| In Principle

New rules for interim relief in intellectual property cases in Poland entered into force on 1 July 2023. The changes are designed to address practical problems of businesses and eliminate earlier abuses of interim relief. But the amendment raises doubts and seems to heighten the procedural formalism.

The Council of Ministers has adopted an amendment to the Programme for Supporting Investments of Strategic Importance to the Polish Economy for 2011–2030, under Resolution 91/2023 of 5 June 2023. The changes will be in effect until the end of the support period (2025).

Starting 12 July 2023, the European Commission can initiate investigations into financial support granted to undertakings by countries outside the European Union, pursuant to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). The purpose of the regulation is to combat distortions in the EU single market caused by foreign subsidies, while keeping the EU open to trade and investment.

An ability to predict is probably one of the oldest human desires. Many people make predictions, but few are right. And if they are, they can rarely explain why they are right. If a prediction proves right, it is usually by coincidence. What does work is diligent observation of the surroundings, taking into account all relevant dimensions, and an ability to spot symptoms of a new reality on the “event horizon” before others.

In this episode, Magdalena Świtajska explains how foreign firms may directly employ workers in Poland.

In this episode Agnieszka Godusławska and dr Joanna Prokurat, explain on what legal grounds Polish companies can employ board members.

It is worthwhile for creditors to take part in litigation even if the outcome could go against them. This way, they can help prevent the court from issuing rulings sought by colluding debtors and their allies.

In this episode Artur Pietryka discusses how a company should react if it is served with a demand from law enforcement to provide documents or information.

At a conference on 30 May 2023, the Polish Public Procurement Law Association presented a report with calls for legislative changes to the Public Procurement Law of 11 September 2019. The act has been in effect since the beginning of 2021, and the experience acquired over two and a half years has allowed practitioners to draw some conclusions and formulate nearly 30 calls for amendments to improve the procurement procedures in Poland. In this article we will analyse one of the proposals.

Dishonest debtors are increasingly daring to use court proceedings to fictitiously dispose of funds to pay their debts. They believe that if they obtain a final judgment that orders them, for example, to pay an amount to a third party, the creditor will not be able to contest the payment. But is the creditor completely defenceless? With this article, we are kicking off a series on what to pay attention to and how to react when a debtor initiates court proceedings that may render the debtor insolvent.

In our previous article we discussed the recent amendments to the Green Loan Principles and Social Loan Principles, and accompanying guidance. Today, we will focus on the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles. Here, the amendments are more extensive.

In M&A practice, and elsewhere, share transfer agreements customarily provide for the seller’s warranty liability, for example, for breach of representations and warranties. This type of liability is grounded on principles of freedom of contract stemming from Art. 3531 of the Polish Civil Code. Although warranty liability is commonly referred to in Polish as “strict” (i.e. based on assumption of risk—na zasadzie ryzyka), strict liability is a completely different construction, expressly provided for by the Civil Code. Thus commercial practice is imprecise in this regard. In extreme cases, using this wording in contracts can generate problems, including interpretive disputes over the basis of liability under such agreements.