News

13.2.2024February
2024

Roman Vydra - new Partner at BBH Bratislava

We're excited to share that starting from January 1st, Roman Vydra is now a Partner at BBH Bratislava

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 Roman's time at BBH has seen him excel in high-profile acquisition projects across various industries. He's also been instrumental in numerous real estate transactions and has consistently represented creditors in court proceedings, insolvency cases, and dispute resolution efforts. Over the past decade, Roman has represented some of the BBH's most prominent clients, who value his ability to provide strategic legal advice while understanding all business implications.

 

Roman is equally thrilled about his new role, saying, "I'm glad I can continue my career at BBH as a Partner. My focus will be on further developing and growing BBH's Bratislava office, all while upholding BBH's renowned commitment to delivering top-quality legal services to our clients."

 

Join us in congratulating Roman on his new position and look forward to BBH's continued success with his contributions!

 

Trend, on 13.2.2024 https://www.trend.sk/

 

epravo, on 9.2.2024 https://www.epravo.sk/top/aktualne/


23.10.2023October
2023

The New Consumer Credit Directive

The EU Council has adopted a new Consumer Credit Directive („CCD“), which replaces the 2008 Directive. This new Directive clarifies and extends the existing rules on the issuing of consumer credit other than housing
credit.

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The new CCD regulates in detail the institute of deferred payments for goods and services („buy now-pay
later“). Only offers made by the sellers of goods or services without the intervention of a third party offering
credit will remain outside the consumer credit regime, and such deferred payments must now be completely
free (without interest) for the buyer. If the deferred payment does not meet these parameters, it will be
considered a consumer credit arrangement with all of the obligations that this entails. In this case, the seller is
considered to be a consumer credit intermediary.


The CCD also introduces stricter rules on the advertising and marketing of consumer credit. Tying credit to
other products or services, pre-ticked boxes in sales agreements, unsolicited offers or inducing consumers to
take on debt will not be allowed.


The CCD further sets out a clear mechanism to prevent making such credit disproportionately more expensive
for borrowers. The provider will now be obliged to proceed with the recovery of loans they have issued at an
early stage of default in order to reduce the risk of the imposition of foreclosure on the consumer.


The assessment of creditworthiness by the provider will change significantly, as well. The creditor will only be
allowed to grant credit if the outcome of the assessment is positive. Where the assessment is based on
automated processing, consumers will now have the right to request an explanation of the assessment and
dispute it.


The information provision obligations of the provider prior to the conclusion of online consumer credit
agreements are also regulated in more detail, including that they will have to be clear and legible even from
the screen of mobile phones.


The CCD is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the EU early next year. Member States will then
have two years by which to transpose the new Regulation into their national law.

 

For more detailed information on the Consumer Credit Regulation and other related issues, please contact us
at legal@bbh.cz, +420 234 091 355, or directly through our specialized team at the contact information listed below.


BBH Team


Zdeněk Husták, Partner
e-mail: zhustak@bbh.cz, tel.: +420 234 355


Tomáš Sedláček, Partner
e-mail: tsedlacek@bbh.cz, tel.: +420 234 355


Adam Nečas, Senior Lawyer
e-mail: anecas@bbh.cz, tel.: +420 234 355


21.9.2023September
2023

BBH RANKING IN THE 2023 EDITION OF IFLR1000

We are pleased to announce that BBH has been ranked among the top law firms in the 2023 edition of IFLR1000.

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BBH has successfully retained its Tier 2 rating in the following practice areas - Banking & Finance, M&A, Capital Markets: Debt and Restructuring/Insolvency. In addition, BBH has been newly ranked in Capital Markets: Equity as a Tier 3 firm.

 

Partners Zdeněk Husták, Petr Přecechtěl, Robert Klenka and Vladimír Uhde received the ‚Highly Regarded‘ rating in individual IFLR1000 rankings.

 

Notably, Andrea Adamcová was newly recognised as ‚Rising Star Partner‘ and Kristýna Živanská as ‚Rising Star‘ for their exceptional performance in helping our clients.

 

Tomáš Sedláček yet again maintained his unique recognition as ‚Market Leader‘.

 

The complete ranking of BBH in the 2023 edition can be found HERE.


19.4.2023April
2023

TOP LAWYERS IN THE BUSSINES

"You read about the work of BBH lawyers relugarly and probably don't even know it"

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BBH was listed as Top Law Firm on the Czech Market by prestigious magazine Forbes. Out of 20 top ranking law firms in the Czech Republic, BBH was further selected as one of the most sought-after firms in the areas of M&A, Banking and Finance and Dispute Resolution.

 

Many thanks to Forbes Česko for their recognition and hat off to other distinguished colleagues!

 


19.4.2023April
2023

BBH TOP RANKED IN LEGAL 500

BBH maintained a strong ranking among its competitors in the 2023 edition of The Legal 500 review. Our Dispute Resolution practice was, once again, ranked in the Top Tier 1, while other areas of practice follow suit in Tier 2 - Banking, Finance and Capital Markets, Commercial, Corporate and M&A.

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Individually outstanding lawyers include František Honsa, Robert Klenka, Tomáš Politzer, Tomáš Sedláček, Petr Mlejnek, Kateřina Winterling Vorlíčková, Petr Přecechtěl, Zdeněk Husták, Vladimír Uhde, Andrea Adamcová, Matěj Manderla and Petr Vošahlík.

 

Many thanks to all of our clients for their much appreciated feedback!

 

Find the complete overview on the website of Legal 500 HERE


23.3.2023March
2023

BBH AWARDED IN CHAMBERS AND PARTNERS 2023

The 2023 Edition of Chambers and Partners rankings again confirmed the leading role of BBH in key market areas. BBH cemented its position as market leader in Dispute Resolution by being yet again ranked –in Band 1. Furthermore BBH  was also successful in other categories, where it remained ranked at the leading positions: Insolvency and Restructuring (Band 2), Mergers & Acquisitions (Band 3) and Banking & Finance (Band 3).

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Founding partner František Honsa was ranked as Eminent Practitioner in the Dispute Resolution area for the fourth year running as well as in the Most in Demand Arbitrator category.

 

Other BBH lawyers recognized in the Chambers and Partners Europe 2023 Individual Ranking were also successful. Vladimír Uhde succeeded in the Dispute Resolution (Band 2) and Dispute Resolution - Arbitration (Band 3) categories, Robert Klenka in Insolvency & Restructuring (Band 2) and Dispute Resolution (Band 4), Petr Přecechtěl in Mergers & Acquisitions (Band 3) and Tomáš Sedláček in Banking & Finance (Band 4) and Capital Markets (Band 3). These lawyers and areas were also evaluated in the Global 2023 category.


5.1.2023January
2023

BBH INTRODUCES NEW PARTNERS

BBH significantly boosts its ranks of partners. Andrea Adamcová, Matěj Manderla and Petr Vošahlík enter partnership as of 1 January 2023.

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„In the past years, we have been able to successfully grow, be it in the financial volume of services or the level of clients. The diligent work of these new partners has been a great contribution to that result. Andrea, Matěj and Petr all started at BBH as student paralegals and their advancement into partnership evidences the personal development that BBH enables. We greatly appreciate that in the recent years all of them have gained the respect of their peers and clients in their relevant areas of our practice: Andrea in M&A and related Financing, Matěj in Restructuring and Contract Law and Petr in Litigation and Arbitration,“ comments BBH Managing Partner, Petr Mlejnek.

 

 

Over her more than 15 years of practice, Andrea Adamcová has gained significant experience in banking and financial law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate law and has worked on a number of major financing projects, including the structuring of a number of syndicated, club and bilateral loans, representing leading Czech and foreign companies and institutions, on both the creditor and debtor side, in a number of cases exceeding tens of billions of Czech crowns. Andrea further worked on a number of the most important acquisition transactions that have taken place on the Czech and international markets and the creation of a number of important joint ventures, private equity funds and further cross-border structures for BBH clients.

 

Andrea graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague and speaks and works in Czech, Slovak and English.

 

 

Matěj Manderla has been specializing in Commercial and Civil Law for almost a decade and focuses on contract law, insolvency law, litigation, telecommunications and media law and energy law. Matěj thus provides key legal advisory for investment groups and takes part in the structuring, financing and acquisition of the investments themselves, with a further focus on distressed assets. One case in point, Matěj worked as a telecommunications law expert in representing PPF Group in its acquisition of O2 Telefónica.

 

Matěj is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague and speaks and works in Czech and English.

 

 

Petr Vošahlík has been with BBH since 2013, focusing on representing clients in arbitration and court proceedings and is a listed arbitrator with the Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic, the Vienna International Arbitral Center (VIAC) and is a member of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS). Petr has extensive experience in advising clients in international arbitrations under the VIAC, ICC, DIS, LCIA rules before the Arbitration Court of the CCCR and the ACCR and other significant arbitral institutions. In particular, Petr deals with post-M&A disputes and damages claims, including suits for lost profit with an emphasis on the real-estate development, telecommunications and healthcare industries. In addition, Petr also concentrates on the area of Private International Law and handles Criminal Law and defense. Petr was also involved as an external associate of the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, where he participated in teaching arbitration and advocacy skills.

 

Petr graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague and advises clients in the Czech, English and German languages.


14.9.2022September
2022

BBH RANKED HIGHLY AMONG THE BEST LAW FIRMS IN THE 2022 EDITION OF IFLR 1000

We are pleased to announce that BBH was once again acknowledged as one of the best law firms on the Czech market in the 2022 IFLR 1000 rankings. 

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BBH was recognized in the Tier 2 in the following areas of its practice: Banking and Finance, Capital Markets: Debt, M&A and Restructuring/Insolvency and in the Tier 3 in Capital Markets: Equity. Partners Vladimír Uhde, Robert Klenka, Petr Přecechtěl and Zdeněk Husták received the ‘Highly Regarded’ rating in the individual IFLR rankings, Andrea Adamcová and Alice Nytrová received praise as ‘Rising Stars’ and Tomáš Sedláček yet again maintained his unique recognition as ‘Market Leader’.

The complete ranking of BBH in the 2022 edition of IFLR 1000 ranking can be found HERE.

 


15.7.2022July
2022

Transfer of a majority business interest

On July 17, 2022, an indirect amendment to the Commercial Code1 will come into effect, which will significantly affect the effects of the transfer of a majority business interest in a limited liability company and the administrative obligations related to the transfer of a business interest.

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I. Effectiveness of the transfer of the business interest

 

By majority business interest we mean a business interest with which at least half of the voting rights in the company are associated.

 

 

In the case of a minority business interest, according to current legislation, the effects of the transfer of the business interest vis-à-vis the company already occur from the date of delivery of the contract on the transfer of the company's business interest, if they do not occur with the later effect of the contract.

 

In the case of a majority business interest, on the other hand, until the amendment came into effect, the effects of its transfer only occur upon entry in the commercial register, and this entry has constitutive effects. This means that the transferee acquires the ownership right to the transferred majority business interest and related property and non-property rights only upon entry in the commercial register.

 

 

As from July 17, 2022, however, single regime will apply to all transfers of business interests in a limited liability company, namely the one we described above in relation to the transfer of a minority business interest.

 

 

The effects of the transfer of the business interest (majority or minority) within the meaning of the amendment occur vis-à-vis the company from the date of delivery of the contract for the transfer of the company’s business interest, if they do not occur with the later effect of the contract, but not before the general meeting has given its approval to the transfer of the business interest, if the approval of the general meeting is required by law or by memorandum of association to the transfer of the business interest.

 

 

II. Administrative burden

 

Currently, in order to transfer a majority business interest, it is necessary to provide the commercial register with either the consent of the tax administrator to the transfer (if the transferor or the transferee is listed on the list of tax debtors), or an affidavit of both the transferor and the transferee stating that they are not obliged to enclose the consent of the tax administrator with a certified signature.

 

As from July 17, 2022, it will not be necessary to enclose the consent of the tax administrator for any transfer of the business interest in a limited liability company, nor a special affidavit on non-existence of this obligation. This eliminates the administrative burden and fees associated with certifying signatures.

[1] Act no. 111/2022 on the solution of imminent bankruptcy and on the amendment of certain acts 


26.5.2022May
2022

Selected Aspects of the New Electronic Communications Act

On February 1, 2022, Act no. 452/2021 Coll. on Electronic Communications (hereinafter referred to as the “New AEC”), which incorporates Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Code of Electronic Communications into Slovak law.

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Among other aspects, the new AEC regulates the rules for processing the so-called cookies and privacy of users in electronic communications, and thus the rules set out in the New AEC affect the practical life of most business entities in the Slovak Republic. In this Memorandum, we will focus on the most fundamental differences in the New AEC compared to the legislation in force until February 1, 2022 (Act No. 351/2011 Coll. on Electronic Communications, hereinafter the "Old AEC") and their practical implications in the company's life.

 

1. Unsolicited Communication

Definition of the electronic mail has not changed in the New AEC when compared to the previous rules, and thus electronic mail still means a text, voice, audio or image/ video message sent over a public network that can be stored in the network or recipient's terminal equipment until it is picked up by the recipient. It is therefore e-mails, SMS/ MMS messages, so-called push messages, voice messages, etc.

 

Direct Marketing

When compared to the previous regulation, the New AEC has introduced a definition of direct marketing, which means any form of presentation of goods or services in written or oral form, sent or presented through a publicly available service directly to one or more participants or users (i. e. persons who have concluded a contract with a company providing electronic communications services or a person who uses such services – for example, if the telephone number assigned to the parents is used by a child).

 

Consent

The new AEC emphasizes and explicitly states the obligation to obtain prior demonstrable consent to direct marketing by strengthening the principle that such consent must be obtained before contacting the recipient.

 

However, according to the new regulation, the prior consent of the recipient of the electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing is not required in the case of

  • direct marketing of the person's own similar goods and services, if you have obtained contact details in connection with the sale of goods or services in accordance with the law, or
  • in the case of direct marketing addressed to the published contact details of a participant or a user who is a natural person – entrepreneur or a legal person.

 

It follows from the above that the New AEC allows sending of not only the so-called cold mails, but also performance of direct marketing to the published contact details of entrepreneurs and legal persons. However, even in such cases, it will be necessary to comply with the provisions of the New AEC on the possibility of refusing such use of contact data in each case of direct marketing, and to pay attention to the period of use of the contact data obtained in such way.

 

However, we would like to draw your attention to the opinion of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Amann against Switzerland, according to which both, the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, provide protection, regardless of whether it is a private or professional aspect of life. The exception in the New AEC relating to natural persons – entrepreneurs may therefore constitute an invasion of privacy which is not supported by the ePrivacy Directive, the GDPR or the Constitution of the Slovak Republic.

 

Refusal of Consent

ipient of the electronic mail must be given the opportunity, simply and free of charge, at any time to refuse such use of the contact details at the time of obtaining of such data and by means of each message received, if the recipient has not previously refused such use. We would like to point out that this obligation also applies if you plan to use your customer's contact details for the direct marketing of your own similar goods and services. In practice, this obligation is often overlooked, and non-compliance with the relevant provisions of the law can be severely sanctioned. It is therefore appropriate to carefully consider the wording of each particular marketing communication or the sample texts you use. We will be glad to help you in this important area.

 

There has also been a significant strengthening of the conditions under which direct marketing consent can be granted. According to the New AEC, the use of automated calling and communication systems without human intervention, fax, e-mail and short message services are prohibited for the purpose of obtaining prior consent. In practice, it will be necessary to pay attention to obtaining consent, especially in the personal presence of the potential recipient, or obtaining consent by the active action of the potential recipient (subscribing to the so-called newsletter, etc.).

 

Requirements for Consent

The consent granted for marketing communication must meet the requirements of Article 4 (11) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, i. e. GDPR. Details on the requirements of such consent are described below in connection with the granting of consent to the processing of cookies (part a)). The same rules apply to the granting of consent to contact for purposes of direct marketing. When obtaining consent, it is also necessary to indicate the manner in which the consent can be easily revoked.

It is still forbidden to send an electronic mail, from which the identity and address of the sender is unknown (to which the recipient can send a request to stop sending such messages), and to persuade to visit a website in the manner that is contrary to Act no. 22/2004 Coll. on Electronic Commerce.

The granted consent must be kept on a durable medium (e.g., in the form of a document, recording, in a suitable electronic form – please note: a hyperlink is not supposed to be durable medium) for at least 4 years from the revocation of the consent.

Revocation of the prior consent, or also an objection to calling for the purpose of direct marketing or for the purpose of granting of consent, may be made at any time, and such revocation of consent or acceptance of an objection to calling must be demonstrably confirmed to the person concerned and kept on a durable medium for at least 4 years from the revocation of consent or objection to the call.

 

Penalties

Legal persons and entrepreneurs face heavy sanctions for violating the aforementioned obligations. Office for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services (hereinafter the “Office”) shall impose a fine of between EUR 200 and 5% of the turnover for the previous accounting period on a legal person or natural person – entrepreneur who has violated or failed to fulfil any of the obligations related to privacy protection in connection with direct marketing.

 

Blacklist (so called „Robinson’s List“)

According to the New AEC, the Office shall establish and operate a list of telephone numbers listed for the purpose of expressing disagreement with calling for direct marketing purposes (hereinafter "Blacklist") on its website. For direct marketing purposes, any call is prohibited if someone has provided a phone number in the Blacklist, or if someone has objected to such calls towards a person for whose benefit direct marketing is made (for example, another company that does not carry out direct marketing itself, but uses an intermediary).

Neither the new AEC nor other related legislation distinguishes between natural persons, natural persons – entrepreneurs or legal persons in connection with the Blacklist, and therefore, if the Office does not state any exceptions in the generally binding legal regulation mentioned below, contact details of any of these persons will be capable to be listed in the Blacklist.

However, the provisions on the Blacklist do not apply to the direct marketing of a person's own similar goods and services who has obtained contact details in connection with the sale of similar goods or services or with whom the person has a contractual relationship or for direct marketing purposes to a person who – itself – has demonstrably requested it in advance.

The provisions of the New AEC concerning the Blacklist come into force on November 1, 2022. The Office shall issue a generally binding legal regulation, in which it will lay down the details of the Blacklist. The Office is currently preparing the regulation, but the details are not yet known. Access to the Blacklist data will be charged for direct marketers.

 

Numbers Identified by the National Target Code for Direct Marketing Purposes in the Numbering Plan (so called "Prefixes")

On August 1, 2022, the provisions of the New AEC concerning uniform numerical prefixes denoting marketing calls will also enter into force. The obligation will apply to the persons conducting direct marketing through calls, automated calling and communication systems without human intervention, facsimile or short message services, or the person who is obtaining the prior consent to the call for direct marketing purposes. It applies in this case too, that the above obligation does not apply to calls for the purposes of direct marketing, if the call is made to the published contact details of a natural person – entrepreneur or legal person.

As in the case above, the provisions on prefixes do not apply to the direct marketing of the own similar goods and services of a person who has obtained contact details in connection with the sale of similar goods or services or with whom the person is in a contractual relationship or for direct marketing purposes to a person who – itself – has demonstrably requested such communication in advance.

 

Consents Obtained Before February 1, 2022

At the same time, the new AEC provided that consent to calls, use of automated calling and communication systems without human intervention, e-mail, fax or short message services for direct marketing purposes obtained prior to the entry into force of the New AEC remains valid until it is revoked or the telephone number is listed in the Blacklist.

 

2. Cookies

As the legislator stated in the explanatory memorandum to the New AEC, in the digital economy, market participants increasingly consider information about users (their preferences, behaviour, movement, etc.), which are processed in the form of cookies (i. e. short text files stored on the device of the website visitor) for information that has a monetary value. At the same time, in many cases, these are personal data and it is therefore necessary to pay attention to the processing of cookies. We will be glad to help you get a closer look in this area as well.

 

Types of Cookies

Cookies can be divided into technical (necessary, those related to the functionality of the site itself), analytical (related to the performance of the site and its monitoring) and marketing (targeted). Changes in the New AEC basically affect all types of cookies that are used on websites on a computer or other device (mobile phone, tablet), except for technical ones. In the case of technical cookies, it still applies that it is not necessary to obtain the consent e. g. in case of storing data about the items in the shopping cart or data which enable remembering the preferred language or logging in to the user account in the e-shop, but – on the other side – it is necessary to obtain prior consent for example in case of data used for remarketing purposes.

 

Opt-in versus opt-out

The so far valid opt-out principle (from which the user does not unsubscribe, that remains active) has been changed to opt-in from February 1, 2022 (the direct consent of the site visitor is required). Thus, almost every website is subject to the obligation to update the wording of the cookie policy, but also to adjust the so-called cookies bar and the information contained in it, so that it is in accordance with the New AEC.

 

Consent to the Use of Cookies

The granting of consent by the website visitors must be demonstrable, and therefore, in the case of administrative proceedings, the operator (of the website) must be able to prove that he has been granted consent from the user to use the particular service. At the same time, revoking a consent should be as simple as granting it (if the user gives one-click consent, it should also be possible to revoke it in this way).

According to the New AEC (in general, the same applied under the Old AEC), the provider of a publicly available service is obliged to ensure the technical and organizational confidentiality of messages and related traffic data. In particular, the recording, interception, storage of messages or other forms of interception or monitoring of messages and associated data by persons other than users, or performed without the consent of the users concerned, shall be prohibited, unless otherwise provided by law. It still applies that this does not prevent the technical storage of data which is necessary for the transmission of messages, without prejudice to the principle of confidentiality and subject to other conditions laid down by law.

However, as we have outlined above, the change affected the provisions on how the consent of the user have to be given. If the use of the appropriate settings of a web browser or other computer program has been considered for granting a consent so far, this possibility has been omitted from the New AEC and, therefore, anyone who stores or accesses information, stored in the user's terminal device, is entitled to do so only if the user concerned has given demonstrable consent. At the same time, it does not prevent the technical storage or access to data the sole purpose of which is to transmission or facilitation of the transmission of a message over a network or where this is strictly necessary for an information society service provider to provide an information society service explicitly requested by the user (therefore, no special consent is required for the storage of technical cookies).

As the New AEC also takes into account the principles set out in the ePrivacy Directive (Directive 2002/58 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council), the above-described provisions practically stipulate that the prior consent of the site visitor is required for cookies processing, and such consent must meet GDPR requirements.

 

a) Requirements for Consent

The consent must be:

  • freely given (i. e. the user must really have the option to choose and control, must not be forced into consent, for example, by not accessing the content of the site without clicking consent – for example through the so-called cookie wall with a single click option, such forced consent shall be considered invalid),
  • specific (i. e. there must be a specifically, clearly and understandably defined purposes, as if consent is being given for more than one purpose, the person concerned must be able to choose consent for each purpose; if appropriate, the visitor may be hyperlinked to one or more separate documents or webpages where the individual ways and purposes of using personal data will be precisely described, e. g. about marketing, advertising targeting, personal preferences of the visitor; a very brief, unclear, "non-committal" declaration and formal statement is not enough; this part of the website needs to be properly addressed),
  • informed (the visitor must be provided with at least the following information in advance: (i) the identity of the processor, (ii) the purpose of all processing operations for which consent is sought, (iii) what data, or type of data, will be collected and used, ) the existence of the right to revoke the consent; and (v) information on the use of data for automated decision-making, where applicable; and (vi) information on possible risks of data transfer due to the absence of a decision on adequacy and reasonable assurance under Article 46 GDPR; information are also required on (a) the types of cookies and their functions, (b) who operates them, (c) the retention period from the date of consent, and (d) whether the data obtained will be provided to the third parties – separate consent is required in such case) and
  • a clear expression of the will of the affected person, in the form of a declaration or unambiguous confirmatory act, that he or she consents to such processing of the personal data.

The legal regulation in the New AEC therefore introduced higher demands on the cookies policy. The wording of the notifications displayed to site visitors before February 1, 2022 must therefore be carefully reviewed, amended or supplemented, and all requirements required by law and the GDPR regulation must be taken into account when processing cookies. It is no longer possible to rely on web browser settings as it has been acceptable so far.

 

b) Form of the Consent

Consent may be given in writing, orally, by audio messages and other suitable forms, but, in practice, using of the so-called cookie bars is the most common way for obtaining of the consent. Consent must be obtained in advance (before uploading files to the device), it must be possible to revoke it at any time, as easily as it has been granted, it must be expressed by active action (e. g. by clicking the yes/ no, I agree/ I disagree), it must be possible to modify it at any time and it must allow the activation of only some categories of cookies.

 

c) Validity of the Consent

Neither the Old AEC nor the New AEC determine the duration of the consent, but in practice there is a consensus (especially with the use of foreign resources) that the period for which the consent is granted should not exceed 13 months, and in case of non-consent the visitor should be questioned by the website again after 6 months at soonest.

 

d) Retention Period of the Consent

The New AEC has set the retention period for direct marketing purposes at 4 years; accordingly, this period should also apply to consent in relation to cookies. The granted consent must be kept for 4 years (if we take into account the provisions of the New AEC), or 5 years (if we take into account the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act) from the expiry of its validity, based on the period during which it is possible to carry out inspections by inspection authorities.

 

e) Competences of Authorities

As the compliance with the rules of personal data protection is the responsibility of the Office for Personal Data Protection and monitoring of compliance with the rules set by the New AEC is the responsibility of the Office for Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services, and the rules for using cookies fall within the competency of both offices, inspection can be performed by both offices, until a uniform and clear rule is set as to which office is to perform the inspection and in what extent. While a fine can be imposed under the New AEC within 4 years from the date of the breach (maximum fine up to 10% of the previous year's turnover), according to the Personal Data Protection Act this period is up to 5 years from the date of the breach (maximum fine 4% of the previous year's turnover).

 

The legislation in the New AEC thus brought changes in the provisions concerning the ordinary and day-to-day activities of business entities. If you are interested in comprehensive information about any of the areas outlined above, please do not hesitate to contact us.