EU court finds grounds for airline damages in spilled coffee

08:06, December 20, 2019

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  Poland 'could leave EU' says top court

  Poland could end up leaving the European Union because of plans by the ruling nationalists that would allow judges to be fired if they question the legitimacy of the governments judicial reforms, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday.The court said the plans could contravene European law and exacerbate existing tensions between Brussels and Polands ruling Law and Justice party (PiS)."Contradictions between Polish law and EU law ... will in all likelihood lead to an intervention by the EU institutions regarding an infringement of the EU treaties, and in the longer perspective (will lead to) the need to leave the European Union," Polands Supreme Court said in a statement.Polands President Andrzej could replace the court president before the next election under the proposed law, according to the ruling. Credit: AP Photo/Francisco SecoThe EU has accused PiS of politicising the judiciary since the party swept to power in 2015. Pis says its reforms are necessary to make the court system more efficient.Under draft legislation now before parliament, PiS aims to prevent judges from ruling that peers, nominated by a panel appointed by the party, are not independent."The Commission has a very clear position on protecting the judiciary from political interference," European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand told Reuters in response to the Supreme Court statement."The Commission continues to follow the situation closely. We remain ready and available to discuss with the Polish authorities ways forward to resolving the issues at hand."The EU said on Monday it would investigate whether the draft law undermines judicial independence.The Supreme Court statement also said the proposed bill was "evidently" designed to allow President Andrzej Duda, an ally of PiS, to pick a new head of the court before a presidential election expected in May.The current head of the Supreme Court, Malgorzata Gersdorf, is due to stand down...

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  Hot drinks could be banned on european flights after EU court ruling

  Could this be the end of hot drinks on planes? Aviation companies across Europe will be paying close attention to an active court case in Austria where a six-year-old girl is suing low cost airline Niki after she was burnt on-board a flight in 2015..The EU courts ruling relates to a case involving Austrian aviation company Niki. (Photo: AP)On Thursday, the European Court of Justice ruled that a passenger who was injured during a flight can seek damages to the airline operator even if their injury was not linked to air travel issues such as turbulence.The advisory ruling was related to the Austrian case of a six-year-old girl, whose father spilt hot coffee on her during a flight. The journey in 2015 between Mallorca (Spain) and Vienna (Austria) was operated by Niki Luftfahrt Gmbh. The company has subsequently been bought out by Laudamotion and then been takenover by Irish firm Ryanair.During the flight, the father was served a cup of hot coffee which, while it was placed upon the tray table in front of him, tipped over onto his right thigh and onto his daughters chest, causing her second-degree scalding.According to the court case, it could not be established whether the cup of coffee tipped over due to a defect in the folding tray table on which it was placed or due to vibration of the aircraft.The girl, represented for legal purposes by her father, filed a claim on the basis of Article 17(1) of the 1999 Montreal Convention (MC99), which establishes airline liability in the case of death or injury to passengers, as well as in cases of delay, damage or loss of baggage and cargo.The girl claimed the now insolvent carrier be ordered to pay compensation for the harm caused to her, estimated at 8,500 euros ($9,400).But airline Niki, that was founded by the late three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, argued that no particular event had caused the cup to fall over and rejected the claim for compensation.However, the EU court said in a statement t...

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  EU court boost for activist in Facebook data transfer fight

  (Photo: AP)EU regulators must make more effort to stop tech companies from transferring data to countries with weaker data-protection standards, an advisor to the European Union’s top court said Thursday. It’s the latest in a lengthy and complex legal case involving an Austrian privacy campaigner and Facebook.A preliminary opinion by the European Court of Justice’s advocate general said existing EU legal rules for data transfers should remain in place, but there should be stricter enforcement by authorities. It gives a boost to privacy activist Max Schrems, who launched the case seven years ago because of worries Europeans were subject to mass US government surveillance.“Companies will momentarily breathe a sigh of relief” that the EU will likely maintain the legal mechanism that many companies now use to move data around the world, said Caitlin Fennessy, research director at the International Association of Privacy Professionals. But she said the opinion also leaves room for challenges to transferring data on a case-by-case basis, if a country is deemed to not have adequate protections.Though the case involves Facebook, it could have far-reaching implications for social media and other tech companies that move large amounts of data over the internet. Schrems said the case potentially affects Google, Microsoft and any other US company that provides electronic communications services, but not data transfers between traditional businesses like airlines, hotels and banks.The advocate general’s opinion is not binding but may influence the court’s judges when they issue their final ruling next year, likely by March.At issue are so-called “standard contractual clauses,” which force businesses to abide by strict EU privacy standards when transferring messages, photos and other information. Companies like Facebook routinely move such data among its servers around the world, andthe clauses— stock terms and conditions — are used to ensure the EU rules are ma...