FAS Russia can take measures? against violations of the Law on Competition on its own initiative or on the basis of a petition or complaint received.? General procedures regarding violations of the law are governed by a set of Rules for the Consideration of Cases on Violations of Antimonopoly Legislation (Order No 196 ˇ§On Approval of the Procedure for Making an Analysis and Appraisal of the Competition Environment at Commodity Marketsˇ¨, Order No 276 ˇ§On the Approval of the Regulations on the Procedure for Filling Petitions and Notices with the Antimonopoly Bodiesˇ¨).?? The Rules require response to the petitioner within a month from the date when a petition has been received. If the petition does not contain information indicating a violation, FAS Russia will request the petitioner to submit documents confirming the facts of the violation.?
Consideration of violations of competition law takes place through a quasi-judicial procedure conducted within FAS Russia.? The procedure requires creation of a ˇ§commissionˇ¨ from among the staff members of FAS Russia to consider the case.? The petitioner and respondent must be notified and be given a chance to be heard at a sitting of the commission, and third parties are sometimes heard as well.? If the commission, after considering all evidence and testimony, comes to a conclusion that violation of the law has been committed, it issues a instruction requiring violator to cease violation of the law. In few cases, FAS Russia may specify the actions that must be taken to remedy violation. If such violations are not corrected after the issuance of an order, FAS Russia may directly impose a fine for failure to perform the order. If a respondent disagrees with the decision or prescription, the case may be appealed in an arbitrazh court.