Protect your Online Privacy | Judicial Optimisation
Protect your Online Privacy | Judicial optimisation against non-consensual sharing of sexual content On 9 August, the Act of 31 July 2023 aimed at making justice more humane, faster and stricter (IV) was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. As part of this wide-ranging reform of the judicial system, the legislator decided to amend paragraphs […]
INSOLVENCY Series | Episode 3: Public and private reorganisation procedures
An undertaking in financial distress can consider judicial reorganisation as a means of restoring its financial stability. The judicial reorganisation procedure (“JRP”) is the Belgian pre-insolvency procedure, whose purpose is indeed to safeguard the continuity of the undertaking facing financial difficulties. Belgian law provides for two JRPs: JRP by mutual agreement, which aims to reach […]
Protect your Trade Secrets – Employer-employee relationship
In the first three episodes of our Trade Secrets Series we gave an introduction to the legal framework governing trade secrets in Belgium and explained in more detail the acts against which a trade secret holder can take action and what measures and remedies he can obtain. In this fourth episode we will focus on […]
Specialisation agreements | Some flexibility and a transitional period
Since 1 July 2023, a new regulation concerning the block exemption for specialisation agreements is in force (Commission Regulation 2023/1067 of 1 June 2023 on the application of article 101, §3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union [TFEU] to certain categories of specialisation agreements, OJEU, 2 June 2023, No. L 143). […]
INSOLVENCY Series | Episode 2: Identifying risks and preventive tools
IDENTIFYING RISKS OF INSOLVENCY AND PREVENTIVE TOOLS TO AVOID INSOLVENCY Insolvency proceedings, and in particular liquidation proceedings, should remain a last resort. Accordingly, the Belgian Code of Economic Law (“CEL”) contains several preventive mechanisms designed (1) to detect the risk of insolvency in due course, and (2) to take preventive measures to redress undertakings’ financial […]
Protect your Trade Secrets – Procedures, Measures and Remedies
In the first two episodes of our Trade Secrets Series we gave an introduction to the legal framework governing trade secrets in Belgium and explained in more detail the acts against which a trade secret holder can and cannot take action. In this third episode we will analyse the procedures, measures and remedies that can […]
INSURANCE LAW – IMPORTANT CHANGES AHEAD
INSURANCE LAW – UPDATED RULES ON CONTRACT RENEWAL AND TERMINATION AHEAD On 5 October 2023, the Belgian Federal Parliament passed a draft law adapting the rules on (almost all) non-life insurance policies’ renewal and termination (the “Law”). This Law will come into force on the first day of the 12th month following its publication in […]
INSOLVENCY Series | Episode 1: Introduction
WHAT’S INSOLVENCY? The term “insolvency” is widely used, especially in these troubled economic times, but what does it mean exactly? Insolvency is a state of financial distress where an entity’s liabilities exceed its assets, making it difficult or impossible to meet its financial commitments. In the last few months, Belgian insolvency law has come to […]
Protect your Trade Secrets – Infringing acts, exempt acts, and exceptions
In the first episode of our Trade Secrets Series we gave an introduction to the legal framework governing trade secrets in Belgium. In this second episode we will explain in more detail the acts against which a trade secret holder can and cannot take action. The acts against which no action can be taken: the […]
Empowering the European retail investor: unveiling the EU Commission’s new proposal for financial trust and transparency
The EU Commission recently published a draft proposal for a new omnibus directive, aiming at reinforcing and harmonising retail investor protection across the entire spectrum of financial services. Scope of application – Who’s affected? As an “omnibus directive”, the proposal is intended to affect several key pieces of EU legislation such as MiFID II, IDD, […]
Pan-EU injunctive relief against multiple infringers domiciled in different EU Member States
PAN-EU INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST MULTIPLE INFRINGERS DOMICILED IN DIFFERENT EU MEMBER STATES In brief In its judgment of September 7, 2023 (Beverage City Polska, C-832/21), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held that multiple defendants domiciled in different EU Member States, who are each accused of having committed the same infringement of […]
Protect your Trade Secrets – General Introduction
Protect your Trade Secrets – General Introduction The legal framework governing trade secrets in Belgium has changed significantly with the adoption of EU Directive 2016/943 of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure (“Trade Secrets Directive”). The Trade Secrets Directive was […]