Category: Intel

The Supreme Court ruled that the value of valuable cargo must be explicitly declared in the bill of lading to hold a carrier fully liable for its loss. A customs declaration does not substitute this requirement, as the carrier must be notified via the bill of lading to charge the appropriate special carriage fees. Without such declaration, the cargo is treated as ordinary goods, and compensation is limited to weight-based calculations under the Commercial Law.

The Supreme Court held that a tenant is entitled to rescind a lease contract and recover the rent it paid if a decision by the competent authorities prevents the tenant from using the property for the purpose for which it was leased, in accordance with articles 550 and 551 of the Civil Transactions Law.

The Supreme Court held that the criminal misconduct by employees of a policyholder are considered equivalent to third party conduct, and therefore qualify as a basis for making insurance claims by the employer.

The Supreme Court held that where the parties have agreed on their own definition of force majeure, that contractual definition governs, because the Civil Transactions Law does not lay down a precise definition of force majeure. A party therefore cannot invoke force majeure for an event that the contract expressly excludes. The court also held that joining a third party, including a guarantor, to a lawsuit must follow the ordinary procedures for filing a claim, and that a request made only in a defence memorandum or orally at a hearing is insufficient to validly join that party.

In a copyright infringement dispute, the Supreme Court set aside a judgment awarding compensation for copyright infringement due to the failure of the trial court to base the compensation amount on a quantification methodology that takes into account the damage suffered as a result of the copyright infringement.

The Supreme Court ruled that while trial courts have discretionary power to assess compensation for moral and material damages, they must provide detailed, reasoned justifications. For moral damages, the court must explicitly analyse the psychological impact and emotional distress on the victim. For material damages, the court must calculate the compensation based on objective criteria, including actual losses, mitigation expenses, and lost profits.

The Supreme Court ruled that official confirmation by government entities regarding a debtor's lack of assets constitutes sufficient proof of insolvency under article 425(d) of the Civil and Commercial Procedures Law, thereby relieving the debtor from detention.

The Supreme Court held that signing a new contract with an employee transferred under article 48bis of the Labour Law of 2003 is invalid if the contract provides less favourable treatment than that enjoyed by the employee with their previous employer.

The Supreme Court ruled that terms within a final employment contract supersede conflicting terms in a prior job offer. Consequently, a termination based on a project-linkage clause found only in the offer, but absent in the final contract, constitutes arbitrary dismissal.