Significant amendments were made to the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, the Act on the Protection of Competition No. 4054 (the “Act”) and other related legislation by Law No. 7511.
Law No. 7511 has in particular abolished the right to a first written defence granted to the parties in investigations conducted by the Competition Board (the “Board”). This Law has amended Articles 34, 43 and 45 of the Act.
Article 43, Governing Investigations, Commitments and Settlement
Where the Board takes a decision to open an investigation into an undertaking, that decision will be notified to the parties concerned within 15 days of the date on which it was taken. Previously, the Act granted the parties to an investigation the right to submit their first written defence within 30 days of notification of the investigation; Law No. 7511 has removed this requirement.
Article 45, Governing Notification and Response
At the end of the investigation the Board will prepare a report, and that report will be served on the members of the Board and on the parties concerned. The parties will be granted a period of 30 days from service of the report in which to exercise their right of defence. Where a justified ground is put forward, that period may be extended on one occasion only. Under the previous provision, the officials conducting the investigation were to submit an additional opinion on the defences within 15 days; with the amendment, the officials are to state an opinion only where there is a change in the views set out in the report, the aim being to expedite the investigation.
Article 34, Governing the Status of the Authority’s Personnel
The Authority’s staffing establishment and post titles are set out in the schedule annexed to the Act. The Board is obliged to act in accordance with that schedule in matters of staffing arrangements. With the amendment, Article 34 provides a clearer and more detailed framework for staffing arrangements and seeks to remove uncertainties. This amendment involves the re-enactment of the paragraph annulled by the Constitutional Court’s decision dated 9 November 2022, no. E: 2020/67, K: 2022/139, and the clarification of the Board’s powers.