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

Are considered parties to proceedings natural or legal persons that are either (1) responsible for involvement in the agreement restricting competition, an activity or conduct constituting the abuse of a dominant position, involved in the merder, as applicable, or (2) whose rights, legally protected interests or obligations established by the Act are to be decided (Article 20.1).

A party shall be …

Proceedings before the Antimonopoly Office

According to Article 19 of the Act, proceedings commence based on either a written notification by a person or the Office’s own initative.

The Office is vested with broad investigatory powers. The Office can request the undertaking, or any other legal entity or natural person to provide any information or document it deems necessary and their sworn translations in Slovak (Article 16.3). The Office can as well interview any such entity, which is then legally bound to make their designated employee available for the interview. The interview can be recorded by the Office (Article 16.4).

Under Article 17.1, the Office is entitled to lead unannounced inspections in all premises and means of transport of the undertaking related to the activities being investigated. To that end, a prior autorisation by the Vice-Chairman of the Office stating the subject of the inspection and the names of Office employees due to conduct it (Article 17.2). During the inspection, Office employees must draw the minutes of the inspection which are to be signed at the end of operations (Article 17.4). In turn, Office employees are entitled to:

- seal documents or media on which information is recorded, premises and their equipment, including means of transport for the period and to the extent necessary for the inspection;

- take away documents and media on which information is recorded with the aim of making copies or gaining access to information if the Office is unable to do it during the time of the inspection for technical reasons

- gain access to the undertaking´s premises and means of transport, open closed premises and their equipment or otherwise gain access to the supporting documents and media where the information is stored;

- access information stored in any electronic form on the undertaking's data storage or even to which the undertaking may access in connection with its activity, including information stored on the data storage of other entities (Article 17.5) ;

- make copies of any information in paper form, all computer data and supporting documents stored in any electronic form on a data carrier (Article 17.6).

Conversely, undertakings must allow entry in their premises and means of transport, cooperate with the employees of the Office, provide the necessary assistance due to the conduct of the inspection, enable its employees to provide explanations and submit information and supporting documents, ensure access to all supporting documents, information and data in electronic form and that seals affixed remain intact (Article 17.7).

Complaints and investigations

Are considered parties to proceedings natural or legal persons that are either (1) responsible for involvement in the agreement restricting competition, an activity or conduct constituting the abuse of a dominant position, involved in the merder, as applicable, or (2) whose rights, legally protected interests or obligations established by the Act are to be decided (Article 20.1).

A party shall be instructed by the Office on its procedural rights, unless represented by a lawyer (Article 20.7). The Office is to inform the parties once the investigation is concluded (Article 26). Before issuing a decision on a matter, the Office must hear comments from the parties related to the statement of objections addressed to them (Article 26). Besides, parties have the right to inspect documents and make copies from the Office's file (Article 54.1).

The Office is empowered to join separate matters for common proceedings where the subject matter or parties are the same (Article 22). If third parties demonstrate a legitimate interest in a matter, the Office gives them the opportunity to be heard (Article 21).

The Office action is bound by legal deadlines. As such, the Office shall decide on a matter in no longer than three years from the commencement of the proceedings (Article 28). Proceedings can be terminated by the Office’s decision to accept commitments from the undertaking to remove the possible restriction of competition (Article 33). The Office has the option to hold settlement negotiation with an undertaking for which the Office has facts establishing a violation of the Act or Article 101 or 102 of the TFEU. Provided the party admits its participation in the violation and assumes responsability thereof, the Office reduces the amount of the fine (Article 52).

The Act contains no specific provision the victim of anticompetitive practices to claim interim relief from the Antimonopoly Office. 

Interim relief

Actions brought in courts by plaintiffs to compensate damages resulting from a violation of national or EU competition law are governed by Act No 350/2016 of 29 November 2016 which transposed EU Directive 2014/104 on damages actions into national law (the « Damages Act »). The Damages Act provides for full compensation as it will cover the actual loss, loss of profit and default interest (Article 3.2). However, an action for damages may not lead to overcompensation, in particular by the imposition of punitive damages. Unless otherwise proven by the defendant, there is a presumption that a cartel causes harm (Article 3.3).

National courts will be bound by a final decision of the Antimonopoly Office as regards its findings on the infringement whereas decisions of the competition authorities of other Member States will only constitute prima facie evidence of an infringement, pursuant to Article 4. The limitation period is five years from the termination of the infringement and the knowledge by the victim i) of the anticompetitive nature of the practice, ii) of the harm caused to it and iii) of the identity of the infringer (Article 5). The limitation period is shorter for leniency beneficiaries as Article 6.7 reduces it to one year. Furthermore, the limitation period may be interrupted if the Office carries out investigations or proceedings in respect of the infringement to which the action for damages relates.

Article 6 of the Damages Act establishes the principle of joint and several liability in the case of multiple offenders. However, leniency beneficiaries may not incur more than the amount of damage caused to their direct or indirect customers or suppliers. SMEs also incur limited liability where their market share is below 5% and the application of the standard rules would threaten their economic viability or their assets would lose their full value (Article 6.5). Those special rules do not apply if the SME has initiated the cartel or forced others to join it, or is a repeat infringer (Article 6.6).

The passing-on defense is recognized but the defendant's allegations will have to be substantiated (Article 8). Indirect purchasers are in a better position as they benefit from a rebuttable presumption that the overcharge resulting from the infringement has been passed on to them (Article 9).

Lastly, the Damages Act provides enhanced access to evidence possessed by the applicant or the defendant and, under certain conditions and as a final recourse, to the Antimonopoly Office's file. Statements made by a leniency applicant or submissions made in the context of a settlement agreement can, however, never be disclosed, whereas accesss to other information may be granted only when the proceedings before the Office are closed.

Global Competition Law

637. Proceedings before the Antimonopoly Office

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Les notions juridiques connexes

637. Proceedings before the Antimonopoly Office

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