Answer ... Pursuant to Article 33(1) of Law 287/90, the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals of Italian Competition Authority decisions, which may be appealed before the court within 60 days of notification. The first-instance judgment in turn can be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court within 30 days of notification or within three months of publication. Exceptionally, Supreme Administrative Court judgments may be appealed before the Italian Supreme Court on jurisdictional and competence grounds or for revocation.

An appeal is essentially limited to a review of the legality of the Italian Competition Authority’s decision (ie, an assessment of whether the authority based its conclusions on accurately stated facts and supported its decisions with adequate and consistent grounds). However, the review court cannot replace the Italian Competition Authority’s assessment, which is within the discretionary powers vested therein, with its own appraisal.

Pursuant to Article 134 of the Administrative Code, the administrative judge has full merits jurisdiction on fines (including reducing or lifting a fine).

Answer ... Parties that were entitled to participate in the Italian Competition Authority proceedings (see question 3.4) may appeal its decision.