Competition Litigation 2019

1 General

1.1 Please identify the scope of claims that may be brought in your jurisdiction for breach of competition law.

The Competition Act 2002 as amended (the "Competition Act") contains two main prohibitions:

Prohibition on anti-competitive arrangements between undertakings: Section 4(1) of the Competition Act prohibits and renders void all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in trade in any goods or services in the State or in any part of the State, including those which: fix prices; limit or control production or markets; share markets or sources of supply; apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties; and make the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which by their nature or according to commercial usage have no connection with the subject of such contracts (e.g. tying). Prohibition on abuse of dominance: Section 5 of the Competition Act prohibits the abuse by one or more undertakings of a dominant position in trade for any goods or services in the State or any part of the State. Such abuse may, in particular, consist in: directly or indirectly imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions; limiting production, markets or technical development to the prejudice of consumers; applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage; and making the conclusion of contracts subject to the acceptance by other parties of supplementary obligations which by their nature or according to commercial usage have no connection with the subject of such contracts. These prohibitions are broadly similar to, and are modelled on, the prohibitions contained in Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU").

As regards civil proceedings, sections 14(1) and 14A(1) of the Competition Act provide that aggrieved persons and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the "CCPC") (or the Commission for Communications Regulation, hereafter "ComReg") respectively have a right of action against:

any undertaking which is/was a party to behaviour prohibited by sections 4 or 5 of the Competition Act or Article 101 or 102 TFEU; and any director, manager or other...