Actions for Damages in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and German

Short Reads - Since 1 January 2021, EU regulations simplifying cross-border litigation no longer apply in relation to the UK and – in most cases – to parties based in the UK. While some may have expected the way ahead to have cleared by now, the opposite is in fact true: at the time of writing this blog, the EU and UK (or the Netherlands and the UK) have not agreed on any framework that replaces the EU legislation no longer applicable to the UK.

Short Reads - De toegang tot de bestuursrechter staat open voor niet-belanghebbenden die willen procederen tegen omgevingsbesluiten, indien zij tijdens de voorbereidingsprocedure een zienswijze hebben ingediend. Dat oordeelt de Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State in een uitspraak van 4 mei 2021.

Short Reads - On 22 August 2020, the ban on abuse of economic dependence was implemented in Belgium (Article IV.2/1 of the Code of Economic Law). Now that almost a year has passed and the first judgments have been rendered, we assess what first lessons can be drawn from these judgments. The rulings show that the ban is regularly relied upon in court and has lowered the hurdle for plaintiffs to make their case.

Short Reads - In Dutch legal practice, contracting parties often agree on exoneration clauses in commercial contracts in which liability for indirect damage is excluded. However, the term indirect damage does not exist in the Dutch Civil Code, and in the Dutch language there is no generally accepted meaning for indirect damage. Conflicts therefore quite frequently arise between contracting parties in relation to the interpretation of indirect damage.