Wie heeft de klok allemaal horen luiden?

Short Reads - The draft temporary bill on Expedited Liquidation Transparency presented by the Dutch Minister of Justice on 28 June 2021 aims to increase transparency, improve protection of creditors and reduce the risk of abuse. We expect that this bill could be in effect indefinitely, as the issues it addresses were pressing long before COVID-19.

Short Reads - Under Dutch law, a general principle is that contracting parties conclude agreements in their own name, i.e. they conclude agreements for themselves. However, in Dutch commercial legal practice, contracting parties frequently act as representatives of a company.

Short Reads - As long as a contract has not yet been concluded, the parties’ freedom of contract is paramount.  In principle, the parties are free to decide whether to continue or break off negotiations. Nevertheless, circumstances may arise under which breaking off negotiations is unacceptable. One of the remedies available to the injured party in such a case is to seek a court order to continue negotiations. This blog post discusses the chance of success of such a court order, and the factors involved.

Short Reads - On May 26, 2021, the District Court of The Hague rendered its judgment in the case between Milieudefensie and others against Shell. In this blog, a multidisciplinary team from Stibbe gives its first view of this ruling and explains why it could be a groundbreaking ruling.