| In Principle

High energy prices are greatly impacting economies around the world. Recognising the state of crisis, the European Union is introducing a number of amendments to the law to mitigate the effects of high electricity prices. In Poland, support instruments are governed by the Electricity Price Act and are intended to benefit electricity end users such as households and SMEs. Thus for companies it is crucial to assess their own size.

Entities transferring personal data outside the European Economic Area on the basis of standard contractual clauses that are no longer in force (where the transfer began before 27 September 2021) should conclude agreements based on new clauses by 27 December 2022.

Along with a foundation and a non-profit company, a representative office of a foreign foundation is one of the legal forms through which charitable activities can be carried out in Poland. However, due to a sparsity of regulations, the functioning of representative offices of foundations in Polish law is not entirely clear. The topic is particularly timely, as with the outbreak of war in Ukraine many foreign foundations wanting to operate in Poland have voiced the need to open representative offices here. Previously, such outposts were relatively rare, as there was little need for them.

As of 29 June 2022, the rights and obligations under three types of decisions issued under the Public Roads Act can be transferred to another entity. These are decisions permitting the location or reconstruction of an exit from a public road; placement of devices and advertising in a right of way; or occupation of a right of way for purposes not related to construction, reconstruction, repair, maintenance or protection of roads.

Joanna Werner, attorney-at-law in the Banking & Project Finance practice at Wardyński & Partners, focuses on the forthcoming landmark changes to the Polish and European regulatory environment surrounding crypto assets and their impact on how companies in this innovative area do business in Poland and the EU.

The judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 8 September 2022 has broken a relatively uniform line of decisions banning online alcohol sales.

A request for a payment guarantee may appear on an investor’s desk suddenly, causing numerous complications. Sometimes, contractors make such a demand to have an excuse to withdraw from the contract. Then a race against the clock begins, not to give them that excuse. But in advance, the investor can also arrange a commercial solution to the problem, i.e. a bank guarantee facility in the loan agreement.

It has been a month since the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection published the Recommendations on social media advertising labelling. Now the regulator is back with a collection of FAQs from users concerning the recommendations.
It has been a month since the president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection published the Recommendations on social media advertising labelling. Now the regulator is back with a collection of FAQs from users concerning the recommendations.

Under a proposed amendment to Poland’s Rail Transport Act, it will be easier to obtain siting decisions for rail projects and expand logistics centres and railroad sidings on rail land, and train travel should be safer.

On 21 October 2022, a draft act to amend the Energy Law and certain other acts was published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre, implementing the Polish Hydrogen Strategy. The proposal aims to create a stable regulatory environment for the hydrogen market in Poland.

On 2 September 2022, the Polish Ministry of Justice published a draft of far-reaching changes to the liability of collective entities, which would eliminate the requirement to obtain a predicate ruling for all criminal and fiscal offences for which collective entities could be held criminally liable. We discuss these changes in an updated version of our guide to corporate criminal liability in Poland.

The war in Ukraine is affecting the insurance sector. If a judicial or arbitration dispute arises, the parties will need to interpret the insurer’s exclusion of liability “in the event of war.”