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NEWS LETTER 2 0 1 0
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A New Communiqué for Hearings
*
The Communiqué No.2010/2 on Hearings Held Vis-à-Vis the
Competition Board (hereinafter referred to as the “Communiqué”) was
issued in order to determine the procedures and principles related to
hearings held before the Competition Board (hereinafter referred to as
the “Board”) set forth in Articles 46 and 47 of the Act No. 4054 on the
Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).
Moreover, the Communiqué which, in addition to hearings, shall also
be applicable in respect of the other meetings for receiving oral opinion/
information to be held by the Competition Board to the appropriate extent,
entered into force by being published in the Official Gazette dated April
24, 2010 and numbered 27561.
The Communiqué is highly similar to the Guidance on procedures of
the Hearing Officers in proceedings relating to Articles 101 and 102 TFEU
(hereinafter referred to as the “Guidance”)
1
. There is no doubt that the
Communiqué is a reflection of the works realized on the harmonization of
the Turkish law with the Acquis of the European Union during the process
of harmonization with the European Union.
Goal of the Hearing
The main goal of the hearing is to help the Board in the formation
of its final decision. Within this context, the Communiqué permits the
parties to repeat the essential claims they deem important which they have
already submitted in their petitions before the Board, and the Board may
ask questions on these points, as well.
Parties / Participants of the Hearing
The Communiqué provides that those against whom an investigation
or a final examination is conducted have a right to oral defense. The party
who wants to use its right of oral defense may express this in the petition
for defense or reply. However, the Board, in cases deemed necessary for it,
may also decide for holding a hearing on its own motion.
*
Article of May 2010
1 To consult the Communiqué, see the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consulta-tions/2010_best_practices/hearing_officers.pdf