Global Competition Law is primarly a practitioner's guide presenting the most salient aspects of the major competition laws country by country, giving an overview of their structure and most charasteristic elements.
Global Competition Law also provides insight into possible future developments in the field.

Global Competition Law

Under Act No 06-99, only the Prime Minister and certain trade associations specifically covered by the Act were entitled to bring facts that were likely to constitute anticompetitive practices before the Competition Council. Act No 20-13 now allows undertakings themselves to directly file a complaint, without having to require a trade organization to do so (Article 3). The Competition Council may  …

Complaints and investigations

Under Act No 06-99, only the Prime Minister and certain trade associations specifically covered by the Act were entitled to bring facts that were likely to constitute anticompetitive practices before the Competition Council. Act No 20-13 now allows undertakings themselves to directly file a complaint, without having to require a trade organization to do so (Article 3). The Competition Council may also initiate proceedings of its own motion on the proposal of its general case handler (Article 4). 

In any case, the Competition Council cannot be seized of matters dating back more than 5 years (Article 23 of Act 104-12).

The President of the Competition Council appoints a case-handler to investigate and review each case (Article 27 of Act 104-12). He can ask the authorities to proceed with any necessary investigations and has recourse to any experts needed (Article 28 of Act 104-12).

Investigators may enter all business premises, property and means of transport used for professional purposes, require the disclosure of books, invoices and all other business records and take copies of or collect on convocation or on-the-spot, any information and justifications (Article 71 of Act 104-12). Where the undertaking under investigation refuses to comply with a convocation or a request for information, the Competition Council now has the power to deliver an injunction sanctioned by a penalty. A fine of up to 1% of the undertaking's turnover may also be imposed in case of obstruction to the investigation.

The case-handler designed by the Competition Council investigates the case and dispatches the statement of objections to the parties involved, who must submit their comments within a period of two months. The administrative procedure is adversarial in nature and the parties may have access to the file unless it contains business secrets (Article 29 of Act No 104-12). Hearings may be held during which the parties may submit oral observations and be asked to answer questions (Article 30).

Undertakings may offer commitments in order to address the Competition Council's competition concerns (Article 36) or choose not to contest the objections in exchange for a reduced sanction and offer additional commitments (Article 37). If they do not and if the Competition Council finds an infringement to the Act, it may impose a fine of up to 4 million dirhams [US$ 413,000] if the infringing party is not an undertaking, and of up to 10% of its global turnover if it is (5% under the previous Act). Where it sanctions a repeat infringement within 5 years of the first decision, the amount of the fine incurred may be doubled.

Under the leniency procedure provided for in Article 41, full or partial immunity from fines may be granted to the undertakings that revealed the infringement to the Competition Council at a time it was not aware of its existence. However, the specifics of the procedure are detailed in Article 28 of Decree 2-14-652.

Proceedings before the Competition Council

Pursuant to Article 35 of Act No 104-12, the Competition Council may, after hearing the parties, order interim measures upon request by any party, the administratition or a governmental body. Interim measures may consist in a suspension of the practice or an injunction on the parties to restore the situation to what it was prior to the infringement. In any event, they must be strictly limited to what is necessary to deal with urgency and the practice at stake must seriously and immediately harm the economy, the sector concerned, consumers' interests or the interests of the plaintiff.

Global Competition Law

1123. Complaints and investigations

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Les notions juridiques connexes

1123. Complaints and investigations

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise