Various

Does a copyright to a work exist if it is created by artificial intelligence? Does copyright extend to the subject matter of the work itself, which a person submits to an AI and which then completely fabricates the artwork? The Municipal Court of Prague issued a decision on this matter in the autumn 2023.

With the beginning of 2024, there are many changes to the tax legislation. Although these changes will not be reflected in tax returns filed for 2023, it is undoubtedly a good idea to familiarize yourself with them in advance and consider your options for tax optimization during 2024. The aim of this text is therefore to present some of the key changes that we are likely to encounter in 2024.

There is currently no legal regulation of lobbying in the Czech Republic, which is not an exception in the European context. According to the latest data, only about a quarter of European Union countries regulate lobbying at the statutory level. However, it should be pointed out that in the Czech Republic, lobbying is neither so-called self-regulated, for example, by associations of lobbyists or entities representing interest groups, nor, for example, is there a code of ethics for lobbying by Members of Parliament, which is far from common.

At the end of June 2023, the Whistleblower Protection Act came into force, implementing the European Union Directive on the protection of whistleblowers into Czech law. It should be noted at the very beginning, that the Act expands the areas to which reported infringements may relate compared to the Directive.

In recent months, the change of the Decree of the Ministry of Justice on the remuneration of attorneys and compensation of attorneys for the provision of legal services (the so-called attorney tariff) has become a significant topic. According to the Ministry of Justice, the aim of this amendment is to adjust the remuneration of attorneys so that the amount of remuneration is adjusted to the inflation rate, the increase in the minimum wage, the average wage in the business sphere, the expenses for the remuneration of judges and prosecutors, as well as the professional demand of the activities undertaken and the level of responsibility of the attorney.

Although it may seem rather surprising, the 2018 amendment to the Advocacy Act, in an effort to expand access to free legal aid for persons whose income and financial circumstances justify it, also unthinkingly prevented applicants who are willing to pay for the legal services in question from applying for the appointment of an attorney by the Czech Bar Association (CBA).

It is very likely that we will see major changes in road traffic in the near future. These changes will include, in particular, the ability to drive a car from the age of 17 and the points system.

As a result of the legislative changes adopted in connection with the digitization of procedures of public authorities, from 1 January 2023 data boxes will be mandatorily established for entrepreneurial natural persons (so-called sole traders or self-employed persons) and all legal persons who are registered in the statutory register and do not have a data box yet.