General terms & conditions

1-Novius is a professional partnership in the form of a private limited liability company (“besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid”, abbreviated as “BVBA”) under Belgian law.

2-The present general terms and conditions apply to the services provided by Novius, its partners, employees and personnel.

3-All assignments are deemed to be entrusted to Novius and carried out by Novius, even if it is expressly or tacitly intended that these will be carried out by a specific person.

4-The client undertakes to provide all data and information, if necessary supported by documents. The client guarantees the correctness, completeness and reliability of the information provided by or on behalf of it to Novius.

5-The client undertakes to sufficiently inform Novius in a timely manner about proceedings that have been or must be initiated, and to notify Novius without delay of all deeds communicated to and/or served to it in the context of legal proceedings and/or disputes.

6-In its capacity as dominus litis, Novius will make every effort to obtain the results intended by the client, without being able to offer any guarantees in this area.

7-Novius is committed to ensuring optimal service and providing correct advice, in accordance with the law, legal doctrine and case law. However, Novius refuses all liability if a client misuses the services provided with unfair or fraudulent intentions.

8-The assignment is carried out exclusively for the needs of the client. Third parties cannot derive any rights from the services provided or the results obtained.

9-The client and Novius can terminate the agreement at any time, without owing compensation, and without this affecting the client’s obligation to reimburse services provided and costs incurred. Termination by Novius may not be inopportune and may not jeopardise the interests of the client, provided that the client has no unpaid and overdue commission invoices or fee statements.

10-Novius fee statements are always expressed in euros and drawn up according to work delivered. Novius can request commissions.

11-Novius commission invoices and fee statements are payable within 8 days of receipt. If the client does not agree with the amount of the fee statement, it must protest this in writing within 8 days. From the due date, interest is owed by operation of law (“ipso iure”) without notice of default, calculated at the legal interest rate. In the case of late payment, compensation for collection costs is also due, equal to 10% of the principal amount, with a minimum of 250 euros.

12-If the client makes use of a legal assistance insurer, the client must pay Novius the amount of the fees that are not covered by this insurer.

13-The liability of Novius, its partners and its employees is limited to the amount that is paid out under the basic professional liability insurance policy of the Flemish Bar Council, and to the limits applicable for this insurance. The client can obtain a copy of this insurance policy on first request. At the express request of the client, additional insurance can be taken out for a specific case.

14-Any liability claim against Novius will be time-barred if the claim is not referred to the competent court within twelve months following the date on which the client was aware or should reasonably have been aware of the facts on which the claim is based.

15-Unless explicitly stipulated otherwise, Novius is not liable for the services provided by third parties on whom it relies.

16-Novius refuses all liability in the case of loss or damage arising from the receipt or non-receipt or the use or non-use of electronic communications or documents sent by it

17-The client knows and accepts that Novius is bound by its obligations imposed by the Belgian Act of 11 January 1993 on preventing the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing, in particular with regard to vigilance with regard to clients and the obligation to report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing to the competent authorities. The client is also aware that Novius can be obliged to identify its clients on the basis of the aforementioned law. The client is obliged to fully cooperate with the identification in the manner described by law. The full text of this Belgian Act will be provided to it on first request.

18-The legal relationship to which these general terms and conditions apply is governed by Belgian law and the applicable deontological rules. Disputes will be settled by the courts of BRUSSELS, without prejudice to Novius' right to take legal action before the courts of the client’s jurisdiction.