New transparency rules related to the Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS), adopted by the Management Board of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in October 2023, became applicable on 18 June 2024. These rules aim at striking a balance between transparency and the protection of commercially confidential information for the benefit of patients, who will have early access to key clinical trial information, of healthcare professionals, who will enjoy simplification in accessing to trial information and enrollment, and of trial sponsors, who will interact with a more user-friendly system.
In Germany, a new criminal offense of improper lobbying came into force on 18 June 2024. Its impact on the lobbying activities of companies may not be underestimated. Amongst others, the practice of paid lobbying at ministries or other public bodies by mandate holders is now subject to criminal prosecution. It will hence be vital for companies to critically review lecture and consultancy fees for mandate holders as well as remuneration for supervisory board positions and managing director activities for their appropriateness with immediate effect.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine issued Resolution No. 650 on “Some Issues with Reservation of Persons Liable for Military Service during Martial Law”, dated 5 June 2024 (“Resolution”), which came into force on 8 June 2024. The Resolution provides for an opportunity, in addition to the existing paper-based procedure, to reserve employees of certain companies online through the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services.
On 23 May 2024, the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), published as Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, entered into force following its adoption by the Council of the EU and European Parliament on 11 April 2024 and its publication in the EU’s Official Journal earlier this month. We are pleased to provide you with an assessment of the relevance of the CRMA and the implications it will have.
The Equality Act 2010 gives outsourced workers broad protections from discrimination by the client on whose contract they work. However, the Court of Appeal has held that the protection does not extend to the terms of the workers’ contracts of employment with the service provider, such as pay. The EAT had held that the protection could be engaged where the client had effectively dictated the terms on which the workers were employed, but the Court of Appeal has rejected that position. Companies with outsourced workforces can still be liable in many other respects, for example if they restrict access to onsite facilities or refuse to allow individuals to work on the contract on discriminatory grounds.
The UK will have a general election on 4 July 2024, which will decide who the next government will be. The political parties have been publishing their employment and HR-related proposals, which we summarize in this article. We have limited ourselves to Labour, the Conservatives, Reform, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party, as the current top-polling parties fielding candidates throughout Great Britain.
On 16 May 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Procedure for Conscription of Citizens for Military Service During Mobilization and amended the Procedure for Organization and Maintenance of Military Registration (“Amendments”). The Amendments, among other things, detail employers’ existing obligations during mobilization and establish the new ones.
In recent years, competition law enforcement has continued to intensify in key emerging markets in the EMEA region. In our 60-minute “quick hits” webinar, we will provide an update on the latest key competition law developments, compliance tips, and pointers on what is on the horizon. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, 10 July 2024 at 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST for one hour.
After a period of slowdown due to increased interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainty, the second half of 2024 is poised for a strong resurgence in M&A activities. Staying up to date on the latest market trends and legal developments is critical. In this article, our Baker McKenzie lawyers share guidance on these anticipated regulatory challenges and their impact on M&A transactions, and provide direction for transaction parties on how to navigate such challenges successfully
We are pleased to present the second edition in 2024 of Ukrainian Laws in Wartime: Guide for International and Domestic Businesses, a brief overview of the key features of wartime legislation.