- Belgian and International Commercial Law in general
- Recovery of commercial debts nationally and internationally
- Trade disputes
- Drafting contracts
- Registration of companies at the �business corner�
- Agency and distribution
- Bank & Finance
- Petroleum, gas, natural resources
- ��.
- Establishment of companies and branches
- Liquidation of companies
- Company law disputes
- Debt recovery nationally and internationally
- WCO procedures (Law Continuity of Enterprises)
- ��.
The enforcement in Belgium of a foreign judgment depends in general on a prior authorization by the Belgian Court, a so-called �exequatur�. This is a highly specialised matter for which we can assist you with the required knowledge and experience. Karel MUL is the author of the chapter dedicated to Belgium in the publication "Enforcement of Foreign Judgments", published by Kluwer International New York.
- Enforcing Belgian judgments abroad:
Belgian judgments may in general only be enforced abroad after obtaining the authorisation to do so by the Court in the country where the judgment must be enforced. Thanks to good personal contacts with lawyers who are specialised in this matter, we can take care of the enforcement of a judgment in nearly every country in the world.
- Enforcing Belgian judgments in Belgium:
Belgian judgments are handed over to a bailiff (process-server) in view of their enforcement. It�s important to work with a competent bailiff. To this end, we have the required personal contacts; moreover, the enforcement is always done under our personal supervision.
Karel MUL is registered under number 43999 at the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) in Alicante as "legal representative". The EUIPO is an agency of the European Union, and is charged with the registration of trademarks and community designs.
As such, he is entitled to file designs as well as trademarks in view of their protection in all EU-countries.
He is also authorised to register designs and trademarks at the BOIP (Benelux Office for Intellectual Property) in The Hague, which leads to protection in the Benelux countries. Such limited protection can serve as a basis and subsequently be extended to protection in (nearly all) other countries.
We are regularly charged with cases related to the infringment of the intellectual property rights of clients by the import of counterfeit goods. Thanks to our good contacts with the Customs� Administration, we can act pro-actively in this area, among other things by communicating "white lists" of goods that may be imported and �black list� of goods that must be blocked, so that the Customs know in advance which containers should be stopped as being suspicious.
If it is determined that the goods are counterfeit, we may - at the discretion of the holder of the intellectual rights - either negotiate in order to obtain an immediate compensation for the non-payment of the fees or we may opt for litigation in order to obtain the destruction of the counterfeit goods and the condemnation to pay a compensation.
Lawyer Karel MUL studied Maritime and Transport Law at the University of Antwerp and he graduated summa cum laude; he also studied Maritime and Transport Insurance in which he graduated cum laude.
We can assist you with regard to:
- Vessel arrest
- Cargo claims
- Nautical expertises
- Maritime insurance
- CMR
- Physical injury on board of ships
- Physical injury in land transport
- Physical injury in air transport
- ��.
As this is in general a matter that requires an urgent intervention, you may always contact the office at the 24/7 numbers +32 (0) 475 26 66 64 / + 32 (0) 486 91 51 67
It�s important to have all the relevant information as soon as possible, as a vessel arrest implies the prior authorisation by the Arrest Judge.
You should forward ASAP the following information, with documents that prove your claim:
- Full name, identity and address of the plaintiff
- Full name, identity and address of the ship-owner of the vessel
- Full name, identity and address of the debtor of the claim
- Description of the claim
- Evidence establishing the claim
- Possible and relevant correspondence (such as reminders to pay)
- A detailed calculation of the claim (principal, interest, costs)
- The name of the vessel
- IMO number of the vessel
In Belgium the authorisation to arrest a vessel may be obtained for maritime claims only. These claims as specified in art 1.1 of the 1952 International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships: (The Brussels Convention)
"Maritime Claim" means a claim arising out of one or more of the following:
a) damage caused by any ship either in collision or otherwise;
b) loss of life or personal injury caused by any ship or occurring in connexion with the operation of any ship;
c) salvage;
d) agreement relating to the use or hire of any ship whether by charterparty or otherwise;
e) agreement relating to the carriage of goods in any ship whether by charterparty or otherwise;
f) loss of or damage to goods including baggage carried in any ship;
g) general average;
h) bottomry;
i) towage;
j) pilotage;
k) goods or materials wherever supplied to a ship for her operation or maintenance;
l) construction, repair or equipment of any ship or dock charges and dues;
m) wages of Masters, Officers, or crew;
n) Master's disbursements, including disbursements made by shippers, charterers or agents on behalf of a ship or her owner;
o) disputes as to the title to or ownership of any ship;
p) disputes between co-owners of any ship as to the ownership, possession, employment or earnings of that ship;
q) the mortgage or hypothecation of any ship.
However, with some �creative thinking� it should be possible to arrest a vessel for other than maritime claims. If for instance the bunkers are seized, this isn�t an arrest of the vessel as such, but the result that is required, being the immobilization of the ship, is exactly the same !
According to the article 1469 of the Judicial Code, all the ships owned by the debtor of the claim may be arrested, and even the vessel in respect of which the maritime claim arose even if the debtor of the claim is not the owner anymore.
This leads to far more possibilities for the creditor, at least in theory, but most of the time it will be impossible to make use of this, due to the tendency of shipping companies to have a separate company for each of their ships for reasons of �safety�, should they be the subject of maritime claims.
You can of course also contact the office if your ship was arrested. Pay attention: as the terms are very short and mandatory it is therefore paramount that the document served by the bailiff (with in the heading �Beslag�) is mailed as soon as possible.
The office takes care of debt recovery, nationally as well as internationally.
Thanks to the personal and close contacts that are maintained with lawyers in many countries of the world, due to our membership of various international associations, the best suitable lawyer can always be contacted on short notice
- Property rights
- Successions, wills and donations
- Contract law
- Buying-selling
- Physical injuries
- Civil and professional liability
- Medical liability
- Intellectual Property
- ��.
As the author of the chapter on Belgium in the standard work "International Succession", published by the prestigious Oxford University Press (2014), Karel MUL is well suited to assist you in the complex world of inheritances, wills and legacies. We intervene not only in purely Belgian cases but also in cases with international ramifications. If necessary, we can work together with foreign specialists who are personally known as the best in this often complicated matter.
We handle civil liability cases (such as (traffic) accidents, tort, etc.)
The office is repeatedly charged with files concerning medical liability, mainly concerning aesthetic or repair surgery.
As a rule, the intervention of a surgeon is regarded as an �obligation of means�; the surgeon must use all possible means to achieve the intended result, but he/she can not be held responsible if this result is not achieved, except for serious misconduct.
For purely aesthetic interventions however, there is a tendency to consider the intervention of the surgeon as a �result obligation�, which means that if the result that was foreseen is not reached, the surgeon may be held responsible for the damage that was suffered, in which case a compensation may be claimed.
For the medical aspects of these files we work together with highly skilled private experts.
