Sponsored briefing: Turkey | Data protection during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sponsored briefing: Turkey | Data protection during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dear Clients, Colleagues and Friends,

Following the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization, increasingly restrictive measures to curb the spread of the virus have been taken in Turkey, as in many other countries all over the world. These measures lead to additional personal data processing activities, and raise new challenges in terms of compliance with data protection law. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Turkey | Data protection during the COVID-19 pandemic”

Sponsored profile: Gajski, Grlic, Prka & Partners, Zagreb, Croatia

Sponsored profile: Gajski, Grlic, Prka & Partners, Zagreb, Croatia

The team at GGP gives an overview of the firm’s offering including a focus on how it is meeting the needs of clients during the coronavirus crisis

Gajski, Grlić, Prka & Partners Law Firm (GGP) is a Croatian full-service law firm with extensive experience in litigation, corporate and commercial law, M&A, labour law, insolvency law, privatisation and restructuring proceedings, public procurement, competition policy and state aid as well as intellectual property. We have a special department for criminal law with an emphasis on most complex white-collar crimes where we lean on our multidisciplinary approach and a wide knowledge covering criminal, commercial and tax law. Continue reading “Sponsored profile: Gajski, Grlic, Prka & Partners, Zagreb, Croatia”

Sponsored spotlight: Dispute resolution: Strategic case management with legal acumen

Sponsored spotlight: Dispute resolution: Strategic case management with legal acumen

State court litigation and private arbitration proceedings require practitioners to combine legal thoroughness and the management of evidence with strategic ingenuity. Understanding court processes, legal practice and tactical procedural advantages all add up to sound advice in contentious legal matters.

Dispute resolution in all its appearances enjoys a long-standing tradition at Prager Dreifuss. Our attorneys represent parties before local state courts as well as administrative authorities. Debt collection and bankruptcy matters are strong areas of our practice, in particular in disputes involving foreign parties. International arbitration has attained special significance in our firm and a number of our attorneys are regularly appointed as arbitrators in institutional and ad hoc arbitration tribunals. Continue reading “Sponsored spotlight: Dispute resolution: Strategic case management with legal acumen”

Sponsored briefing: Measures taken by the regulatory authorities in the banking sector regarding the Covid-19 outbreak

Sponsored briefing: Measures taken by the regulatory authorities in the banking sector regarding the Covid-19 outbreak

The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (the BRSA), the Central Bank of Republic of Turkey (the CBRT) and the Banks’ Association of Turkey (the BAT) have swiftly taken several measures after the declaration of the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Turkey on 11 March 2020 in order to mitigate the outbreak’s impact on the financial markets and soften expected disruptions in commercial activities that may be caused by Covid-19. Such measures are set forth by the relevant regulators in order to provide flexibility to financial institutions (the FIs) to ensure (i) financial stability of the FIs and (ii) meet FIs customers’ needs such as facilitating cash flow of individuals and SMEs which are likely to be the most affected by this outbreak and ultimately to mitigate the macroeconomic effects and risks arising from Covid-19 in financial markets.

Firstly, the BRSA, in its press release dated 16 March 2020, indicated that the business continuity plans prepared routinely by banks in accordance with the Guide on Management of Operational Risks with the aim of continuity of FIs’ activities and limitation of losses which arise from severe business interruptions are re-examined by the BRSA and in this regard all necessary measures are taken. This measure has been taken by the BRSA within the framework of prudent supervision approach. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Measures taken by the regulatory authorities in the banking sector regarding the Covid-19 outbreak”

Sponsored briefing: Labour law issues in Covid-19 crisis

Sponsored briefing: Labour law issues in Covid-19 crisis

Upon confirmation of the spread of Covid-19 in Turkey with the declaration of the first case on 11 March 2020 and simultaneously with the World Health Organization’s declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, government started to take certain measures including banning people above the age of 65 from going out; closing down certain workplaces. The measures are actively changing based on the evolution of the pandemic disease, yet, no complete lock down has been announced for many sectors but companies are encouraged to take their own measures during this period. This article mainly focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the employment relationship by presenting possible options provided under the Turkish labour legislation.

It is globally accepted that the Covid-19 pandemic is a force majeure event. However, force majeure provisions provided under the Labour Code (Law No 4857) (published in the Official Gazette dated 10 June 2003 and numbered 25134) (Labour Code) allow parties to terminate the employment relationship under limited circumstances. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Labour law issues in Covid-19 crisis”

Sponsored briefing: How to handle contractual disputes in the COVID-19 era

Sponsored briefing: How to handle contractual disputes in the COVID-19 era

Since the COVID-19 coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, strict and unprecedented measures have been gradually imposed by governments around the globe to limit risks of contagion. On 11 March 2020, the severity of the phenomenon was emphasised by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. As circumstances continue to evolve, substantial business and operational disruptions are a cause of great uncertainty that now reigns in various sectors and trade relations around the world. The implications are particularly profound when it comes to performance of contractual obligations in view of COVID-19’s far-reaching socio-economic effects. In this context of a health crisis exacerbated by the unexpected nature of the outbreak, the main issue is whether parties to affected commercial contracts may invoke force majeure as an argument to justify for failure to perform their contractual obligations.

For contracts governed by Turkish law, the first observation to be made is that the concept of force majeure and its defining conditions are not explicitly provided in the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) (published in the Official Gazette dated 4 February 2011 and numbered 27836) (Law No. 6098). The Court of Cassation has come to clarify at various occasions what should be understood by force majeure and under which circumstances parties are entitled to rely upon this concept. Within the framework of the case law and legal doctrine, it can be said that force majeure is deemed to arise when a contracting party’s performance is materially affected by (i) an event beyond his reasonable control, (ii) the effects of which could not have been foreseen at the date of commencement of the legal relationship and (iii) avoided despite all appropriate measures being taken. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: How to handle contractual disputes in the COVID-19 era”

Sponsored briefing: The COVID-19 Handbook – Force majeure and contracts

Sponsored briefing: The COVID-19 Handbook – Force majeure and contracts

The novel coronavirus, now officially known as COVID-19, was first seen in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and continues to spread rapidly worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it an ‘epidemic’ first and then a ‘pandemic’ on 11 March 2020.

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge amid crashed markets and overwhelmed healthcare systems, it is also taking a toll on contractual relationships as countries continue to take drastic measures to flatten the curve of the pandemic. These measures include the ordering of curfews, travel bans and state of emergencies, all of which undoubtedly have enormous impacts on businesses and contracts. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: The COVID-19 Handbook – Force majeure and contracts”

Sponsored briefing: Coronavirus’ effects in terms of Turkish labour law

Sponsored briefing: Coronavirus’ effects in terms of Turkish labour law

A. Introduction

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic constitutes a major problem for the economy and employer-employee relations in Turkey and all over the world. At such a time, it is important to know how the pandemic affects the rights and responsibilities of the employer and the employee. At the same time, it is very difficult for employees and employers to predict how they will come through this, because of the shrinking economy. People tend to do the wrong things in times of crisis. First of all, they can make hasty and wrong decisions in order not to damage themselves. But we should not forget that the law is basically still the same. Although regulatory changes are made according to conditions, like a pandemic, people should not deviate from the basic regulations. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Coronavirus’ effects in terms of Turkish labour law”

Sponsored firm profile:
Poul Schmith

Sponsored firm profile: <br> Poul Schmith

Poul Schmith is a full-service law firm and, with a total staff of 700, we are not only the largest law firm in Denmark but also a clear market leader covering practically all legal areas.

We have extensive experience in the corporate and public sectors, and understand the political environment our clients operate in. The firm has been the preferred legal adviser to the Danish government since 1936 and, when instructed by the Danish government, we are entitled to use the title ‘Kammeradvokaten’, a title established in 1684 by His Majesty King Christian V of Denmark with the purpose of having an attorney to maintain oversight of the King’s treasury. We have increased focus on the corporate sector and our clients include banks, pension funds, insurance companies and private equity funds. Continue reading “Sponsored firm profile:
Poul Schmith”