Memorandum by the CCBE (Council of Bars
and Law Societies of Europe)
1. The Council of Bars and Law Societies
of Europe (CCBE) is pleased to have the opportunity to respond
to sub-committee E (Law and Institutions) of the House of Lords
Select Committee on the European Union on the establishment of
an EU Competition Court as proposed by the Confederation of British
Industry (CBI).
2. The CCBE believes that it is difficult
to draw any useful comparison between workings of the Competition
Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and those of the Court of First Instance
(CFI). First, the CFI deals with a substantially higher number
of competition cases than the CAT, many of which involve multiple
national markets. Second, the CFI works in all Community languages
whereas the workings of the CAT are conducted in a single language.
Translation of written pleadings inevitably involves an additional
and sometimes substantial delay that has no equivalent in purely
national proceedings before the CAT. Third, by force of circumstance,
practitioners judges and parties before the CAT share a common
legal and cultural tradition which is absent before the CFI.
3. The CCBE suggests that if there is a
problem with the duration in delivering a decision, this is due
to the resources allocated to the CFI. One possible solution to
this problem could be the creation of a number of specialised
chambers in the CFI.
4. Such specialised chambers could be created
by appointing a further six to nine judges to the CFI for the
sole purpose of hearing competition cases. Specialised chambers
would promote the development of specific expertise in the field
of competition law. This should reduce the time required for the
preparation of judgments, ensure consistency and improve standards.
5. Given the close relationship between
the various aspects of EU competition law, the CCBE believes that
any specialised chambers should address all competition law issues,
including at least cartels and other restrictive practices, abuse
of dominance and merger control.
6. Another option is simply the appointment
of more judges to the CFI (with a corresponding increase in support
services), thus enabling the court to take on a larger workload
and dispose of it more expeditiously.
7. Beyond these matters, it might be possible
for the CFI in certain cases to deliver its decision orally and
deliver its reasoned opinion sometime thereafter.
November 2006
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