Complex changes to public procurement law made in response to current economic difficulties enter into force today.

On 8 November 2011 the insurance company TUW SKOK has been fined PLN 500,000 (c. €114,000) by KNF, Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority, because its prices were too low.

Directors and officers face new liability under draft legislation introduced to Parliament.

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new fifth edition of our successful Competition Survival Pack. The Pack is updated for 2011.

When Hampson Industries PLC sold one of its subsidiaries in the early hours of 23 June 2010, there was an email on the chief executive officer’s blackberry – apparently unread, although it was received on the previous afternoon - giving him formal notice that one of the subsidiary’s main customers would be switching to another supplier by the end of August.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed that the "Fee for Intervention" scheme will come into force on 6 April 2012.

The Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Bill received Royal Assent on 21 June 2006. The main purpose of this new legislation is to enhance the UK’s contribution to combating climate change. The first provisions will come into force after 21 August 2006.

Ofwat has recently issued its Position Paper on the EU Water Framework Directive. Working closely with Defra and the Environment Agency (both of whom are managing the implementation process of the Directive) on the implementation of the Directive, Ofwat commented in its Position Paper that the Directive’s implementation should comply with the following key requirements..

On 15 October 2012, Law no. 167/2012 amending Law no. 297/2004 on the capital market ("Law 167") was published in the Official Journal No. 704. Law 167 has brought important changes to the scope of activity of the SSIF (investment firms), by including fiduciary services in the meaning of the New Civil Code and to the application of certain provisions of the Capital Market Law (i.e. market abuse) to greenhouse gas emission certificates traded on a regulated market.

The public sector procurement rules were revised from 31 January 2006 as a result of the introduction of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.

A recent case reaffirms the legal position on the question of what amounts to a fair presentation of a risk in the context of a non-disclosure dispute.

When any international transaction turns bad, absent of an arbitration clause or exclusive jurisdiction clause, one of the most critical early decisions a party must make is where to have the dispute resolved.

The Court of Appeal has upheld a judge's order imposing indemnity costs on third-party funders.

From today, product placement will be allowed on UK commercial television for the first time, as a result of the amended Ofcom Broadcasting Code (the "Code") entering into force.

Last month the Department for Communities and Local Government published a consultation paper relating to the use of restrictive covenants in the pub industry and their impact on local communities.

This is our second more detailed Law-Now item in relation to the three consultation papers issued by the Government last week.

On 19 September 2012, the Chamber of Deputies (the Lower House of the Czech Parliament) overrode by a slight majority (105 members out of 200) President Vaclav Klaus’ veto to the amendment to the Energy Management Act (406/2000 Coll.).

The Supreme Administrative Court ruled recently in a case brought before it by a tax payer regarding the taxation of unrealised foreign exchange gains.

On 18 January 2012, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) made a market investigation reference to the Competition Commission (CC) in respect of the aggregates, cement and ready-mix concrete markets in Great Britain (i.e. not Northern Ireland).

The recent High Court case of Spreadex Limited v Colin Cochrane [2012] is a stark reminder to online traders, and indeed to other businesses, to exercise caution when imposing liability on consumers in contracts.