Legal Professional Privilege in EU Competition Investigations: Striking a Balance Between Duty and Protection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46282/bpf.2025.34Keywords:
legal professional privilege, Article 6 ECHR, Article 8 ECHR, right to defence, competition investigation, European CommissionAbstract
In competition law investigations, the right of defence is, among others, guaranteed by the exercise of the Legal Professional Privilege. The right of the client under investigation to maintain the secrecy of communications with his lawyer before the EU Commission is ensured only by the manner in which the legal instruments provided correspond to effective protection, which have to be harmonised with ECHR jurisprudence on the topic. The rules on protection are the result of a delicate balancing act between the rights of the party and the interest of the investigation. The Commission’s Guidance on best practices in such investigations, as a soft-law instrument, raises some interesting challenges with respect to the power of the investigative party when conducting dawn raids in relation to Legal Professional Privilege. The present study analyses the legal regime of attorney-client privilege in EU competition investigations and the manner of handling documents containing such information in the context of an investigation and their compatibility with the principles laid down in Article 6 and Article 8 ECHR.
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National Law
1. Loi n°2021-1729 du 22 décembre 2021 pour la confiance dans l’institution judiciaire (France)
2. Emergency Government Ordinance no. 108/2023 for amending and supplementing Competition Law no. 21/1996 as well as other normative acts, published Official Monitor of Romania no. 1100 of 6 December 2023. (Romania)
3. Law no. 231/2024 on the approval of Emergency Government Ordinance no. 108/2023 for amending and supplementing Competition Law no. 21/1996, as well as other normative acts, published in the Official Monitor of Romania no. 699 of 18 July 2024 (Romania)
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