| In Principle

Poland’s amended Administrative Procedure Code includes a new chapter governing the conduct of European administrative cooperation.

At the beginning of 2016 a new regulated profession of “Restructuring Adviser” was created. The role is to be performed by persons professionally qualified for position of office holder in restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings. Restructuring Advisers are required to have knowledge of law, economics, finance and management. Their professional qualifications are confirmed by licence. Currently over 1,050 professionals hold a Restructuring Adviser licence in Poland.

The European Court of Human Rights has held that an NGO operating an online blog cannot be held liable for comments posted by internet users because the organisation quickly deleted the offending posts. Meanwhile, the Warsaw Court of Appeal has held the publisher of a news site liable even though it was not notified of the unlawfulness of comments before being sued. These new rulings provide an occasion for sharing a few remarks about online defamation.

In March 2017 the European Commission published a report on labelling of alcoholic beverages. It seems the exemption allowing alcohol producers to avoid placement of information on the ingredients and nutritional value of their drinks is drawing to an end. The beer, wine and spirits industry has 12 months to propose solutions to the Commission reflecting the specific nature of alcoholic beverages but also ensuring effective protection of consumers throughout the European Union.

The automatic assumption of contracts that occurs in universal succession doesn’t work in the case of public procurement. The contracting authority must decide on the fate of the contract after verifying the new contractor.

Mediation is becoming a more widely appreciated and applied alternative dispute resolution method. But there are categories of cases where it could be used more often. One of them is disputes between capital market participants, and in particular between brokerages and their clients.

Whether witnesses can be asked leading questions is a vital issue for fair trials, but is treated inconsistently in Polish litigation practice. Inspiration can be sought from the rules that have worked for years in common-law jurisdictions.

The English courts are among the most commonly selected in the world for resolving disputes. Most cases there are decided under English law, but membership in the EU is one reason for the popularity of English courts. After Brexit, does London have a chance to retain its position as a world leader in dispute resolution?

An interesting ruling was issued in a case we were handling. After the independent possessor of real estate turned the property over to the owner, it demanded payment for the expenditures it had made on the property, including construction of a building on the site. But does construction always raise the value of the property?

As the People’s Republic of China becomes an increasingly stronger player on the international scene, it is no surprise that rulings by Chinese courts are being issued more frequently in disputes arising out commercial cooperation with Chinese counterparties. This phenomenon will only grow in importance for European lawyers.

Can receivables governed by Polish law be effectively encumbered by a pledge governed by foreign law?

The issue of determining when the appointment of a member of the supervisory board of a joint-stock company ends in connection with the expiration of the term of office has been the subject of doubts and disputes for some time. It was particularly problematic to determine when the appointment ends when the term of office does not coincide with the financial year. The Supreme Court of Poland recently addressed this issue.