“Estrategia Empresarial” Stresse out our Consolidation in the Field of Aviation and Space Law

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We have had the pleasure of receiving “Estrategia Empresarial” in our Bilbao office, a prestigious publication that has been interested in getting to know in depth our activity, our team and our long professional trajectory as legal professionals. They were also interested in interviewing our partner, Zuberoa Elorriaga, in view of her recent qualification as a specialist in Aviation and Space Law, after completing the postgraduate course given by Icade University in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Aeronautics and Space Law (Aedae).

As our partner in Bilbao has rightly stated, at AIYON “we represent and protect the interests of individuals and companies immersed in a particularly complex, dynamic and multidisciplinary framework, which presents all kinds of issues affecting companies, operators, entities or individuals from all perspectives, bearing in mind that the ultimate goal is to comfort our clients by providing the most appropriate response to their query or the most beneficial solution to their problem”.

Read the full article

AIYON Abogados collaborates with the publication “The Insurance Disputes Law Review”, 2021

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We would like to thank “The Law Reviews” for allowing us to contribute to the 2021 edition of “The Insurance Disputes Law Review”, a work that we have carried out in collaboration with other prestigious international firms.

This cooperation is being carried out for the second consecutive year and has allowed our partners Verónica Meana and Mikel Garteiz-goxeaskoa to provide a broad and very complete overview of Spanish insurance regulation.

In addition to reviewing the general aspects of insurance and the legal framework, the study has also focused on studying the types of litigation that have increased in Spain in recent months in areas such as: limitation and delimitation clauses of insurance; compensation for loss of profit due to business interruptions due to Covid-19; malice and gross negligence; insurance contracts for large risks and possible negligence in the health sector, among others.

 

Read the AIYON Abogados chapter by clicking on the following link.

P&I Clubs, a Key Player in Maritime Transport and Trade

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Canal Marítimo y Logístico, a magazine specialised in maritime and logistics information, publishes in its November issue an article on P&I Clubs written by Verónica Meana, partner of our Madrid office.

This article finds its origins in the publication of the Preliminary Bill to amend the revised text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Marine, and the Law on Maritime Navigation, which, among other things, includes the reform of article 465 of the latter set of regulation due to doubts that exist nowadays about the admissibility of direct action against protection and compensation clubs. It is worth taking a step back and going to the origin of these organisations and how they work.

The reform adapts to the purpose of these associations which remain fundamental to the development of maritime transport and trade as they currently insure the civil liabilities of shipowners from all parts of the world.

In itself, the article covers the basic concepts, background, established responsibilities, as well as Spanish legislation related to this key piece of maritime transport and trade.

Read article published HERE

El Canal Marítimo y Logístico Highlights the Trajectory of AIYON Abogados since its Foundation

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The journal El Canal Marítimo y Logístico analyses and highlights the trajectory of our firm since its foundation in 2015 and catalogues it as a model of success that continues to develop and grow.

The article confirms that, since the firm was founded more than six years ago, AIYON Abogados has formed a multidisciplinary, solid, and participative team of professionals, with marked quality standards in its services, and always respecting its concept of “boutique law firm” firmly connected with its clients and the sector.

From its basic nature with regard to maritime law, our firm aims to further reinforce the relationship with our international clients (maritime insurers, shipping companies and freight forwarders) on the basis of specialised training. This is one of the areas in which    we are involved as part of our activity, collaborating as regular lecturers in the Master of the Spanish Maritime Institute (Madrid), giving training talks at the University of Cadiz, maintaining collaborations with the universities of Deusto and La Laguna, as well as acting as members of the Court of Arbitration of the Madrid Bar Association. This is a commitment to the new generations, but also to clients, who expect andobtain personalised professional advice.

Likewise, the publication makes special mention of the website on the lifting of the ship arrest that the firm launched in 2021, which can be consulted at: shiparrestrelease.com.

On the other hand, the AIYON team informs that we continue to be clearly committed to handling matters related to land transport, especially in the area of national and international road transport, and the world of insurance and trade, where we have great professionals advising our clients on a daily basis and accompanying them on theirprofessional journey.

Finally, our firm’s clear vocation to deepen its knowledge of Air Law – air chartering, incidents, claims or purchase and sale of aircraft, among others – and Space Law is reflected in the “Postgraduate Specialist Course in Aeronautical and Space Law”, taught by the Faculty of Law (ICADE) in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Aeronauticaland Space Law (AEDAE).

You can read the article at the following link: https://www.diarioelcanal.com/aiyon-abogados-socio-fiable-prioriza-relacion-estrecha-cliente/

Comments on Spanish Law 13/2021, of 1st October, on combating late payment in the carriage of goods by road

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On 2 October 2021, the Act 13/2021 was published in the Official State Journal, which amends the Land Transport Act to combat late payment in the field of land freight transport; this regulation came into force one day after its publication.

The need for this regulation arises from the fact that in Spain the average payment term for commercial transactions is 90 days, well above the European average, and that the existing asymmetry between the parties to the land transport contract may generate possible situations of unfair competition in the regulatory framework regulating the activity.

In order to correct this situation, a new type of infringement has been created under this new law, which will penalize cases in which transport prices are paid more than sixty days in advance (payment terms of more than 60 days were already void according to pre-existing regulations).

THUS, AND IN A VERY SCHEMATIC WAY:
Two new infringements are created: a very serious one, in the event that the price of the transport exceeds EUR 3,000 and another serious one when it is less than or equal to EUR 3,000.

The regulation establishes a scale of penalties depending on the price of transport, ranging from a minimum fine of EUR 401 to a maximum of EUR 6,000, which, in the even of a repeated offence, may be increased to a maximum of EUR 18,000, with aggravated fines of up to EUR 30,000.

For dissuasive purposes, the regulation contemplates the possibility of publishing the sanctioning resolutions imposed for incurring in very serious infringements.

The regulation does not establish when the maximum period of 60 days starts to be calculated, and although it is most likely to begin with the provision of the service (delivery of the goods at destination), the alternative would be that this period would be calculated from the issuance of the invoice for which the carrier has a maximum period of 15 days from the date of transport/delivery of the goods at destination.

The offending party may be any type of company that owes the price of a transport (even a carrier in the case of subcontracting), regardless of whether the creditor company is a carrier or not. To this effect, it must be taken into account that in the case of subcontracting for transport between companies belonging to the same group, these will also be considered as offending parties and will have to face the corresponding penalties in the event of not complying with the maximum payment term.

It will not be necessary for the creditors to denounce the non-payment of the transport price, that is, the Administration will act ex officio, and we assume that it will be by the inspectors of the Ministry of Transport within the inspections they perform in the transport companies. Although it seems that the sense of this amendment is to support and facilitate the collection of the transport price by the carriers, it is also true that this makes it unlikely that it will be applied to foreign clients of Spanish carriers.

The regulation does not apply retroactively, that is, to transports carried out prior to October 3, 2021.

Verónica Meana joins the Arbitration Team of the Madrid Bar Association

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Verónica Meana Larrucea, partner in charge of the AIYON Abogados’ office in Madrid, has recently joined the Arbitration Court of the Madrid Bar Association.

The arbitrators are appointed by the Arbitration Court at the proposal of an Evaluation Committee designated by the governing body of the Bar Association after considering their curriculum and eligibility.

Since her nomination for the area of Maritime and Transport Law was accepted, Verónica will participate together with the other fifteen members in the resolution of the conflicts that may arise within this sphere.

“The Legal 500” joins the list of international distinctions of AIYON Abogados

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AIYON Abogados SLP has received a special recognition for its areas of Maritima and Land Transport Law by “The Legal 500”, a prestigious international guide that investigates the activity of more than 2,700 law firms in 80 countries. This evaluation is added to the gradually extending relation of distinctions granted to the firm: “The International Comparative Legal Guides (ICGL)”, “The Insurance Disputes Law Review” and “Chambers”, among others.   

In its 2021 edition for Europe, “The Legal 500” places AIYON Abogados in leading positions in Maritime and Land Transport Law and recommends its services for being considered, according to collected testimonies, “a top-rate boutique law firm with a team available 24 hours every day of the year and comprising of professionals with an ample formation in law and in-depth knowledge of recent Spanish jurisdiction. The guide also underscores the “fairness and the easy communication of its lawyers”, “who have been involved in the majority of the main maritime, trade, insurance and transport cases in Spain with excellent results”. 

Maritime Law

With regard to the performance in maritime transport, the references consulted by “The Legal 500” stresses that it is “a solid firm that, from its offices in Bilbao, Madrid, Cádiz and Algeciras, offers an on-site service throughout the whole country”. “The extensive legal and technical training of its lawyers in maritime transport – the guide adds – provides them with deep knowledge of the business, the operations and its physical execution”. In the same way, “the proximity and the permanent communication with the clients (shipowners / charterers, masters, crew members, ship agents, insurance companies, etc.) and their successful and renowned trajectory in advising on sea pollution, collisions, salvage, wrecking, insurance, stowaways, ship arrests, piracy, ship repair and construction contracts are positively pondered.

Land and Air Transport 

The firm also receives excellent references for its “experience in any kind of issues arising in the sector of land transport”. Particular consideration shall be given to their efforts in national and international transport (cargo claims and theft, contracts of guarantee, contracts of logistics and multimodal transport, sanctioning proceedings, etc.) The expert capability and practice in air transport is also being addressed (insurance contracts and air traffic accidents, as well as purchase, leasing and financing of aircrafts, etc.) 

In both sections, the guide evaluates the added value of AIYON Abogados that, according to the references obtained by “The Legal 500” rests upon the ample experience of every member of the team (on average 17 years) and a large teamwork culture, since all the partners have been working together for most of the time of their careers. This allows the firm to choose the best team for every case and client in particular with the aim to protect and promote the business of their clients. 

“The Legal 500” 

The ´purpose of “The Legal 500” is to help lawyers and operators find the most suitable advisors by means their classification, based on the opinion of 300,000 respondents that are processed and evaluated by independent researchers. Merit is the only criterion applied for including law firms into the classification, which is thoroughly reviewed every year. 

Read the article published…

Direct Action by the Effective Carrier against the Principal Sender in case of Bankruptcy proceedings of an intermediary carrier

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The Additional Provision Sixth of Law 9/2013, of 4th July, which amends Law 16/1987, of 30th July, related to the Spanish Land Transportation Regime (“LOTT) establishes the right of the effective carrier to claim, for the unpaid part of the price of the carriage, against the principal “sender” and all those parties that have preceded him in the contract chain, in case of lack of payment by his contractor. This provision has been analysed in various occasions by the Spanish Supreme Court (in judgement such as nº 644/2017, of 24th November, and 248/2019, of 6th May) as reported by Aiyon Abogados in the past.

The Spanish Supreme Court has stated, in the aforementioned judgments, that the direct action of the effective carrier, of the Additional Provision Sixth of LOTT, is not limited to the amount owed by the principal sender to the intermediary as the goal of the Provision is to provide a guarantee to final carriers who are considered to be the weakest link of the chain. For this reason, this direct action has been configured as a supplementary payment guarantee.

Recently, however, in its judgment nº 4405/2020, of 29th December, the Supreme Court has had the chance to examine the effect of bankruptcy proceedings in the direct action of the effective carrier. In this judgement, the Supreme Court analyses once again the Additional Provision Sixth of LOTT and corroborates that such Provision does not make any exceptions for bankruptcy proceedings. The Supreme Court also notes that, after the Additional Provision Sixth, the Amendments approved in the Bankruptcy Laws did not include carrier’s direct action amongst those that cannot be exercised once bankruptcy protection has been afforded. Since it considers that this direct action is not analogous to the action of the person that provides work and material to a contract against the owner of the works, which cannot be prosecuted once bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated, the Spanish Supreme Court confirmed the option to exercise the direct action by the effective carrier when the intermediary carrier is in bankruptcy regardless of whether the principal sender has previously paid or not its contracting party.

BREXIT: The New European Scenario

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The European Union ended the year 2020 with breaking news. It was the agreement reached “in extremis” with the United Kingdom on the management of trade relations after 1st January 2021; the date on which, after approximately 4 years of extensions and postponements, BREXIT would finally enter into force.  

After arduous negotiations, on 24th December, Ursula Von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) and Boris Johnson (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) announced that an agreement had been reached, avoiding so the much feared “Hard Brexit” or “extreme Brexit”, whereby the United Kingdom would leave the European Union without a previous agreement.

There is no doubt that the close trade relations that exist between the two territories have produced significant pressure which has led to this final agreement. In any case, whether by means of a global agreement or by means of sectoral agreements, trade relations with the United Kingdom would ultimately be signed since UK is a vital trading partner for the European Union. In fact, for Spain, the United Kingdom is the fifth in the scale of its trading partners, moving (between imports and exports) over 32 billion Euros during 2019. 

The importance of this agreement arises, to a certain extent, from the fact that thanks to it, bilateral trade relations can be maintained without customs duties or quotas, an aspect that is of particular interest to exporters and importers, but which in general affects the whole society, since the costs to be assumed in import operations, as well as in export operations, will always have an impact on the final cost and customer. However, this agreement does not prevent bureaucratic, administrative, and fiscal procedures from being multiplied due to this departure. Examples of it are customs declarations, sanitary and phytosanitary controls, and the payment of VAT on the declared value of the goods at the time of import.

In other words, since 1st January 2021 the United Kingdom is a third country for the European Union, and as it happens with goods entering and leaving third countries outside the EU, the Spanish Customs Authorities will have to ensure that they are informed on and have control of the goods that are to be introduced into their territory and, consequently, into the European Union. 

This information about entries and exits will generally be provided by the company carrying out the transport of the goods (shipping companies, airlines, or land carriers) and must coincide with the presented customs declarations. In fact, efficiency and speed in the transmission of this information will be key to facilitating border formalities and thus avoiding discontinuities and delays, which for now are unavoidable. Companies that usually trade with importers or exporters from third countries outside the Union are already aware of the formalities required for these operations.

 

TRADE AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY, ON THE ONE HAND, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, ON THE OTHER HAND

With respect to the Agreement reached, we would like to highlight its second part, which includes aspects related to trade, transport, fishing and other provisions that are of interest to our sector with the aim of facilitating trade of goods between the parties and maintaining liberalized trade to the extent agreed in the Agreement. 

To this end, different aspects are addressed, such as:

  1. The recognition of the freedom of transit through their territories to persons with nationality of either Party. 
  2. The prohibition of customs duties, that is, a Party may not adopt or maintain any duties, taxes and other charges imposed on the exportation of a good to the other Party or in connection with such exportation, or any tax that is higher than the tax or charge that would be imposed on similar goods but destined for domestic consumption. 
  3. With respect to taxes and charges, the Parties may not assess these amounts ad valorem, but may simply charge such taxes and charges limited in amount to the cost of the services rendered and shall not constitute indirect protection of domestic products. There are exceptions for some specific services.
  4. Agree that the Parties may not impose restrictions, prohibitions or monopolies on imports or exports of goods destined for the territory of the other Party (except Article 11 of the GATT 1994). 
  5. That each Party shall determine in its territory the customs value of the goods of the other Party. 
  6. To create rules for determining the origin of goods for the purposes of applying preferential tariff treatment and to establish origin procedures. 
  7. Agree on the sanitary and phytosanitary measures to be applied on goods imported into the Parties to this Agreement. 
  8. Ensure customs cooperation for trade simplification. To this end, measures such as the rapid release of goods, the presentation and advance electronic processing of documentation, the promotion of the association of authorized economic operators, the establishment of the single window, the facilitation of roll-on-roll-off traffic, etc., are taken. 

Although this agreement regulates many aspects of interest for the sector, there are other things that it does not resolve and that are fundamental for the correct development of commercial relations. In particular, we would like to make special mention of the exequatur or recognition of foreign judgments, as well as the jurisdiction applicable in the resolution of disputes between the Parties. 

Given the transcendence that an incorrect choice of the applicable jurisdiction may imply for the subjects involved in international trade operations, from AIYON Abogados we would like to recommend all agents involved in trade with the United Kingdom, before starting a new commercial relationship, to make express agreements where the jurisdiction to which they will submit their disputes is agreed. In case of pre-existing commercial relations, we recommend analysing whether the jurisdiction agreed upon at the time is still the best for the defence of their present and future commercial interests.