EU rules that Industrial Action is unlawful unless justified if it restricts Freedom of Establishment or Freedom to Provide Services (12/18/2007): Trade Unions may be in breach of the EU rules on freedom of establishment if they instigate industrial action with the aim of preventing an employer from relocating its business from an EU member state to a lower cost economy. Any trade union activity or collective action which seeks to partition the labour market along national lines or to prevent an employer from providing services in another member state or a third country will only be lawful if its aim is in the public interest, such as the protection of workers, and any such action must be appropriate and proportionate to that aim.
Guarantee or Indemnity? (12/18/2007): The UK Court of Appeal recently considered the issue of whether an undertaking was a contract of guarantee or an indemnity*. In order to enforce a guarantee, it must be in writing and signed by the guarantor, whereas this requirement does not extend to an indemnity.
Rules Of Court Will Be Interpreted So That Businesses Cannot Evade Discovery By Keeping Their Records In A Particular Technological Or Electronic Form (12/11/2007): In a decision recently delivered on a discovery application, the Supreme Court stated that even though the rules of court concerning discovery have not been adapted to take account of modern technology, Orders for the discovery of documents will be made in a manner that deals with advances in technology.
No Agreement On Equal Rights for Agency Workers (12/11/2007): At a meeting of EU ministers last week, Ireland and the UK objected to a draft Directive which proposed to give temporary workers equal rights to permanent workers in terms of pay and conditions after just six weeks of placement with an end user organisation. Discussion on the draft Directive at EU level has now been postponed to 2008 and it is understood that the Irish Government is seeking to extend the qualifying period for equal treatment of agency workers to a minimum of six months placement with the end user organisation.
Regulations on Misleading and Comparative advertising enter into force (12/04/2007): Businesses should ensure that their advertisements or marketing communications for goods, services or facilities comply with the new Regulations on misleading and comparative advertising which came into force on the 20th November 2007. The new legislation provides that a marketing communication is misleading if in any way (including its presentation) it deceives or is likely to deceive the trader to whom it is addressed or whom it reaches, and by reason of its deceptive nature, it is likely to affect the trader's economic behaviour or, for those reasons, to injure or be likely to injure a competitor.
Implementation of Third Money Laundering Directive expected shortly (12/04/2007): The Third Money Laundering Directive is due to be implemented in Member States on 15th December next.
Commencement Order For Certain Sections Of Patents (Amendment) Act 2006 (11/29/2007): The Patents (Amendment) Act 2006 (Certain Provisions) (Commencement) Order 2007 (S.I. No. 761 of 2007) has just appeared in Iris Oifigiuil.
New Directive Dispenses with Need for Expert’s Report in Mergers and Divisions of Public Companies (11/27/2007): A new Directive (Directive 2007/63/EC) has been published by the European Commission ("EC") which provides that public limited liability companies undertaking a merger or division may dispense with the requirement for an independent expert's report on the merger or division, following approval by all the shareholders.
Public Procurement: ECJ Finds that An Post Contract did not Breach EC Law (11/27/2007): The European Court of Justice has ruled that the EC Commission had failed to provide evidence in support of an action in which it claimed that Ireland had infringed its EC Treaty obligations by awarding a contract, without prior advertising, to An Post.
UK Decision Highlights the Need for Caution by Individual Guarantors (11/27/2007): A recent case in the UK High Court, persuasive here in Ireland, highlights the need for individual guarantors to consider carefully the wording of their guarantees. Any guarantee should reflect the obligations a guarantor undertakes as well as allowing him any defences to payment.

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