NEWS
Article on ‘counterfeit hotspots in malta that brand owners should have on their enforcement radar’
Sarah Galea of IURIS Advocates has contributed to an article published on the World Trademark Review on counterfeiting in Malta. The article notes that, due to its location between Europe and North Africa, Malta is an important Mediterranean port for...
Data Protection: EU Citizens’ Right to be Forgotten Limited to EU Territory
On the 24th September 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Case No C-507/17 in the names ‘Google LLC v Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL)’ that the ‘right to be forgotten’ principle is limited to the...
Rentals violating the right to property
European Court of Human Rights lambasts the Maltese Constitutional Courts for failing give an effective remedyThe prevailing recent judgments delivered by the Maltese Superior Courts act as a testament to the fact that the Courts of Malta have began to...
Planning authority extends regularisation scheme
Maltese property owners allowed further time to sanction their properties It is no secret that many properties and other developments around the Maltese islands fail to comply fully with planning laws, regulations and policies. Some years back a scheme...
Anti-Money Laundering – Companies Act Regulations Updated
Amendments to the Companies Act (Register of Beneficial Owners) RegulationsWith the coming into force of Legal Notice No. 158 of 2019 as of the 12th July 2019, the Companies Act (Register of Beneficial Owner) Regulations (S.L 386.19)(“the Regulations”) has...
Customer Experience Analysis – Mystery Shopper
Concerned about meeting the needs of companies, IURIS Business Solutions provides them with various tools including customer experience analysis better known as mystery shopping.What is mystery shopping and how does it work?Mystery Shopping is a technique...
Malta property rent laws – short-term residential leases being reviewed
The Maltese rent laws have over the years gone through a number of amendments. The liberalisation of the private rentals sector in 1995, following the overly-regulated regime previously in force, allowed the parties the freedom to contract as they wished....
Consumer affairs and competition laws receive much awaited overhaul
Act XVI of 2019 was recently enacted to amend the Consumer Affairs Act, Cap. 378 and the Competition Act, Cap. 379 in order to extend the competence of the Civil Court (Commercial Section) and to make ancillary and consequential provisions thereto.The...
Avoidance of damage to third party property regulations in Malta
Building regulations amended to avoid damages to third parties in MaltaFollowing the increasing number of construction accidents, the Government issued the Avoidance of Damage to Third Party Property Regulations on the 25th of June 2019, by means of Legal...
Malta Implements the Trade Secrets Directive
On the 14th May 2019, the Trade Secrets Act, 2018 (“the Act”) came into force. This Act transposes Directive (EU) 2016/943 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and...
MFSA and FIAU issue joint Guidance Note for Institutions opening accounts for FinTechs
The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) jointly issued, on the 18th June 2019, Guidelines for financial institutions opening bank accounts for FinTechs. Both Authorities, being aware of the risks...
Pre-1995 & current Maltese lease laws inconsistent with landlords’ fundamental human rights
The Maltese Superior Courts in a momentous socio-legal setting recently took the bull by the horns and confronted a legal hot potato: the landowners’ fundamental right to property. The past seventy years have seen the introduction of laws specifically...
European Court further safeguards employees’ rights
Member States of the EU must require employers to set up a system to measure hours worked daily.The Court of Justice of the European Union has recently ruled on whether a Member State should have in place a law to oblige employers to set up a system to...
The MFSA published Guidance Notes on Cybersecurity
We live in an increasingly data rich society where information is more accessible and shared than ever before. However, at the same time, the need for this information to be protected from misappropriation is vital. Advances in technology mean that...
Harmonisation of EU Trademark Legislation and the new Malta Trademark Act
In light of the economic importance of trademark rights and regulation to the EU internal market as well as to the national economies of all Member States, in 2008 the EU embarked on a total reform of its trademark legislation which resulted in the...
Shareholders Rights & Directors’ Liabilities
Shareholders’ recourse against company director restricted – remedy available only while company is still in operationThe court restricted a director’s liability in a recent judgement in which plaintiffs invoked unfair prejudice in terms of Article 402 (1)...
Constitutional decision on Maltese rent laws – Low band club rent in breach of owners’ humans rights
Over the years there have been numerous amendments to the Maltese laws on lease, the most recent being Act XXVII of 2018 relating to dwelling houses and commercial leases, with the exclusion of band clubs. Under contemporary civil law, The Reletting of...
Controversial EU Copyright Directive approved: enhanced rights for copyright owners or the end of internet freedom?
This week, on the 26th March 2019, the European Parliament approved the controversial EU Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market [“the Directive”] which will now pass on to the European Council for final approval by Member States. Should the...