Related content Previous Next
Conference on arbitration in CIS countries
European Surveyors celebrate Mercator
European Mediation Training for Practitione..
Conference on arbitration in CIS countries:..
The international ambitions of the AIA
AIA membership
The AIA network of mediation centers
Projects of the AIA in the field of mediation
Role of the AIA manager
Alternative enforcement techniques: A new paradigm of EC Competition law?
By Frédéric Puel on 27 May 2008
Categories:
The increasing number of antitrust dawn raids and seizures raises the question of the scope of the national competition authority's and the European Commission's rights regarding seized or copied documents. In principle, the search warrant issued by the judge constitutes the strict scope of the antitrust officers' investigative power. To ensure compliance with this principle and with the company's rights, certain precautionary measures should be considered. While the law does not explicitly provide for the presence of a lawyer, it does not prohibit it; nor does the law preclude the possibility for "the occupant des lieux" to appoint a representative who may be its lawyer. The lawyer's attention will then focus particularly on: the investigative techniques used by the officers to conduct electronic seizures (massive or targeted); the documents covered by Legal Privilege; the limits imposed on the officers (right of search, multi-purpose documents); and their obligations, particularly their obligation to draw up an inventory. The European procedure does not provide for specific means of recourse against visits and seizure operations. The Court of First Instance of the European Communities has recently reiterated and clarified the fundamental principles governing the analysis of documents seized during searches. These principles should serve to guide the French authority on the permissible use of seized documents for which an appeal has been brought before the court.