On July 7th 2017, the Dutch Supreme Court added a new chapter to the case law it has developed over the years regarding the termination of continuing performance contracts, making a specific exception for publishing agreements regarding copyrighted works (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:1270). Disputes between parties that have mutually accepted continuing obligations often revolve around the question whether and on what conditions one … Read more
On 1 July 2017, the act against unreasonably long payment terms came into effect (the ‘Act’). The Act aims to shorten payment terms throughout the supply chain and for SMEs in particular. In short, the Act prohibits large companies acting as purchasers from imposing payment terms of longer than 60 days on SMEs acting as suppliers (or service providers). It … Read more
These days, there is a lot of talk about the “sharing” economy. The basic idea is that there is no need to buy, say, tools or domestic equipment if it is possible to borrow it for free from someone around the corner and vice versa. But what if the borrowed object gets damaged or stolen? Should the borrower then compensate … Read more
The acknowledgement of a claim interrupts the five years’ prescription period for claims for payment (art. 3:318 DCC). On 21 April 2017, the Dutch Supreme Court answered the question whether the conduct of one company can qualify as the acknowledgement of a claim by another company (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:755). The answer was “yes”, but the Supreme Court evaded the fundamental questions raised … Read more
In short The Dutch Supreme Court emphasized on 2 June 2017 that the threshold for accepting liability of a supervisory authority is high (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:987). In its judgment, the Supreme Court also ruled that the State does not have a strengthened obligation to furnish facts in cases of liability of supervisory authorities. It depends on the circumstances of the case whether … Read more
In its decisions of 2 June 2017 (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:1008) and 9 June 2017 (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:1053), the Dutch Supreme Court reconfirmed its case law on causation, the condicio sine qua non test and the so-called “reversal” rule in the law of evidence pertaining to this test. Although strictly speaking, these decisions might not bring much news, they show that carrying out the condicio … Read more
In its decisions of 2 June 2017 (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:1008) and 9 June 2017 (ECLI:NL:HR:2017:1053), the Dutch Supreme Court reconfirmed its case law on causation, the condicio sine qua non test and the so-called “reversal” rule in the law of evidence pertaining to this test. Although strictly speaking, these decisions might not bring much news, they show that carrying out the condicio … Read more
On 1 September 2017, the KEI legislation for claims with mandatory representation (Civil 1.0) will enter into force at the courts of Gelderland and Central Netherlands. From this date, litigation will only be processed digitally in these courts. In principle, the KEI legislation for Civil 1.0 procedures will be rolled out nationally at the other first instance courts five months … Read more
The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that that a prejudiced person’s knowledge of another person possibly being liable for the damage suffered is not sufficient certainty regarding the identity of the liable person for the short limitation period of five years to start running (Dutch Supreme Court, 31 March 2017, ECLI:NL:HR:2017:552). Legal background An action to claim damages is prescribed five … Read more
Civil liability of a so-called notified body for negligent fulfilling of its supervisory obligations under the directive on medical devices (93/42/EEC) is not excluded, the ECJ ruled in its judgment of 16 February 2017 in Elisabeth Schmitt (C-219/15). Conditions of such liability are governed by national law. Background Elisabeth Schmitt had breast implants fitted. Unfortunately, they turned out to be … Read more