The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has delivered seven judgments and one decision. Notable rulings include Minasyan and Others v Armenia, where the Court found violations of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) both alone and in conjunction with Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) regarding hate speech against LGBT activists. In Yoncheva v. Bulgaria, the Court ruled that the applicant's right to presumption of innocence was violated. The Court awarded just satisfaction in both cases.

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board: A national training organisation for the engineering construction industry which provides information on careers, qualifications and training in engineering construction.

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has confirmed the refusal by the European Central Bank (ECB) to exclude for the purposes of the calculation of the leverage ratio of Crédit Lyonnais 34% of its exposures to the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). In ECB v Crédit Lyonnais, Case C‑389/21 P, the ECJ has annulled the contrary judgment of the General Court, which exceeded the scope of its judicial review substituting its own assessment of the risk of fire sales of assets to which Crédit Lyonnais was exposed for that of the ECB.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: The European Court of Justice (ECJ) held in SML Maschinengesellschaft mbH v AK (SML) (case no. C-43/25) that German equitable subordination rules cannot be circumvented in cross-border insolvency proceedings by selecting a foreign law as applicable law for shareholder loans. The ECJ ruled that Article 13 of Council Regulation (EC) 1346/2000 (now Article 16 Regulation (EU) 2015/848) cannot be invoked by a shareholder to block an insolvency administrator’s recovery claims if those claims aim to uphold the ranking of claims in insolvency as defined by the insolvency law of the state where proceedings were opened. The decision underlines the protective nature of German insolvency law. Therefore, shareholders, and in certain circumstances also lenders, need to carefully structure their financing in German-based entities. Written by Susanne Höerrmann, senior knowledge lawyer at Freshfields; Marvin Knapp, partner at Freshfields; Lars Westpfahl, partner at Freshfields; and Jan-Philip Wilde, partner at Freshfields.

Law360: Portugal could impose stricter requirements on non-resident pension funds that claim a tax exemption when proportionate, despite the EU's rules on freedom of movement for capital, the EU's Court of Justice has ruled.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has clarified the extent of protection afforded to consumers under a loan contract repayable in a foreign currency. In its judgment regarding DP, SG v Trapeza Peiraios AE (Case C-243/20), the ECJ concluded that Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts does not preclude the adoption of national provisions ensuring a higher level of consumer protection for certain terms not falling within its scope.

The ECJ have, in the case of Markus Geltl v Daimler AG, considered the definition of 'inside information' in point 1 of Article 1 of Directive 2003/6 on insider dealing and market manipulation and Article 1(1) of Directive 2008/124 implementing Directive 2003/6

The General Court of the European Union (ECJ) has issued its judgment in Case T-635/19, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro and Others v Commission, in which it concluded that the resolution of Banca delle Marche by the Italian authorities was in essence determined by that bank’s failure and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for having prevented its rescue.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued an order in Commission v HSBC Holdings and Others (Case C-806/19 P), an appeal brought by the European Commission against the General Court's judgment in Case T-105/17, which dismissed an action for annulment of the Commission's decision in Case AT.39914 but annulled the fine imposed. The ECJ removed the case from the register and ordered the Commission to pay costs, including those of the cross-appeal.

Law360, London: Arrest warrants issued by Bulgaria are ineffective under EU law as suspects cannot challenge the papers in court before they are turned over to the authorities, Advocate General de la Tour has advised the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published the notice to exporters (NTE) 2024/05. The NTE relates to the updated open general export licence (export of dual-use items to EU member states). The update permits the export of certain items controlled under Schedule 3 of the Export Control Order 2008, SI 2008/3231, to certain destinations. The updated licence will come into force on 1 April 2024 and the licence dated 25 March 2022 will be revoked on 1 April 2024.

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) and Department for Business and Trade (DBT) have published the notice to exporters (NTE) 2024/07. The NTE advised of a compound settlement with a UK company who have been fined for the unlicensed trade of goods, breaching the Russian (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/855. The compound settlement of £1,058,781.79 was issue in March 2024.