Poland’s government is proposing a new law that would make parent companies liable for their subsidiaries’ violations of the competition protection law if the parent company “exercised decisive influence” on the subsidiary. Currently, Polish law could be described as being extremely strict in not recognizing “piercing the corporate veil” between parent companies and their subsidiaries. The proposed law would represent a breakthrough and a milestone in Polish corporate law by providing much clearer grounds for…

It is expected that the Unified Patent Court (UPC),  the proposed common patent court in the EU, will be operational as of spring 2022. The UPC will provide an efficient forum for the enforcement of patents in Europe, ending the need for parallel litigation in different member states of the EU. It will also harmonize substantive patent law with regard to the scope and limitations of the rights conferred by the patent and the remedies…

The amendment of the Commercial Companies Code (hereinafter “CCC”) to introduce holding law has already been discussed in our material Commercial Law Revolution in Poland – New Holding Law and Enhanced Corporate Oversight Mechanisms. However, as a continuation of this topic, we would like to touch upon one of its elements – the introduction into Polish commercial law of the measure of business judgment called “Business Judgement Rule” in assessing the actions of members…

On February 1, 2021, a new draft act on freedom of speech on social media platforms appeared on the Polish Ministry of Justice website. Works on the draft act, originally announced by the ministry in December last year, gained momentum in mid-January amid Twitter and Facebook blocking Donald Trump’s accounts, which the Polish government viewed as censorship. The Minister of Justice said that freedom of speech and debate is the cornerstone of democracy and censoring…

On January 12, 2021, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft law amending the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and certain other acts, which was submitted by the Minister of Finance, Funds and Regional Policy (the “Draft”). The Draft aims to implement EU legislation preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorism financing. It is hoped this will increase the transparency of information on financial flows…

Toward the end of September 2020, a draft amendment of the Act on Competition and Consumer Protection (the Draft) was up for public consultation in Poland. The provisions of the Draft are currently being agreed upon. The objective is to incorporate into the Polish legal framework Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws and…

Much attention has been paid recently to the latest government-sponsored, draft civil procedure amendment, which, piggybacking on the e-bidding solutions regulations, proposes amendments to the COVID-19 acts introducing temporary solutions regarding, among others, the functioning of civil courts. The draft has just been submitted to the Sejm. However, it must have been intensely debated previously, since the proposed changes only have one day’s vacatio legis. The new rules introduced by the draft are intended to…