30/05/2024
Articles 34, 43 and 45 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition ("Law No. 4054") have been amended in accordance with Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the Law No. 7511 on Amendments to the Turkish Commercial Code and Certain Laws ("Law No.7511")
On 29.05.2024, in accordance with Articles 3, 4 and 5 of Law No. 7511 the following amendments have been made;
- The third paragraph of Article 34 of the Law No. 4054, which was cancelled by the Constitutional Court:
"Changes in the grade of filled positions and changes in the class, title and grade of vacant positions shall be made by the Authority's decision, provided that the total number of positions in the table numbered (I) annexed to this Law shall not exceed the total number of positions in the table numbered (I) and shall be limited to the staff titles in the said table and the staff titles in the tables annexed to the legislation on staff and positions."
- The second paragraph of Article 43 of the Law No. 4054:
"The Authority shall notify the relevant parties of the investigations it has initiated within 15 days from the date of the decision to initiate the investigation. Along with this notification letter, the Authority shall send sufficient information on the type and nature of the allegations to the relevant parties."
- The second paragraph of Article 45 of the Law No. 4054:
"The parties are notified to send their written defences to the Authority within 30 days following the notification of the investigation report. If justified reasons are presented, this period may be extended this period may be extended once only and up to one times at most. In case there is a change in their opinions in the investigation report as a result of the written defences received, the persons assigned to conduct the investigation shall notify their written opinions to all Board members and the relevant parties within 15 days. The parties may respond to this opinion within 30 days."
The aforementioned Articles 43 and 45 introduce amendments regarding the right of defence of undertakings. According to these amendments, the right of undertakings to submit a 'First Written Defence' for the notification of the investigation has been abolished, and the first written defence of undertakings is granted upon notification of the investigation report. The obligation of the persons authorised to conduct the investigation to submit an additional written opinion is only applicable in the event of a change in their opinion in the previously submitted investigation report. Following this additional opinion, the undertakings' right to submit a written defence, which was previously limited to 60 days, is now limited to a maximum of 30 days.
As a result, the amendments limit the right of undertakings to submit three written defences, which they had before the amendments, to a maximum of two written defences, which may be submitted upon notification of the investigation report and upon the issuance of additional opinions by the investigators.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.