Usancen Blog
BMJ adjusts late withdrawal for life insurance policies
Civil LawThe Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice has presented a government bill to amend the Insurance Contract Act (Versicherungsvertragsgesetz, VersVG). It is now to be clarified that in the event of a late withdrawal from a life insurance policy, all pre...
Update: On the implementation of the Directive on representative actions
European LawThe European "Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing" (Directive 2020/1828) of November 25, 2020 obliges member states to establish a procedure for collective redress and adequate...
OGH: Copyright or editorial secrecy?
Civil LawIn the present case, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) was called upon to balance the request for information - about the producer of the copyright infringing material of the right holder, in order to protect his ownership right ...
Maklergesetz: Government plans buyer principle for residential rentals
Civil LawThe Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice (Bundesministerium für Justiz, BMJ) has submitted its draft for the introduction of the "Bestellerprinzip" (buyer's principle) for the brokerage of residential tenancy agreements for review. In the future, onl...
DE: Is the state liable in case of a corona-related business closure?
Civil LawThe German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) decided: A restaurateur is neither entitled to compensation nor to damages against the state due to a corona-related area-wide temporary business closure. In the case at hand, a restaurateur h...
ECJ: Air passenger rights in the event of a delay in a third country
European LawThe European Court of Justice (ECJ) was called upon to clarify whether the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation also applies when a flight departs with a transfer in the EU but the delay only occurs on the second leg of the flight, which takes place in...
OGH on curatorship for GmbH shareholders
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) has decided that the mere fact that the mother and the children are shareholders does not in itself justify the appointment of a curator. In the case at hand, the two minors as well as the mother...
OGH: Members of a cooperative have right of inspection under the GDPR
Civil LawArticle 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates the facts that justify the processing of data, whereby several standards of permission exist side by side. All facts are equivalent and consent does not necessarily have to be fulfi...
EU Commission: Temporary Crisis Framework for economic support
European LawThe European Commission has adopted an addition to state aid law due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Temporary Crisis Framework is intended to provide new possibilities for member states to support businesses, in coordination with existing state...
DE: Bill to simplify cross-border deliveries between EU member states
Civil LawA new draft law of the Federal Government aims to significantly simplify and accelerate the taking of evidence and cross-border deliveries between EU member states. In the future, requests for legal assistance between individual member states are to ...
DE: Reasonableness of personal delivery of a brief
Civil LawIf a court handling an application for reinstatement considers the personal delivery of a brief to be a reasonable means of delivery, the applicant must be given the opportunity to respond before the decision on reinstatement is made. If this is not ...
OGH: Termination of a student dorm room due to Distance Learning
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) has decided that the switch to distance learning at a university entitles the student to terminate a student dormitory prematurely. In the case at hand, the student from Slovakia had rented a roo...
OGH: Consequences of late withdrawal from a life insurance
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) decided that Section 176 para 1 of the Insurance Contract Act (Versicherungsvertragsgesetz, VersVG) is contrary to EU law if it provides the same legal effects for the withdrawal from an endowmen...
OGH: On the reference value of a job-related invention
Civil LawIn the present case, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) examined the remuneration for a job-related invention to be discussed in the course of a step-by-step action. The plaintiff was an employee of the defendant or its legal pred...
HG Wien: Terms of use of WhatsApp are targeted
Civil LawThe Austrian Association for Consumer Information (Verein für Konsumenteninformation, VKI) took the operator of the well-known messaging service "WhatsApp" to the Vienna Commercial Court (Handelsgericht Wien, HG Wien) because of some of its terms of ...
DE: Provisional application of CETA upheld by BVerfG
Constitutional LawThe German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, BVerfG) had to decide on an action filed by the Left Party (“Die Linke”) parliamentary group in the Bundestag and on other numerous constitutional complaints against the provisional a...
OGH: Prohibition of sale prevents joining foreclosure proceedings
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) clarified that a prohibition of encumbrance and sale also prevents joining an existing forced foreclosure procedure. In the case at hand, the obligated party and his wife each owned half of a pro...
ECJ on the "order with obligation to pay" button
Civil LawThe European Court of Justice (ECJ) has decided that, for the purpose of determining whether, when concluding a distance contract by electronic means, a phrase used on the order button corresponds to the words "order with obligation to pay", solely t...
OGH upholds case law on property transfer in the new inheritance law
Civil LawIn a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) maintains that the granting of a right of usufruct no longer prevents a transfer of assets under the Inheritance Law Amendment Act 2015 (Erbrechtsänderungsgesetz, ErbRÄG 201...
OGH: On legal capacity after BREXIT
Corporate LawIn the present case, the Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) dealt with the question of the legal capacity or universal succession of a British company after the application of the freedom of establishment had ceased. The plaintiff is ...
VwGH: Particularly dangerous conditions due to U-turns
Public LawIn the present case, the Austrian Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, VwGH) addressed particularly dangerous conditions with regard to road traffic under the Driving Licence Act (Führerscheingesetz, FSG). Due to his manoeuvre, the co-involv...
OGH: Cancellation of continued commission payment immoral
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) decided that the contractual cancellation of the continuation of commission payments for commercial agents who are not “employee-like” can be immoral. The plaintiff was a self-employed commercial...
OGH: No exemption from liability under the CMR
Corporate LawIf the hauler is responsible for gross negligence within the meaning of Article 29 of the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR), the person entitled to compensation may demand compensation for all damages th...
OGH on community property inter vivos
Civil LawIn the case of community property among living persons (inter vivos), one spouse has a legal claim to the registration of his or her co-ownership of the property of the other spouse covered by the community property. The termination of the community ...
OGH: Transfer of duties pursuant to § 9 para 1 BauKG requires written form
Civil LawThe Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, OGH) decided that the transfer of the building owner's duties to a project manager pursuant to Section 9 para 1 of the Building Coordination Act (Baukoordinationsgesetz, BauKG) must be in writing in a...
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