2021, the Polish President signed an Act (“Amendment”) changing the so-called Anti-Crisis Shield (i.e. Act on specific solutions related to the preventing, counteracting and combating COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, and certain other acts).