In this issue: Our first March issue, managed by Senior Editor, Stephen Kinsella, focuses on the European Commission’s Oral Hearings procedure. Although relatively common–in practice oral hearings are requested in about 75 percent of all cases for which a statement of objections have been issued–there is confusion about what they are (and aren’t), what they […]

Samuel Miller, Kristina Nordlander, James Owens, Mar 16, 2010 An issue of growing importance in global competition law is the risk that materials produced pursuant to one foreign sovereign’s confidential investigations or proceedings will later be subject to civil discovery in the United States. In many jurisdictions, in particular in the European Union (“EU”) and […]

Robert McLeod, Mar 16, 2010 With European Commission regulators coming under pressure from all sides to improve procedures and tackle allegations of not respecting due process in its investigations, the function of the oral hearings held in merger and antitrust cases and the role of the Hearing Officer who presides over them are facing particular […]

David Lawsky, Peter-Carlo Lehrell, Mar 16, 2010 Just like trials, hearing presentations are a form of competitive theater. They are the opportunity to bring your case alive, adding a dimension that cannot be portrayed in written documents alone. It is worth the parties’ time to invoke their right to a hearing, to make sure they […]

Ulrich Soltsz, Mar 16, 2010 By putting great emphasis on the oral hearing, the new Best Practices package seems to suggest that, in the Commission’s view, the hearing should be one of the cornerstones of due process in a cartel investigation. According to section 3.1.5 of the Best Practices in antitrust proceedings, the purpose of […]

James Modrall, Ruchit Patel, Mar 16, 2010 On January 6, 2010, the European Commission (the “Commission”) published for consultation three “Best Practices” documents. Two of these Best Practices documents contain provisions on the Oral Hearing, namely (1) the Guidelines on the procedures of the Hearing Officers in proceedings relating to Article 101 and 102 of […]

Stephen Kinsella, Mar 16, 2010 There are many criticisms of the oral hearing process. Indeed, there is a general growing tide of criticism of the manner in which competition law offenses in the European Union are investigated and prosecuted. It was partly in response to such concerns that on January 6, 2010 the European Commission […]

Michael Albers, Karen Williams, Mar 16, 2010 Oral hearings have always been one of the more prominent features of the European Commission’s procedure in competition cases, although these proceedings are predominantly written rather than oral in nature. This prominence is somewhat surprising given that hearings are merely an option for defendants,  organized only at the […]