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The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, has drawn up a list of good practices after reviewing the anti-harassment policies in 26 EU institutions and agencies. The practices cover awareness raising, workplace risk assessment, regular policy monitoring, mandatory training, swift procedures, and rehabilitation measures. “While the EU institutions generally have good anti-harassment policies, my report shows that more can and must be done to bring them into line with the legitimate expectations of a post #MeToo society.” “The aim of this mapping exercise is to assist in the standardising of these identified practices across all EU institutions,”  said Ms O’Reilly. Other important measures include allowing trainees to make formal complaints about harassment; regular training for confidential counsellors and the setting up of a pool of independent investigators, which institutions can draw upon during formal harassment investigations. The Ombudsman notes harassment ca...

By George Kazoleas, Lawyer LL.M. The EU Court of Justice has issued important decisions in recent years on the issue of bank foreign currency loans, essentially in Swiss francs, which has created significant case law useful for defending the interests of borrowers who have been “trapped” by credit institutions in contracts with abusive currency risk clauses resulting in undue overchargings. In summing up this case-law, the European Court of Justice has reached the following main conclusions: 1.The loan agreement must set out in a transparent manner the exact functioning of the foreign currency conversion mechanism and the exchange rate clause so that the consumer can assess the financial consequences of this mechanism. 2.The borrower must be clearly informed by the bank that, by concluding a loan agreement in a foreign currency, he / she is exposed to a certain foreign exchange risk that he / she may find it difficult to cope with in the event of a devaluation of the currency a...

By Paris Hadjipanayis , Lawyer  The  EU Trademark Regulation  grants no express benefit to any trademark registered outside the European Union. Effectively, in the post Brexit era, UK national trademarks shall no longer enjoy protection from third-party counterfeiting, passing-off, unauthorized use, and distribution as well as licensing vis a vis exploitation by similarly confusing goods, services and intra-trades within the Union. This is partly because the European Union Intellectual Property Office [EUIPO] holds a database (art.112) via its online platform ( eSearch plus ) with all filed and registered EU marks for effectuating its checks and controls on a preliminary stage to either grant registration of a mark for the corresponding class of goods and services (as per the Nice Classification) or file an objection and/or reject the application. What is the tort of passing-off and why registration of a Trademark through EUIPO will become e...

By Soulla Dionysiou, Lawyer * Transactions in Bitcoin do not constitute a bank transaction and certainly such transactions are not a criminal offence. This was ruled by the Berlin Court of Appeals in its recent decision which criticized the authority of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (BaFin). Αccording to a report published in the website of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (www.faz.net), the case concerned a 16-year old who created a digital platform in cryptocurrency, without being licensed by the Central Bank. BaFin, found a violation of the Banking Act and the Berlin Court then imposed a fine. The decision, however, was overturned by the Berlin Court of Appeals, which ruled that Bitcoin is neither a financial instrument nor a unit of account, and it is not an alternative currency or considered as electronic-money. In this very important decision, BaFin’s authority and competence for this type of transactions becomes questionable, as according to the...

By Ioanna Michalopoulou, Lawyer LLM* The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is not explicitly a global law, but it might be on the way to becoming a  de facto  law beyond the boundaries of Europe, at least for a number of businesses. GDPR, which was enforced on the 25 th  of May 2018, affects all businesses based in EU territory acting as data controllers or data processors of personal data of data subjects who are located within the Union, similar to the previous European data protection law (Directive 95/46/EC). An important question, then, arises as to  whether businesses that are based outside the European Union and process personal data, fall under the GDPR’s scope. The European legislature, in an effort to protect data subjects from the arbitrary processing of their personal information by non-EU businesses, expanded the territorial scope of the Regulation. Article 3 GDPR states that the “GDPR applies to the processing of personal data of d...

UK nationals would be able to enter the EU visa-free for short periods after the country’s exit, provided EU nationals enjoy the same conditions when travelling to the UK. With 502 votes to 81 and 29 abstentions, plenary backed on 4/4/2019 the draft law exempting UK citizens from visa requirements to enter the EU for short visits after the country leaves the European Union. The legislation will apply from the day following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. From that date, UK nationals who are British citizens will not be required to get a visa for stays in the EU of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. The United Kingdom will be included in the list of more than 60 third-countries and territories whose nationals do not need to request a visa to enter the EU for business, tourism or to visit relatives or friends. The visa exemption does not provide for the right to work in the EU. The EU will grant the visa waiver to UK citizens unilaterally, but on the basis of ...

The European Court of Human Rights has elected on 1.April 2019 Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos (Greek) as its new President. He will take office on 5 th May 2019. Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos succeeds Guido Raimondi (Italy).   Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos was born on 9 May 1960 in Athens, Greece. He is Judge of the European Court of Human Rights since 18 May 2011 He was elected as President of Section of the European Court of Human Rights since 1 February 2017 and Vice-President of the Court since 1 May 2017 . Mr Sicilianos is also author of five monographs, editor or co-editor of 14 books and author of about 100 articles and studies in general international law and the international protection of human rights, in French, English and Greek. Read more here

In judgment in the case of Rustamzade v. Azerbaijan (application no. 38239/16) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 5 § 1 (right to liberty and security) of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case concerned a student’s arrest and detention in 2013 for allegedly filming some friends dancing in a park and uploading the video of it to YouTube. He was charged with hooliganism and spent one year in pre-trial detention. He was convicted in 2014 as charged, as well as of mass disorder and arms offences which had in the meantime been added to the list of charges, and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. The Court found in particular that the facts relied on in the domestic proceedings could not reasonably be considered to constitute criminal behaviour as defined under domestic law or as interpreted by the higher courts. Mr Rustamzade had therefore been arrested and detained without a reasonable suspicion that he had ...

Judgment of ECJ in Case C-118/17 Zsuzsanna Dunai v ERSTE Bank Hungary Zrt. : The Hungarian legislation excluding the retroactive cancellation of a loan contract denominated in a foreign currency which includes an unfair term relating to the exchange-rate risk is contrary to EU law. The cancellation of the contract must be possible where it cannot continue to exist without the unfair term. In May 2007, Mrs Zsuzsanna Dunai concluded with ERSTE Bank Hungary, a bank incorporated under Hungarian law, a loan contract denominated in Swiss francs (CHF). Under the contract, the loan was to be advanced to the borrower in Hungarian florints (HUF) and the conversion of CHF into HUF was to be made by applying the CHF-HUF exchange-rate based on the buying rate practiced by the bank on the day of the provision of the loan. The contract provided in addition that the loan was to be repaid in HUF and that the amount of the repayments would be calculated on the basis of the CHF-HUF exchange-rate...

By George Kazoleas, Senior Associate Lawyer at Dionysiou & Partners LLC (Cyprus) The EU Regulations clarifying the rules applicable to property regimes for international married couples or registered partnerships apply from 29 January 2019. Τhese are the Regulations (EU) 2016/1103 of 24 June 2016 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matters of matrimonial property regimes and (EU) 2016/1104 of 24 June 2016 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matters of the property consequences of registered partnerships. The regulations establish clear rules in cases of divorce or death and bring an end to parallel and possibly conflicting proceedings in various Member States, for instance on property or bank accounts. In short, they bring more legal clarity for international couples [1] . As regard...

By Dimitra Mousioli, Greek Family Lawyer and Mediator Dr Seuss, the famous writer gave us a very enlightening story of how people behave in a conflict. In that story he demonstrates how a stubborn "North-going Zax" and an equal stubborn "South-going Zax" were keep arguing of who would move away from the path so the other one would pass. Sitting firmly in their "position" the two angry Zax were leaving the life passing by without even noticing it. All their energy was focused on their opponent and their pride. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZmZzGxGpSs ) That conflict mindset is quite familiar to me as a family mediator when parents first enter into a mediation process. And, despite their hostile attitude, my job is to help them resolve their conflicts in the most amicable way and try to move on with their lives outside the painful and costly court procedure. But is conflict necessarily a threat, where we always have to act with the primitiv...

by Efi Thoma, Lawyer LL.M. Data is incontestably the new gold! In the new digital era, personal data of individuals is being collected, processed, and transferred around the globe from companies and organizations involved in this process, without the individuals’ prior knowledge and explicit consent. The companies and organizations that collect and use such data, have a competitive advantage and strengthen their market position by analyzing this data. Data may be even sold to third parties worldwide, without neither the prior knowledge of the individuals concerned, nor their “unambiguous” consent. The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) constitutes a huge breakthrough in privacy laws, leading to a drastic transformation of the privacy landscape on a global scale. It is not just the GDPR large fines in cases of breaches or serious non-compliance that make the difference, it is the new culture of awareness that is being established regarding personal, and namely sensitiv...