Competition (Amendment) Act, 1996

Conferral of right of action on Competition Authority.

7.—Section 6 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) Any person who is aggrieved in consequence of any agreement, decision, concerted practice or abuse which is prohibited under section 4 or 5 shall have a right of action for relief under this section against either or both of the following, namely—

(a) any undertaking which is or has at any material time been a party to such an agreement, decision or concerted practice or has been guilty of such an abuse,

(b) any director, manager or other officer of such an undertaking, or a person who purported to act in any such capacity, who authorised or consented to, as the case may be, the entry by the undertaking into, or the implementation by it of, the agreement or decision, the engaging by it in the concerted practice or the doing by it of the act that constituted the abuse.”,

(b) in subsection (4), by the substitution for “The Minister” of “Each of the following, namely, the Minister and the Authority,”,

(c) by the insertion after subsection (4) of the following subsection:

“(4A) Where in an action under this section it is proved that the act complained of was done by an undertaking it shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that each (if any) director, manager and similar officer of the undertaking, and any other person who purported to act in any such capacity at the material time, consented to the doing of the said act.”, and

(d) in subsection (5) (a), by the insertion after “the Court shall” of “(unless the Authority is a party to the proceedings)”,

and the said subsections (4) and (5) (a), as so amended, are set out in paragraphs 1 and 2, respectively, of the Table to this section.

TABLE

1. (4) Each of the following, namely, the Minister and the Authority, shall have a right of action, in respect of an agreement, decision or concerted practice or an abuse which is prohibited under section 4 or 5, for the reliefs specified in subsection (3) (a).

2. (5) (a) Where in proceedings under this section it is finally decided by the Court that an agreement, decision or concerted practice which is in question infringes the prohibition in section 4 (1), any certificate in force under section 4 (4) in relation to that agreement, decision or concerted practice shall thereupon cease to have force and effect as from the date of the order of the Court and the Court shall (unless the Authority is a party to the proceedings) cause a certified copy of the said order to be served on the Authority.