| Abstract [eng] |
Master's thesis "The role of the court of law in implementing rules of competition in Lithuania“ analyzed the role of courts in reviewing competition authority‘s decisions. Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania is the body that investigates, decides and imposes sanctions. In this situation, it is important that there should be an effective appeal system which gives the court the opportunity to review the competition authority's decision. Given the fact that the aim of Law on Competition is the harmonization of Lithuanian law with the law of the European Union, courts often rely on the case law of the Courts of the European Union as a secondary source. Therefore, this thesis gives a lot of attention for the Courts of the European Union case law, which reveals that in most cases it is based on principle of judicial deference, but also shows that judicial review is not always „light“. The analysis of Lithuanian case law concludes that the Lithuanian courts rely on the case law of European Union and judicial review is „quite comprehensive". The analysis of judicial decisions after review of the Competition Council‘s decisions helps to define the cases when such decisions are made. The case law of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania and the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court shows when the decision of the Competition Council is withdrew, and when the case is returned back for further investigation; when the court has a right to amend the Competition Council's decision on the merger, penalties or interim measures; which decision is taken after review of Competition Council‘s decision refusing to start investigation. The last part of the master‘s thesis is related to the compatibility of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and judicial review. It is concluded that the imposition of fines for infringements of competition law is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and that returning the case to the Competition Council for additional investigation is in compliance with the principle of „ne bis in idem“. |
