Solicitor (England & Wales), Warsaw, Poland
January 2001 saw the coming into force of one of the most important laws of the past several years: the Law of 19 November 1999 on the Act of Economic Activity (‘the Act’) (Official Journal of Laws No. 101 of 1999, Item 1178, and No. 86 of 2000, Item 958), which replaces the 1988 Law on Economic Activity (‘the 1988 Law’). The law is actually a code of economic activity and is seen as a constitution for the economic life of Poland's entrepreneurs. It comes into force at the same time as the new Code on Commercial Companies (‘the CC’) (Eastern European Newsletter Issue 35, p. 133). The Act also has specific provisions regarding the activities of both foreign persons and foreign entrepreneurs and regulates branch and representative offices established by foreign entrepreneurs.
