All publications by Soulier Avocats

Pursuant to Article 35 of the Brussels I recast Regulation, the local judge may order provisional or protective measures, even though another judge has been given – or has accepted – jurisdiction to rule on the merits of the case, in particular under the terms of a jurisdiction clause.

In a decision handed down on January 27, 2021, the Court de Cassation (French Supreme Court) ruled on the French judge’s power to order preparatory inquiries in futurum (literally for the future) and aligned its position with the autonomous notion of “provisional, including protective, measures” provided for by European Law.

When visiting a website or using mobile apps, users must be informed and give their consent before cookies or other trackers are deposited or read, unless these trackers benefit from one of the exemptions provided for by law.

Following the publication of its guidelines and recommendation on October 1, 2020, the French Data Protection Authority has given until March 31, 2021 to bring websites and mobile apps into compliance with the new rules.

In a fully reasoned ruling dated November 25, 2020, the Criminal Chamber of the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) has reversed a case law that had been established for more than twenty years in “merger by acquisition” transactions (i.e., when a company is merged into another): The acquiring company may now, under certain conditions, be held criminally liable for an offence committed by the acquired company prior to the merger and for which it had not been convicted.

On January 12, 2021, the French Anti-Corruption Agency published its new guidelines which will serve as the reference framework for its investigations, effective from July 13, 2021.

These new guidelines, which are both more demanding and pragmatic because they have been adapted to take into account the inspections and audits carried out by the AFA since the entry into force of the former guidelines, deserve, in our opinion, the full attention of entities subject to Article 17 of the Sapin II Law.

The payment of commercial rents during successive lockdown periods is an issue that has given rise to numerous disputes.

Arguments based on force majeure, unforeseeability or non-performance, often used by lessees as a justification for not paying the rent, had been dismissed in the majority of court decisions handed down on this subject.

On January 20, 2021, the enforcement judge of the Paris Judicial Court opened up another way based on the “loss of the leased property”.

The International Chamber of Commerce (the “ICC”) has unveiled a revised version of its Rules of Arbitration (the “Revised Rules”). This new version, which came into force on January 1, 2021, applies to arbitration proceedings initiated on or after that date, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties. Although it does not introduce major substantive changes, […]