Administrative Procedures

The procedure may be initiated on its own initiative by the Technical Secretariat or at the request of a third party. Actions against infractions of Legislative Decree 701 shall prescribe after five years of the date of the infractions.

The Secretariat, if it believes there are reasonable signs of violation of Legislative Decree 701, shall notify the party presumed responsible for the investigated actions and inform it of the facts attributed to it. Replies to the charges must be submitted within 15 working days, and any evidence deemed necessary may be offered; other parties with a legitimate interest may become a party to the proceedings during this period.

Within the reply period, the accused party or parties may offer a commitment to cease or modify the investigated events. This proposal is evaluated by the Secretariat and, if deemed appropriate, submitted to the Commission with proposed relevant measures to guarantee fulfillment of the commitment. The Free Competition Commission shall approve or reject the proposal. Upon expiration of the accusation reply period, the evidentiary period begins, which consists of 30 working days. Upon expiration of the evidentiary period, the Technical Secretariat issues a report on the amount demanded in the accusation and suggesting any measures and sanctions to be adopted.

After receipt of the Secretariat's report, the Free Competition Commission shall have 5 working days to issue its ruling. The Commission's decisions are appealable to the Competition Protection Division of the Competition and Intellectual Property Protection Tribunal.

Said Tribunal's rulings may be challenged judicially (administrative law) before the Civil Division of the Supreme Court of Justice. This Division's decision may in turn be appealed to the Constitutional and Social Law Division of the Supreme Court.