Hyperlinks are common. But are they lawful if they link to copyrighted documents? The European Court of Justice issued a decision on Internet links for the first time this past February.

The Corporations Act has brought a lot of positive changes since January. Members of corporations certainly welcome the option to pay profit share advances on the basis of interim financial statements, provided the corporation clearly has enough to pay them and other legal conditions are fulfilled.

The mandates of some former European MPs have stimulated legislative endeavours by Community authorities. Long sought-after rules for public contracts and concessions, and audits of financial statements, were finalized and adopted in the first months of 2014.

Despite a certain cautiousness, according to professor Jan Dědič, a KŠB partner and co-author of the legislation, one can see growing interest in the new legal institutes that are supposed to simplify the lives of firms and their managers.

In March, the European Parliament passed in the first reading an amendment to the original draft AML Directive, which requires Member States to establish registers of legal entities and trust structures in which the end owners and beneficiaries will be listed. The information is to be available to the public. This means that not only major (at least 25%) shareholders but also beneficiaries of private foundations, trusts and similar structures will be disclosed.  KŠB lawyer Vlastimil Pihera comments on the draft as follows:

From 2008 to 2012, emission allowances were allocated to electricity producers in the amount determined by the National Allocation Plan. But this originally trouble-free matter may become expensive for the state.

This past spring, KŠB partner Jiří Horník took part in an international air transport conference in Bucharest. The topic of his discussion, which you can read more about at www.patria.cz/pravo, concerned the operations of regional airports, which often have to fight for their own survival. Many regional airports rely on state aid, which has become harder to obtain following the introduction of stricter rules. In practice, many airports could wind up in trouble.

KŠB advised J&T Banka on issuing bonds that offer investors a fixed yield with no maturity date.

KŠB advises LEO Express in litigation against České dráhy, a.s. concerning compensation for damage

KŠB partner Pavel Dejl and KŠB associate Martin Krčmář comment on competition law in international publication CEE Legal Matters

Who’s Who Legal has identified KŠB Tax Partner Helena Navrátilová as one of the Czech Republic’s two experts in corporate tax.

Amendment to the Savings Income Directive

Professor Jan Dědič, a KŠB partner and expert lawyer involved in the re-enactment of Czech private law, explains how he feels about a number issues introduced by the new Corporations Act.

In 2014, Kocián Šolc Balaštík and many of its lawyers were recognized in several international legal rankings such as IFLR 2014 in categories such as M&A, banking & finance, capital markets and restructuring & insolvency.

The major theme featured by X Lege No. 3 is what the new Civil Code will bring.

Law firm KŠB has received awards from Corporate INTL, a British magazine and online database for consultancy services with a global reach.

C. H. Beck has published the first part of commentary on the new Civil Code. With contributions from KŠB attorneys Vlastimil Pihera and Jan Lasák.

Accounting

Income tax Tax on acquisition of immovable items

VAT returns to be filed electronically next year

Remus is a unique Czech project designed for exchanging data on multiple sclerosis patients. The database links separate statistics kept by governmental health institutions, health insurance companies and professional medical societies, with anonymized data helping to serve scientific, statistical and economic purposes. KŠB provided pro bono advice on personal data protection issues.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík advised Tarsago Media Group on the September 2013 acquisition of Czech and Slovak companies from the USReader’s Digest Association. The acquisition followed a May purchase of Reader’s Digest companies in Poland, Hungary and Romania which took place in line with the worldwide restructuring of Reader’s Digest’s operations.

Commission Recommendation of February 2003 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services Official Journal of the European Union of 8 May 2003, L 114, p. 45

VAT guarantee postponed Guarantee for VAT - Payments in special cases

Legal measures by the Senate

KŠB Managing Partner Dagmar Dubecká climbed twelve steps to #13 in this year’s TOP 25 Women of Czech Business poll held by Hospodářské noviny. Dagmar also won the category of Legal Services, Consulting & Audit.

From the 7th through the 11th of October, Kocián Šolc Balaštík will take part in the 2013 International Engineering Fair in Brno.

Invoicing rules; Vat on insurance operations; Correction of tax amounts on receivables due from debtors in insolvency proceedings; Unpaid tax to be guaranteed by recipients

Liability for unpaid tax; Collective corrective tax document; Specialized Financial Office

KŠB successfully represented WEEE collection system operator REMA Systém, a.s. in proceedings before the Supreme Administrative Court. The case involved the procedural aspects of an action filed for protection against the Ministry of the Environment’s failure to act.

The second issue of KŠB’s quarterly newsletter X Lege includes an interview with recodification co-author and KŠB partner Prof. Jan Dědič, who discusses the current wording and planned changes of the legislation accompanying the new Civil Code. This issue also includes an article on the upcoming amendment to the Income Tax Act, which is currently under consideration and which is an important step towards establishing a single collection point.

KŠB provided legal advice to BM Management s.r.o. during the acquisition of Centrum Holdings s.r.o., the operator of Aktuálně.cz, Centrum.cz, Atlas.cz and other web portals, by Economia, a.s.

KŠB advised Verdi Capital, a hedge fund, on the acquisition of three Czech solar parks with an overall installed output of 10.8 MWp. Two of the solar parks (which represent almost half of the total installed output) are roof-top installations. The seller was the Enfinity Group, a leading Belgian solar park developer.

KŠB, in cooperation with the law student association ELSA, held a Contract Competition for law school students at the beginning of May. The competition, which comprises simulated contract negotiations, included written and oral contests and culminated in verbal negotiations “between the parties”.

The General Tax Directorate issued information that tax authorities will, for the time being, refrain from calling upon guarantors to pay unpaid VAT.

Registration Proceedings Penalty for Late Tax Statement

In a recent interview for business-focused daily Hospodářské noviny, KŠB Lawyer Tomáš Sequens talked about the current situation regarding energy performance certificates (EPCs).

Renowned British rating company Chambers and Partners recommends KŠB and its lawyers in several categories in “Chambers Europe 2013”.

Data Boxes Regional Offices Unused Vacation Time

Cooperation Persons Solidarity Surcharge & Advance Payments

The renowned British rating company Chambers and Partners recommends KŠB and its lawyers in three law categories in “Chambers Global 2013”.

KŠB helped a major mineral water company win injunction proceedings in a dispute over ads painted on Prague trams.

Law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík has been nominated for the Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence 2013 in the category of National Firms. This prestigious award is given by the renowned British rating agency Chambers and Partners.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík represented Advanced World Transport a.s. and helped it win a more-than-year-long dispute over the prices for using the Czech railway system.

KŠB Partner Martin Šolc explains in Lidové noviny’s regular supplement “Právo & Justice” why it would be a shame to postpone the recodification of Czech private law, which is due to take force and effect in 2014.

The latest issue of X Lege discusses the upcoming Investment Companies and Investment Funds Bill, which should be enacted by 1 July 2013. This issue also highlights the Supreme Court’s ruling that employers are not required to offer replacement jobs to laid-off employees. The decision, which should be obeyed by all courts hearing labour disputes, inures to the benefit of an employer counselled by KŠB. We also look at the expanded list of supplies for which businesses may be required to guarantee VAT for their suppliers, as well as the European Union’s regulations introducing unitary patent protection in almost all EU Member States under a single application. As always, X Lege features issues regarding the approaching recodification of Czech private law, with this issue focusing on certain temporary provisions. To read the entire X Lege, click here.

KŠB’s legal team was expanded recently by the addition of two new attorneys: Zuzana Císařová and Martin Krčmář. Zuzana is a specialist in intellectual property law, media and advertising, labour law, litigation and arbitration proceedings, while Martin specializes in competition law, unfair competition, and state aid law.

KŠB Institute, a new learning platform tailor-made for managers and lawyers but also available to general public, will be launched in February. KŠB has designed the institute to help ensure its clients are ready for the substantial changes to be introduced by the recodification of Czech private law.

Renowned British rating agency Who’s Who Legal, which has recommended the foremost legal practitioners in 32 categories in over 100 countries worldwide since 1996, lists three KŠB experts in its latest guide.

Following a recent ruling by the Czech Supreme Court, employers will no longer be required to offer another job to employees who are dismissed on grounds of redundancy, not even if a suitable job is open at the same place of employment. This practice was approved by the Supreme Court in order to unify civil and commercial judicial practice and should be followed by all courts charged with settling labour disputes.

On 1 January 2013, Jiří Horník (38) became a new partner at Kocián Šolc Balaštík (KŠB). Jiří specialises in property law and project financing and is one of only a few Czech experts on aviation and aerospace law. KŠB now has nine partners.

The new year often brings legislative changes and this year is no exception. The outline below summarizes the most important acts and amendments taking effect at the beginning of 2013, including new or amended provisions in civil procedure, energy law, pension reform, environmental law, tax, health insurance and the expropriation of real property.