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Cosmetic products and responsibility for a dangerous product on the basis of Polish civil law

Johnson & Johnson case

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson, a company known for its baby products, in recent years – but the most well-known one involves 22 women who alleged that their ovarian cancers have been caused by the baby powder they had been using. After the appeal, by the end of which the amount of money the company had to pay those women was reduced from 4.7 billion to 2.1 billion, Johnson & Johnson took legal steps to present the case before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has decided not to consider their case, however, which resulted in leaving in place the last verdict of the Missouri appeals-court.

The link between the illness and the product was supposed to be based on the fact that Johnson & Johnson baby powders contained talc. Talc is oftentimes found in close proximity to asbestos, which is carcinogenic, and in the past the talc has been contaminated with asbestos. It is also worth mentioning, that talk on itself is dangerous while inhaled in large doses but the studies aren’t clear on whether or not it’s carcinogenic on itself.

Although Johnson & Johnson denies that their products are dangerous to health, they will no longer be selling the baby powder containing talc in the US and Canada, focusing instead on the corn-starch-based alternative.

Polish Regulations

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Amendments to the AML Act – changes in the Polish virtual currency market

AML stands for anti-money laundering, and its main task is to protect the financial system from being used for criminal purposes. Currently, the virtual currency market is one of the fastest growing in the world. Unfortunately, they are often used for illegal purposes. To prevent this, on May 15, 2021 an amendment to the AML Act entered into force.

Act of March 1, 2018 on counteracting money laundering and financing of terrorism – Polish regulations

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THE EU 6TH AML DIRECTIVE – AWAITING IMPLEMENTATION

In the previous article we wrote about EU 5th AML Directive (2018/843). [1] Currently, after 6 months of passing the 5th AML Directive, the new 6th AML Directive was prepared and passed by the European Parliament and European Council. The new directive (EU 2018/1673) was passed on 23 October 2018 and came into legal effect on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the official journal of the European Union. In respect of the Directive provisions the Member States shall implement the 6AMLD by 3 December 2020 and immediately inform the Commission thereof.

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POLISH REGULATIONS ON E-CERTIFICATE

European Union legislator, considering the previous Member States’ experiences, modified the professionalization of electronic communication idea and passed the new law – REGULATION (EU) No 910/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC [1], so-called eIDAS Regulation.

The aim of this Regulation was to increase confidence in the electronic trade market area in extent of e-business and contact with public entities by the introduction of the unified IT solutions legal frames for the entire European Union. These legal frames provide a reliable determination of the natural persons’ and organizational units’ identity.

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THE POLISH ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE CODE AMENDMENT IMPORTANT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF POST-WAR POLISH PROPERTIES LEGAL STATUS AND POLISH OWNERS OF JEWISH ORIGIN

On 11 August 2021 the Polish Act of Administrative Procedure Code Amendment was passed by the Polish lower house of the Parliament after the Senate’s adjustment consideration. On 14 August 2021 the Amendment Act was signed by the Polish president and on 16 August 2021 was published in the Polish Official Journal of Laws. As we can read on the official websites and from the official Ministry of Justice statement (from the ministerial conference):

The amendment to the Polish Administrative Procedure Code protects the interests of thousands of Polish citizens who are uncertain about the fate of properties important to them. The provisions passed by the Sejm dismiss the spectre of never-ending claims against the State Treasury. [1]

This statement should be read in the context of the real estate’s reprivatization socio-legal problem, to which politicians have mainly referred. [2]

It is worth to notice that this amendment implemented Constitutional Tribunal judgement of 2015 (P 46/13) on the inconsistency with the Polish Constitution of previous procedural articles and there are a lot of critical voices about recent amendment, for instance here:

https://www.prawo.pl/samorzad/niewaznosc-decyzji-administracyjnych-niebezpieczna-nowelizacja,510006.html

To see the Constitutional Tribunal judgement: https://sip.lex.pl/#/jurisprudence/521776428.

THE AMENDMENT ACT PROVISIONS

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