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OFT launches consultation on revisions to the Competition Act decision-making process

By  |  March 28, 2012

The OFT has launched a consultation on its proposed revisions to the Competition Act (CA98) decision-making process. The changes are to increase transparency and efficiency in CA98 cases.

A newly-created CA98 Decisions Committee comprised of OFT senior staff would appoint a group of three decision makers to make the final decision; these three would be separate from the investigation team.

An additional proposed change calls for extending the Procedural Adjudicator role, first introduced in March 2011, to March 2013. The Procedural Adjudicator was created to decide procedural issues more quickly. The scope of the role itself will be expanded to chairing oral hearings in CA98 cases and reporting to decision-makers on the parties’ procedural rights.

The OFT also seeks to enhance CA98 investigations with more interactive oral hearings and scrutiny by lawyers and economists independent of the investigation team.

Full content: OFT Press Release

 

Related content: The Office of Fair Trading and Private Antitrust Litigation (Elizabeth Morony & Luke Tolaini, Clifford Chance)