EU / English
222 practical questions, reviewed against legislation, cases and official guidance.
Generally yes — but three separate questions decide the consequences: contractual validity, whether breach is also infringement, and which user rights cannot be excluded.
BSA splits the question: a GUI is not protected as a computer program, but may be protected as an ordinary work if it is its author's own intellectual creation.
The Software Directive says ideas and principles underlying interfaces are unprotected — so EU analysis turns on what you copied, not on a fair-use balance.
SAS Institute confirms that functionality, programming languages and data-file formats are not protected as computer programs — but other rights can still bite.
Article 5(2) cannot be excluded by contract and any clause purporting to do so is null and void — but the right is limited to copies necessary for the user's own continued use.
UsedSoft allows resale of a downloaded copy sold for an unlimited period, but the conditions are strict — and subscriptions, split volume licences and back-up copies fall outside.
The sui generis right protects investment in a collection, independently of copyright in its contents — a separate layer that scraping factual data can infringe.
The TDM exceptions cover reproductions made for the purpose of mining. An output that reproduces protected expression is a separate act, needing its own legal basis.
Article 53(1)(d) requires a public summary on the AI Office's template — comprehensive in scope rather than technically detailed, and expressly not a work-by-work dataset disclosure.
Article 3 permits open-ended retention for research including verification; Article 4 permits retention only for as long as necessary for the mining itself.
The AI Act attaches its copyright-policy duty to market access, not to where training happened — while copyright itself stays territorial. Two regimes, two different reaches.
A supplier can only grant what it holds. Why layered rights, the DSM opt-out and the AI Act's copyright-policy duty make supplier warranties risk allocation rather than permission.
Three overlapping answers: the contractual promise, the consumer's reasonable expectation under the Sale of Goods Directive, and the Cyber Resilience Act's five-year support floor.
Data-funded digital services are inside both the Digital Content Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive — with one notable asymmetry in the termination test.
Article 19 gives a 30-day termination right for modifications with more than minor negative impact — but only if the modification was permitted at all.
The Digital Content Directive gives conformity remedies that survive the loss of the withdrawal right, with the burden of proof on the trader for the first year.
slewo narrows Article 16(e) sharply: the test is whether the goods are definitively unsuitable for resale, not whether they touched the body.
Different information defects carry different sanctions: a twelve-month extension, lost deductions, unrecoverable costs, a surviving withdrawal right, and fines of at least 4% of turnover.
Article 14(2) permits a deduction only for handling beyond establishing nature, characteristics and functioning — and not at all if the trader failed to give withdrawal notice.
Article 9(2) sets three different start points for split orders, multi-part goods and recurring deliveries — and picking the wrong one can extend the period by twelve months.
Outbound delivery must be refunded, but only up to the least expensive standard option — and partial returns raise a question the Directive does not answer directly.
The default is the consumer — but only if the trader said so before the order. How Articles 6(1)(i), 6(6) and 14(1) interact, and why defective goods are a different question.
How Rome I Articles 3, 10 and 11 treat online terms, why consent is tested under the putative law, and why the separate choice-of-court analysis has a stricter form requirement.
Rome I Article 14 splits the assignment into three relationships, governs two of them, and leaves third-party proprietary effects to national conflict rules.
Rome I Article 12(1)(d) makes limitation a matter for the governing law, not the forum — and why that answer changes when the claim is not contractual.
Rome I Article 3(2) permits a change at any time, including retrospectively, subject to two express safeguards on formal validity and third-party rights.
Rome I Article 4(1)(e) points to the franchisee's habitual residence, while pre-contractual disclosure duties are routed through Rome II Article 12 — two regimes, one relationship.
Rome I Article 4(1)(f) points to the distributor's habitual residence: how to apply it, when the mixed-contract and closer-connection rules displace it, and where agency rules intrude.
Why Rome I still gives effect to a choice of English law, and why the real Brexit change was to jurisdiction and enforcement rather than to governing law.
Rome I Article 8 applied to remote work: the 'from which' test, the floor of mandatory protection, the closer-connection escape clause, and why tax and social security are separate questions.
The cross-border small-enterprise exemption in force since 2025: the two thresholds, the EX number, quarterly reporting, and how it differs from the €10,000 digital threshold and OSS.
Applying the single-supply test to a hardware-plus-subscription bundle, and why the answer changes the place of supply, the rate and the reporting route.
The ten-year OSS retention rule across all three schemes, the twelve categories of data required, and the 20-day electronic production deadline.
Why OSS corrections go into a later return rather than an amended one, the three-year window, the rate and exchange rate to use, and what happens after you leave the scheme.
Why moving your own goods across an EU border is a deemed supply, when call-off stock avoids it, and why OSS does not remove the registration.
Why the €150 test applies per consignment on intrinsic value, what is excluded from the calculation, and how the customs-duty position changed on 1 July 2026.
How the 2025 virtual-attendance rules split business and consumer delegates, why a hybrid conference has two answers, and which dates govern.
How human involvement separates a live class from an electronically supplied service, where each is taxed since the 2025 virtual-activity rules, and when the education exemption applies.
When a non-EU supplier with no EU establishment owes EU VAT on B2C digital sales, how the non-Union OSS works, and when a marketplace carries the obligation instead.
Why the Article 59c threshold is closed to suppliers established outside the EU, which transactions it covers, and what non-EU sellers face instead.
Why a failed VIES check is not proof that the customer is a consumer, what the Implementing Regulation actually requires, and how to handle the transaction.
When cross-border B2B SaaS is taxed where the customer belongs, how to establish business status and the receiving establishment, and what the invoice must say.
A practical guide to EU and international authorisation, spectrum, liability, drone, cybersecurity and data rules for space activities.
EU ETS, sustainable-fuel, fleet CO2, taxonomy and reporting duties for aviation, shipping, road transport and customers.
Rights to booking, carriage, accessible information and assistance, and the narrow safety or technical grounds for refusal.
How national accident law, motor insurance, product liability, vehicle approval, AI, data and cybersecurity rules overlap.
How procurement, concessions, State aid, public-service compensation and competition rules apply together to transport infrastructure.
EU rules for non-discriminatory access, capacity allocation and charges at airports, ports, railways and public charging networks.
How driving time, rest, driver posting, cabotage and tachograph duties apply to cross-border hauliers and logistics platforms.
When airlines, railways, bus operators and ship carriers may invoke extraordinary events, passenger fault, weather or infrastructure failure.
How EU air, rail, bus and ship rules calculate delay compensation, missed connections, reimbursement, rerouting, meals and accommodation.
How EU air, rail, bus and ship passenger rights apply to connections, code-shares, through-tickets and multimodal journeys, and who owes remedies.
How Schengen controls, carrier duties, EU travel databases and police access interact with privacy, asylum and free-movement safeguards.
A comparison of EU long-term resident, Blue Card, seasonal worker, student, researcher and intra-corporate transferee mobility rights.
When EU law permits cessation or withdrawal of refugee and subsidiary-protection status for changed circumstances, withheld facts or misconduct.
How non-refoulement limits asylum transfers, return and visa decisions and EU cooperation with non-EU countries, including indirect removal risks.
EU rules on detaining asylum applicants and irregular migrants: lawful grounds, alternatives, time limits, court review, release and detention conditions.
EU safeguards during asylum screening, accelerated and border procedures, including legal help, vulnerability, safe-country findings and appeals.
How the EU assigns asylum responsibility under Regulation 2024/1351, including family, minors, visas, entry, dependency and unsafe transfers.
The EU tests for expelling citizens and family members on public-policy, security or health grounds, including enhanced protection and appeals.
How EU law distinguishes genuine residence, family and dependency from abusive investor-citizenship, sham-marriage and artificial residence arrangements.
EU residence rights for citizens, workers, jobseekers, students, self-sufficient people and family members, including retention and permanent residence.
EU primacy, effectiveness and legal-certainty rules for time limits, evidence exclusions, limitation periods and final national decisions.
EU rules for official statements, media coverage, restraint, pre-trial decisions and parallel administrative proceedings before guilt is final.
EU rules for protected internal and external reports, public disclosures, facilitators, connected persons and prohibited retaliation.
How EU and national criminal, administrative and regulatory bodies coordinate when the same conduct triggers several investigations.
How EU rules attribute bribery, fraud, money laundering, sanctions and environmental offences to companies, including supervision failures.
EU Charter limits on communications retention, surveillance, access to traffic and location data, and police searches of mobile devices.
When an EIO may be refused, changed or challenged, and when unlawfully obtained cross-border evidence must be disregarded at trial.
The EU minimum safeguards for interpretation, information, lawyers, legal aid, silence and presence at trial, including European Arrest Warrant cases.
How EU ne bis in idem applies to criminal, tax, competition and regulatory penalties, and when coordinated dual-track enforcement may remain lawful.
When EU states must execute a European Arrest Warrant and how prison conditions, judicial independence, serious illness or family life affect surrender.
How EU civil-justice rules interact with Denmark, EEA states, the United Kingdom, third countries, Lugano and Hague conventions.
How EU succession law uses habitual residence or chosen nationality law, protects reserved shares and enables a European Certificate of Succession.
How EU rules circulate maintenance judgments, matrimonial-property decisions, authentic instruments and settlements across borders.
How Brussels IIb assigns divorce and parental-responsibility cases and determines a child's habitual residence after an international move.
When EU consumer representative actions can cross borders, why businesses need another procedural route, and which law governs jurisdiction and remedies.
EU procedures for preserving bank accounts and evidence, serving proceedings, and taking evidence in another Member State.
When service defects, conflicting judgments or public policy can block recognition or enforcement of an EU civil judgment.
How Rome II selects the law for cross-border online, data, environmental, product and competition claims—and where national rules still apply.
How Rome I determines a contract's governing law and when mandatory rules, protected-party rules or public policy override the chosen law.
How Brussels I bis allocates contract disputes and limits choice-of-court clauses involving consumers, employees and insured persons.
When EU competition law, software and digital-market interoperability rules, SEP commitments or crisis licences can constrain IP owners.
How the AVMSD, DSA, political-advertising rules and national consumer law overlap for influencers, platforms and targeted ads.
How EU law protects trade secrets when staff change jobs, courts and regulators need information, or whistleblowers reveal wrongdoing.
How EU copyright distinguishes communication to the public, reproduction and distribution for links, embeds, streams, cloud copies and digital resale.
How EU law allocates copyright liability for user uploads and requires platforms to protect quotation, parody and other lawful expression.
How EU copyright exceptions permit research and commercial text and data mining, and how right holders can reserve works from the general exception.
How EU copyright protects computer-program expression while permitting defined acts of use, testing, backup, error correction and interoperability.
How EU design law protects products, interfaces, animations, spare parts and 3D-print files through registered and unregistered rights.
The evidence and burdens for five recurring issues in EU trade-mark oppositions, invalidity actions and non-use proceedings.
How EU trade-mark law tests conflicts with earlier marks, company names, domains, geographical indications and marks with a reputation.
How EU law permits access to electronic health data for care, research, regulation and product development, and when the EHDS changes the route.
How EU medicines law connects marketing authorisation, generic-entry protection, shortage duties, off-label treatment and national access decisions.
How EU law qualifies and classifies medical-device software, what MDR or IVDR evidence is needed, and when the AI Act also applies.
Who must test, register, classify, label and communicate chemical hazards under REACH and CLP, and when downstream users inherit their own duties.
When EU law permits national restrictions on authorised food, pesticides, REACH chemicals and genetically modified products, and what evidence and procedure are required.
Who must withdraw or recall unsafe food under EU law, how authorities coordinate across borders, and which traceability records operators need.
How EU novel-food, GMO and new genomic-technique procedures divide scientific assessment and authorisation, and how they address uncertainty.
How EU law tests food labels, nutrition and health claims, origin statements, organic terms and sustainability marketing for misleading information.
How EU law limits Member States when CAP interventions combine farm support, environmental goals, animal welfare and producer cooperation.
When CAP eligibility failures, conditionality breaches, procurement errors and inaccurate reporting lead to payment reductions, withdrawal, recovery or penalties.
The separate EU rules governing renewable-energy permits, grid access and dispatch, State aid, environmental assessment, delays and refusals.
How EU electricity and gas law balances network access, unbundling, consumer intervention and protection of legitimate energy investments.
How ecodesign, right-to-repair, waste, packaging and battery rules allocate duties among manufacturers, importers, sellers, repairers, producers, distributors and waste holders.
How the EU taxonomy tests substantial contribution, significant harm, minimum safeguards and technical criteria, and what follows from a wrong classification.
Who monitors and verifies emissions, surrenders EU ETS allowances or CBAM certificates, and bears the financial duty under the EU's two carbon-pricing systems.
How Aarhus, EU environmental directives and Article 47 shape standing, judicial review, enforcement and challenges to national or EU climate measures.
How persistent non-compliance with EU air, water, waste, and nature law triggers plans, corrective measures, permit constraints, review, and enforcement.
The evidence and legal tests for screening, appropriate assessment and exceptional approval of projects affecting Natura 2000 sites.
How EU courts review alternatives, cumulative effects, participation and uncertainty under the EIA, SEA and Habitats Directives.
A practical guide to EU EIA and SEA screening, timing, public participation, defective assessments, regularisation and judicial remedies.
How EU law governs audits, ineligible expenditure, financial corrections, recovery orders, exclusion, and beneficiary procedural rights.
How EU procurement law permits strategic requirements while preserving equal treatment, competition, verification, and proportionality.
When EU procurement law requires suspension, annulment, damages, ineffectiveness, contract shortening, or other penalties.
How Article 72 of Directive 2014/24/EU distinguishes permitted contract changes from substantial modifications requiring a new procurement.
A practical EU procurement framework for investigating low prices, unlawful labour savings, foreign financial support and coordinated bids.
How EU procurement law treats third-party capacity, subcontractor replacement and participation in multiple competing bidding groups.
How EU procurement law distinguishes lawful clarification and document completion from unequal treatment or submission of a new tender.
How EU procurement law limits technical, turnover, environmental and experience requirements that narrow competition or favour bidders.
The EU tests for direct awards to controlled entities, jointly controlled bodies and genuine cooperation between public authorities.
How EU law distinguishes public contracts from land sales, grants, open authorisation schemes, competence transfers and public-public cooperation.
How EU trade-defence duties, dual-use export controls and anti-coercion measures can block transactions, and which review route applies.
How EU asset freezes and Russia sectoral sanctions apply to ownership, control, circumvention, services and transactions through non-EU affiliates.
When EU customs law protects reliance on BTI or BOI decisions, authority errors or legitimate expectations against retrospective duties.
How EU customs law treats software-enabled goods, bundles, multi-country production, related parties, assists, royalties and later price adjustments.
How DAC6 and DAC7 allocate reporting duties for cross-border tax arrangements, online platforms and sellers, including privilege limits.
How the EU Pillar Two revenue threshold, top-up tax order, current safe harbours and DAC9 information-return rules work together.
A phased guide to the EU ViDA rules on e-invoicing, transaction reporting, platform VAT, OSS expansion and cross-border registration.
When EU VAT law permits invoice correction or deduction despite a formal defect—and when missing proof, non-due VAT or fraud defeats the claim.
How EU VAT place-of-supply rules classify platforms, digital services, distance sales, online goods and physical or virtual events.
How EU establishment, services, capital and worker freedoms test cross-border tax disadvantages, justifications and proportionality.
How EU unfair-terms law governs foreign-currency risk, variable rates, loan invalidity, restitution, limitation periods and mortgage enforcement.
How Solvency II and the Insurance Distribution Directive govern insurer capital, product governance, customer needs, advice, remuneration and cross-border sales.
How EU public-offer and listing triggers, exemptions, current thresholds, supplements and national civil-liability rules govern prospectuses.
How MAR governs social-media posts, selective disclosure, rumours, employee and adviser trading, market soundings and share buybacks.
How MiFID II distinguishes personal advice, robo-selection and marketing from public investment recommendations governed by market-abuse rules.
How DORA allocates governance, incident reporting, testing, outsourcing, contract, register and critical-provider oversight duties after ICT disruption.
When EU payment law requires a refund for unauthorised payments, and how consent, SCA, gross negligence and payee verification change liability.
How EU payment, fraud, AML and sanctions rules distinguish card blocking, transfer refusal, suspicious-transaction holds, freezing and recall.
How MiCA treats token offers, ART and EMT stablecoins, exchanges, custody and staking, including white papers, authorisation and safeguards.
A practical EU classification sequence for tokenised securities, e-money tokens, asset-referenced tokens, utility tokens and excluded assets.
How EU registers, shareholder rights, GDPR, trade-secret protection and market-abuse rules govern cross-border access to company information.
How EU insolvency law allocates jurisdiction, recognises judgments, protects security rights and coordinates company-group proceedings.
How EU courts locate and test a debtor’s centre of main interests, apply the registered-office presumption and resolve jurisdiction challenges.
How EU preventive restructuring binds holdouts while protecting dissenting creditors, classes, workers and equity holders.
How EU reporting, securities, due-diligence and restructuring rules interact with national director liability before and near insolvency.
How CSRD scope, double materiality, ESRS, value-chain estimates, assurance and the EU's 2025–2026 amendments affect company reporting.
How national company law, EU shareholder rules, online registers and eIDAS determine electronic meeting, vote, proxy and filing validity.
When EU authorities may refuse a cross-border conversion, merger or division for abuse, fraud, legal evasion or criminal purpose—and what evidence is needed.
EU disclosure, consultation, security and exit safeguards for employees, creditors and minority shareholders in cross-border company operations.
When EU freedom of establishment protects a cross-border company move, conversion, merger or division—and which procedures and safeguards apply.
How EU rules assign one social-security system to remote, posted and multi-state workers, and how A1 conflicts and registrations are corrected.
EU consultation duties for collective redundancies, transfers, substantial workplace changes and European Works Councils, including decision timing.
How EU transfer rules preserve employment, terms and collective rights in sales, outsourcing, insourcing and contracts divided among new providers.
EU working-time rules for workplace and home standby, reachability, mobile-worker travel, required training, remote work and time recording.
How EU law tests dress codes, language rules, age limits and fitness standards for direct discrimination, indirect disadvantage and justification.
The different EU-law duties for disability, religion, pregnancy and carers—and how an employer proves that an adjustment would go too far.
How EU equality law tests seniority, performance, location and collective bargaining—and why a neutral label is never enough.
EU pay-transparency duties for recruitment, workers and gender pay reporting, and how non-compliance shifts proof in equal-pay cases.
When EU law permits algorithmic work allocation, ratings, pay and deactivation, and what information, explanation and human review workers receive.
How EU courts assess direction, remuneration, genuine independence and worker status for contractors, platform workers and company directors.
How EU qualified entities bring cross-border injunction and redress actions, and how opt-in rules, funding, settlements and national procedure differ.
When EU air, rail, bus, sea and package rules protect missed connections—and when a self-connect leaves each booking legally separate.
EU flight compensation for cancellation and long delay, including extraordinary circumstances, reasonable measures, rerouting and care.
How EU consumer law governs environmental claims, sustainability labels, carbon-neutral advertising and evidence for future green promises.
How the EU General Product Safety Regulation divides duties among manufacturers, importers, distributors, fulfilment providers and marketplaces.
EU product-liability rules for defective goods, software, AI, updates and marketplaces, including who can be sued and which losses qualify.
How EU consumer law orders repair, replacement, price reduction and refunds for defective goods, digital content and missing updates.
How the EU 14-day withdrawal rules apply to digital content, subscriptions, early-started services, free trials and personalised goods.
EU pre-contract disclosure rules for online sales and when countdown timers, rankings, personalised prices and manipulative interfaces become unlawful.
How EU law tests unfair consumer terms and requires national courts to examine and disapply them even when the consumer stays silent.
How eIDAS allocates wallet security, signature and attribute duties—and liability for reliance losses—among Member States, providers and relying parties.
How the GDPR, the EU Charter and national labour law govern workplace monitoring of communications, location, devices, biometrics and productivity.
How GDPR access, rectification, erasure, objection and portability apply to inferences, internal notes, model outputs and mixed-person records.
The GDPR rules for documenting and notifying data breaches, communicating high risks, and claiming material or non-material damage.
How Article 22 GDPR applies to automated decisions, significant effects, human intervention, explanations and challenges.
How GDPR transfer mechanisms, transfer impact assessments and effective supplementary measures govern personal data sent outside the EEA after Schrems II.
How EU law tests anonymity, and why hashing, aggregation, synthetic records and pseudonymisation may still leave identifiable personal data.
How to distinguish GDPR joint controllers, independent controllers and processors—and allocate rights, compensation and regulatory exposure.
A practical EU-law method for choosing between consent, contract, legal obligation, public task and legitimate interests under Article 6 GDPR.
How the GDPR tests free consent when service access depends on personalised advertising, payment, or acceptance of bundled processing purposes.
How NIS2, DORA and the Cyber Resilience Act allocate security, escalation and reporting duties among customers, providers and product makers.
How the Data Governance Act and European Health Data Space assign data-sharing roles, duties and permissions—and why labels cannot be transferred blindly.
How the EU Data Act allocates connected-product data rights and limits refusals based on trade secrets, safety or cybersecurity concerns.
How gatekeeper status, the service affected, market dominance, competitive effects and justification determine whether EU platform rules overlap.
How the Digital Services Act combines systemic-risk controls with proportionality, freedom of expression, reasons, redress and human review.
When the EU Digital Services Act leads to content removal, and the reasons, complaints and independent remedies available after a wrong decision.
How EU AI, product-safety and product-liability rules combine with national tort law when an AI-enabled product causes injury or loss.
A practical evidence map for data quality, human oversight, performance, logs and lifecycle governance under the EU AI Act.
How fine-tuning, integration, rebranding and substantial modification can shift provider duties under the EU AI Act—and when they do not.
A practical guide to prohibited AI, high-risk systems, transparency duties and general-purpose models—and which operator must comply.
How EU foreign-subsidy review covers acquisitions, public procurement and other market activity, including thresholds, call-ins and remedies.
How EU State aid law tests whether public investments, loans and purchases match market terms, and which evidence must exist when the decision is made.
How EU State-aid law classifies grants, tax advantages, guarantees and below-market transactions, and why recovery defences are narrow.
How EU merger notification thresholds work, and why national filings, Article 22, Article 102 and the DMA still matter below them.
How EU law tests self-preferencing, tying, data-access refusals, exclusivity, rebates and predatory pricing by dominant firms.
How EU competition law tests dominance in digital, pharmaceutical, energy and other markets using evidence beyond prices and shares.
When a restrictive sustainability agreement can satisfy Article 101(3), including efficiencies, consumer benefits and residual competition.
How EU competition law treats resale prices, territory and customer limits, online sales conditions, advertising restrictions, and marketplace bans.
How Article 101 TFEU separates inherently harmful competitor information exchanges from exchanges that require proof of restrictive effects.
How EU competition law proves coordination through algorithms, trade associations and public pricing signals, and when parallel conduct is insufficient.
When EU free-movement, competition and platform rules reach private certification schemes, sports bodies, associations and digital gatekeepers.
How contract law, posted-worker protections, social-security coordination and CJEU judgments interact during an EU assignment.
How EU free-movement law, proportionality, screening procedure and the 2026 FDI regulation control national conditions or prohibitions.
How Article 63 TFEU protects third-country investment, and when tax, public-interest or national-security restrictions can survive EU review.
How EU law tests cross-border taxes, fees, deposits, and formalities for discrimination, justification, proportionality, and hidden barriers.
How EU law separates prohibited economic-needs tests from licensing rules that survive only if justified, objective, and proportionate.
When an EU country must recognise a professional qualification from another Member State, and when it may require a test or adaptation period.
How EU law separates stable establishment from temporary cross-border services, and why that choice changes the host state's regulatory powers.
How EU law tests national import and export restrictions based on health, morality, consumer protection, or environmental protection.
How Article 34 TFEU, mutual recognition, mandatory requirements, market access, and proportionality govern national product rules.
How Article 260 TFEU turns an unimplemented CJEU judgment into a second infringement action, a lump sum, and a coercive periodic penalty.
How proportionality, legal certainty, legitimate expectations, and equal treatment control EU action and national implementation of EU law.
How EU and national courts can preserve rights while EU law is disputed, and why interpretation and validity challenges follow different tests.
How EU courts assess competence, essential procedural defects, inadequate reasons, and misuse of powers in actions for annulment.
How Article 263 TFEU treats addressees, individual concern and regulatory acts, and when a private applicant may challenge an EU act directly.
When Article 267 TFEU requires a reference, and how acte clair, acte éclairé, appeals, conflicting decisions, and reasons affect the duty.
When EU primacy requires a national court to disapply conflicting legislation, including later rules, and why direct effect remains essential.
The Francovich test for Member State liability, including rights, causation, sufficiently serious breaches and the role of national damages rules.
How far EU-consistent interpretation reaches, when it becomes contra legem, and how national constitutional limits interact with CJEU doctrine.
How direct effect differs for EU treaties, regulations, directives and Charter rights, especially when the defendant is a private party.