European Commission’s call for action to combat SLAPPs against journalists and human right defenders

Claire Filliatre, Esq.

How to effectively combat SLAPPs that can be initiated against journalists and human rights defenders when they denounce facts that are upsetting for the targeted persons?

This is the issue that the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are currently working on. On April 27, 2022, they proposed a Directive “on protecting persons who engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings”.

How can companies increase the purchasing power of their employees while minimizing costs?

Fabien Pomart, Esq. and Matthieu Blaschczyk, Esq.

The 2022 Rectifying Finance Law of August 16, 2022 provides for social measures to improve purchasing power that the employer can take advantage of.

These measures include, but are not limited to, the new value-sharing bonus, more flexibility on professional expenses, the buyback of RTT days and new provisions to support employee savings.

The trademark “L’EQUIPE” partially revoked after a legal saga of more than 10 years

Sandrine Petoin, Esq.

The trademark “L’EQUIPE”, renowned in the sports publishing business, had also been registered for other services. However, its owner should have made a serious use of it to have a strong legal base to bring an action for infringement and to avoid the risk of revocation.

But, for judges, sponsoring a sporting event does not mean making use of…

Justice must be seen to be done: Asserting the principle of objective impartiality

Victor Trouttet, Esq.

In a decision handed down on June 22, 2022, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) overturned a judgment of the Rouen Investigation Chamber and held that an investigating judge who has indicted an individual who subsequently files an application for release from pre-trial detention may not act as liberty and custody judge in this same case.

International Perspective: Norway propose data centre law

This month, we are pleased to feature a contribution entitled Norway propose data centre law authored by Jeppe Songe-Møller and Sondre Arora Aaserud from the Norwegian law firm Schjød.

The Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has proposed changes in the Norwegian Electronic Communications Act and the Norwegian Electronic Communications Regulations to implement legal requirements for data centres.

The Ministry proposes, inter alia, that data centres will be required to register and comply with a set of security requirements.

This proposal has been submitted for consultation, and the deadline for contributions was 9 September 2022. The proposal is expected to be presented to Parliament during the autumn.