other courts | In Principle

Does State Forests have the right of first refusal on the sale of a residential unit together with a share in a partly forested property? A surprising decision by the Wołomin District Court.

Last week a judgment by the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) made headlines around the world after the country’s highest court refused to follow a preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The decision attracted strong criticism. Critics accused the BVerfG of going rogue, undermining the EU system and providing support for the anti-EU populist agenda. The BVerfG judgment, although indeed controversial and issued at a difficult time, does not deserve this condemnation. Some of the critics’ unjustified opinions can do more for anti-EU populists than the judgment itself.

On 5 May 2020 the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht or BVerfG) issued a much-noted ruling in a case involving the Public Sector Asset Purchase Programme of the European Central Bank. The judgment has caused a great stir, as the BVerfG expressly refused to comply with a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. It was the first such instance in history, but its significance is the opposite of what is attributed to it by opponents of European integration.

Genuine commercial exploitation of a trademark can also be shown when a position trademark is used in combination with other graphic elements.

In disputes involving cross-border construction contracts, one of the questions to be resolved is jurisdiction. Before joining issue in litigation in Poland, the defendant may assert the defence of the lack of jurisdiction of the Polish courts. Jurisdiction in such cases will be determined by applying the recast Brussels I Regulation. The Wrocław Regional Court recently issued a ruling on application of this regulation in civil litigation involving construction works.

On 18 December 2015 the Dutch Court of Appeal at The Hague issued an interim judgment in a closely watched case concerning liability for environmental injury caused by an oil spill from Shell’s pipelines in Nigeria.

In August an arbitration award was issued in the case of the ship Arctic Sunrise, involving protests by ecologists on the Pechora Sea defending the Arctic environment. The ship was seized and 30 protesters were arrested by Russian authorities.

The failure to identify the guarantor in the wording of the bank guarantee prevents the contracting entity from recognising the bid bond as properly paid. An error of this type cannot be cured by way of interpretation.

On 11 February 2014 the Warsaw Regional Court issued a long-awaited ruling demonstrating the current approach of the Polish courts to the sensitive issue of how to designate promotional prices for goods.

A right to compensation may be deduced from Regulation 261/2004 not only for cancellation of a flight, but also for a delay of 3 hours or more. Passengers eagerly exploit this right, but the court decisions continue to raise new controversies.

The Court of Competition and Consumer Protection has broken the power companies’ monopoly on information about the condition of the power grid in proceedings seeking a connection to the grid.

Sąd (dawniej Sąd Pierwszej Instancji) utrzymał w mocy decyzje unieważniające prawa do znaków towarowych BOTOLIST i BOTOCYL ze względu na uznanie, że ich rejestracja narusza prawo do renomowanego znaku towarowego BOTOX.