As announced by one of our previous publications, the new rules on personal data protection were adopted at the European Union (“EU”) level on April 14, 2016. Referred to as “the culmination of over four years of hard work” in the joint statement of the European Commission (“Commission”) First Vice-President, Vice-President in charge of the Digital Single Market and Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, the new policy aims to extend the citizens’ right to personal data protection, enhance legal certainty for businesses by unifying the regulation within the EU and allow for improved cooperation of Member States’ criminal […]
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Gecić | Law is pleased to partner with Mona Hotel Management in support of the Harvard Club of Serbia’s scholarship initiative. The 2016 scholarship of Harvard Club of Serbia in the field of social sciences and humanities “Čedomilj Mijatović”, named after one of the most prolific Serbian intellectuals in the fields of economics, diplomacy, linguistics, history and theology, was awarded to Jelena Todić, a student of the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Law, while the scholarship in the field of natural sciences “Draga Ljočić“, named after the first Serbian female doctor, a great philanthropist and feminist, was awarded to Mihajlo Novaković, […]
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To create a more favorable business environment for domestic and foreign companies wishing to invest in Serbia, and to enhance the national economy, a new Decree on the Conditions and the Manner of Attracting Investments1 (Decree), announced by the Act on Investments2, has been enacted on 11 March 2016. Relying on the Serbia Investment and Export Promotion Agency’s (SIEPA) 2015 Decree on the Conditions and Manner of Attracting Direct Investments3 (SIEPA Decree), the new Decree provides for incentives in the form of grants or, under certain conditions, exemption from customs duties, both for the investments in new production facilities (greenfield […]
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The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention) is a legal document established within the Council of Europe. It is signed and ratified by all 47 member states of the Council of Europe, including Serbia which ratified the Convention in 2003. The significance of the Convention is that it not only outlines the list of rights states are obliged to respect and provide for, but it also introduces the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) whose role is to safeguard the rights guaranteed under the Convention. In other words, individuals and legal entities […]
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On 29 February 2016, the Serbian Parliament adopted the new Act on General Administrative Procedure (the Act), which came into effect on 9 March 2016 and will be enforced as of 1 June 2017, save for certain provisions which will come into effect on 7 June 2016. This is a completely new piece of legislation which will bring significant changes in the field of domestic administrative law. Therefore, a short summary of the most significant provisions of the Act is provided hereafter. The scope of the Act has been significantly extended so as to govern the actions of authorities as […]
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The French Court of Cassation, the highest court in French judiciary, referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) for the preliminary ruling certain questions related to interpretation on the intersection between farm policy in France under the Common Agricultural Policy (the “CAP”) and the EU antitrust legislation. The referral stems from the 2012 case in which the French Competition Authority fined 10 growers of endives and seven associations in France with more than 4 million euros for price fixing, managing volumes of endives put on sale and exchange of information. Namely, according to the Article […]
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On February 25, 2016, in the joined cases Promoimpresa srl v Consorzio dei Comuni della Sponda Bresciana del Lago di Garda e del Lago di Idro, Regione Lombardia, and Mario Melis, Tavolara Beach Sas, and Dionigi Piredda, Claudio Del Giudice v Comune di Loiri Porto San Paolo, Provincia di Olbia Tempio (hereinafter: Promoimpresa and others), Mr. Maciej Szpunar, an Advocate General at the EU Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) since 2013, produced a nonbinding opinion for the ECJ stating that the European Union (the “EU”) law precludes national legislation under which the period of validity of […]
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In a world where a website is the face of a business, we are proud that our continuous efforts to communicate with our clients and the wider public in an innovative, comprehensive and clear manner have been widely recognized. We are pleased to announce that www.geciclaw.com recently received international recognition as one of the most innovative websites for a professional service provider. In February 2016, www.geciclaw.com was nominated for the best website in 2016 by AWWWARDS.com, a leading international portal for web-design. Awwwards recognizes the talent and effort of the best web designers, developers and agencies in the world. The nomination and evaluation process is conducted […]
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After the European Commission (the “Commission”) by its decision from 5 October 20141 imposed a fine of more than 38 millions of euros on Slovak Telekom for the abuse of its dominant position on Slovak market for broadband services, Slovak Telekom has come to face damage claims from mobile operators Orange Slovensko and SWAN. The said operators claimed damages they allegedly suffered before Bratislava court, in the amount exceeding 280 million euros on the grounds of the said Commission’s decision that found Slovak Telekom has abused its dominant position. By the same 2014 decision of the Commission, Deutsche Telekom was […]
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On 11 February 2016, the Serbian Commission for the Protection of Competition (the “Competition Commission”) published on its official website the Guidance Concerning Requests for Individual Exemption (the “Guidance”). The overall message the Guidance sends can be seen as a warning that Competition Commission will no longer tolerate delays in notification of restrictive agreements – the deadline for such notification is immediately, otherwise annulment and fines may be incurred. Namely, the Competition Commission, having in mind frequently asked questions in its everyday practice, concluded that it should provide more detailed information regarding the notifications of restrictive agreements. In particular, as stated […]
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