Human Rights and the UK Competition Act
In Chapter 9, Arianna Andreangeli discusses the approach adopted in the UK towards questions of human rights compliance in UK competition enforcement processes. It examines the nature of competition proceedings in light of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the implications that that issue has for the fairness standards applicable to those proceedings. It is argued that while the recognition that competition cases may have a ‘criminal nature’ does not justify the wholesale extension of all the safeguards that the Convention reserves to criminal cases, it nonetheless means that investigated parties are entitled to some basic protections that Article 6 ECHR enshrines. The chapter explores the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s powers of review of infringement decisions and suggests that at the root of the conferral of a power of scrutiny ‘on the merits’ is the need to ensure that the public enforcement competition proceedings are ‘human-rights proofed’. It concludes that, while demands of effectiveness in the application of the UK competition rules cannot be overlooked, maintaining the CAT’s rigorous review role for competition decisions is indispensable for compliance with human rights standards and for the integrity and reputation of the UK competition framework.