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EU: Interest Rate Derivatives Cartel – HSBC Fined
European LawEuro interest rate derivatives: The European General Court (GC) has confirmed the EU Commission’s revised decision against HSBC, imposing a fine of EUR 31.7 million for participating in a euro interest rate derivatives cartel. Interest rate derivativ...
GER: Constitutional Court on EncroChat Data as Evidence
Constitutional LawThis is the first time that the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, hereinafter BVerfG) has been asked whether the use of EncroChat messages as evidence is constitutionally permissible. The case at hand was a constitutional...
E-Scooter Accidents Aren’t Occupational Injuries
Civil LawAccording to the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH), if an employee has an e-scooter accident on their way to work, the Austrian national accident insurance does not have to pay a disability pension. In February 2023, the ...
CJEU: Union Citizens May Join Political Parties Abroad
European LawEU Citizenship: The European Court of Justice has ruled that denying EU citizens the right to become members of a political party when they reside in a Member State of which they are not nationals is contrary to EU law. In imposing such a condition o...
GER: Banking Fees – Silence Doesn’t Imply Consent
Civil LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) had to decide on a dispute about bank service fees which a customer wanted to recover from his bank. The reason was that he had not explicitly agreed to pay bank service fees. A...
OGH on Property Disturbance by Water Runoff
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has clarified the conditions under which a landowner is entitled to obtain an injunction to stop water from flowing across his property and when such runoff must be tolerated. In the ...
OGH on Permissibility of Interest Escalating Clauses
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has ruled on the question of whether a loan agreement is null and void on account of, among other things, an agreed interest escalation clause. In the case at hand, the plaintiff, a c...
GER: Inheritance Tax – Tax-Free Allowance for Grandchildren
Tax LawIf a grandchild inherits from their grandfather, can they claim the EUR 400,000 tax-free allowance available only to children? Yes, if the child’s grandfather's parent is no longer alive. But what if the parent simply renounced? In the case at hand, ...
OGH on Advance Agreement on Matrimonial Homeownership
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) had to clarify whether a prior agreement on the marital home was valid in the context of property settlement proceedings. The parties’ marriage, contracted in June 1990, was dissolved...
VwGH: Disciplinary Penalty despite Previous Warning
Administrative LawThe Austrian Supreme Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) had to decide whether the imposition of a disciplinary sanction on a civil servant who had previously received a warning under Section 109(2) of the 1979 Austrian Ci...
OGH on Product Liability for Medical Devices
Civil LawIn the case at hand, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) had to decide on the product liability of a sleep apnoea ventilator. The plaintiff had purchased a ventilator imported into the EEA by the defendant. After severa...
CJEU on Victim Compensation
European LawVictims of violent crime must be adequately compensated under European Union law. The European Court of Justice has ruled that the automatic exclusion of family members of a murder victim is not compatible with this requirement. Other aspects in addi...
OGH on Official and State Liability for Illegal Online Gambling
Civil LawAn unlawful and culpable act of an official body in the execution of the law, which obliges the legal entity to pay compensation pursuant to Section 1 of the Official Liability Act (Amtshaftungsgesetz, hereinafter AHG), can also be an omission if the...
GER: Passenger Rights – Precautionary Cancellations Allowed
Civil LawThe German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has ruled that airlines must be given some leeway in assessing what constitutes an appropriate measure in the event of extreme weather conditions. A causal link between an extraordinary cir...
UrhG: Political Party used a drawing of ‘The Robber Hotzenplotz’
Civil LawThe free use of a work presupposes that the work of another person is not taken over in an identical or modified form, not even as a model or working document, but only as a suggestion for one’s own work. The plaintiff publisher holds various rights ...
GER: Burden of Proof for Damage to Hired Cars
Civil LawWho bears the burden of proof that a hired car was in an undamaged condition before it was taken over by the hirer? This question has been considered by the Regional Court of Muenster, Germany. In the case at hand, a customer had hired a Sprinter van...
GDPR – Is it Allowed to Publish Workplace Email Addresses?
Administrative LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) has ruled on whether the publication of school teachers’ official email addresses on the school website is in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The ap...
EU: Crédit Agricole and Credit Suisse Involved in Government Bond Cartel
European LawCrédit agricole and Credit Suisse have participated in an agreement to fix US dollar denominated sovereign and government bond prices. The fine imposed by the Commission in 2021 has now been confirmed by the European Court of Justice (CJEU). In 2018,...
OGH on Standard Terms in Rental Contracts
Civil LawIn a case brought by a consumer protection organisation, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has prohibited the use of 37 clauses that are unfavourable to consumers in pre-formulated rental contracts of a property manag...
GER: Federal Court on Copyrightability of Drone Footage
Civil LawIf aerial photographs of works protected by copyright are taken with the aid of drones, they do not fall within the scope of the freedom to take panoramic photographs. The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, hereinafter BGH) confirmed...
CJEU on Early Loan Repayment Fees
European LawThe European Court of Justice has recently ruled on a claim for the partial reimbursement of the commission paid in the event of the early repayment of a mortgage loan. In the case at hand, a consumer had taken out a mortgage for a period of 360 mont...
OGH on Photovoltaic Systems and Grid Access Fees
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has ruled on the question of whether a grid access fee must be paid when a power generation system is connected to an existing grid already in use by the customer. In the case at hand...
May Official Submissions be Submitted by Email?
Administrative LawThe Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, hereinafter VwGH) has ruled on the question of whether submissions must be sent to the specific email address provided by an authority on their website. In May 2023, in the case at hand, the ...
CJEU: Ending FIFA Transfers Penalty Rule
European LawSome of FIFA’s rules on international transfers of professional footballers are in breach of EU law. This was recently decided by the European Court of Justice (CJEU), as the rules are an unnecessary restriction on the free movement of players and co...
OGH on Notarisation of Dowries
Civil LawIn 1998, a ‘bridal gift’ had been promised to the bride at a Muslim wedding. According to the old version of the Austrian Civil Code (Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, hereinafter ABGB) this gift is to be understood as a dowry and, according to th...
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