Guarantees of Human Rights in Competition Proceedings in the European Union and the Republic of Lithuania

Abstract

This article focuses on the protection of human rights in disputes related to competition proceedings. The European Convention on Human Rights is regarded as a most effective instrument for the protection of human rights at the international level. National courts of the European Union member states have also developed specific systems for the protection of human rights. Entities that are charged with breaches of EU competition law, in most cases complain about breaches of two provisions of the ECHR: Article 6 of the Convention which guarantees the right to a fair trial and Article 8 which guarantees the right to respect for private life. In this article, we also discuss a couple of cases decided by the Competition Council of Lithuania, which raise doubts regarding proper guarantee of the right to a fair trial. One of the key problems is that during the questioning of witnesses the Competition Council makes an audio recording of the interview but afterwards deletes the recording without allowing the undertakings under investigation to have access to the Council’s case file. The article concludes with a short summary.