Chillin'Competition

[The global Human Rights Logo, above, was created by Predrag Stakić from Serbia]

Some in the EU claim that EU Courts are permissive of the alleged flaws of the institutional/procedural system for the enforcement of the competition rules. The prosecutor-and-judge debate is one of the most longstanding in contemporary competition law. Whereas the Menarini Judgment from the European Court of Human Rights seemed to indirectly endorse the EU system, some continue to question whether the ECHR’s requirements are complied with by a system where the Courts do not always exercise “full review”. In anticipation of possible future challenges, you will in fact have noted that, following Menarini, the expression “marginal review” has disappeared from EU competition law Judgments. The extent to which there was a problem, or to which there may have been a change, in this regard is further discussed here.

Now, what happens when the EU mode is exported to/imported by other jurisdictions with allegedly different checks and balances? Well, here’s a story that is currently making the headlines in the Balkans and that has triggered some unprecedented developments, including a common constitutional challenge on the part of the national Bar, Human Rights Organizations and criminal law academics, public accusations on the part of the competition authority against individual lawyers, alleged breaches of private correspondence and other black-novel-like developments. Who said competition law couldn’t be adventurous…

A quick recap follows:

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