2017 brings about a seismic shift in private antitrust
enforcement in many EU countries including Poland. This is the
result of EU Directive 2014/104/EU on antitrust damage actions
which is being implemented in Poland by adopting the Act of 21
April, 2017 on claims for compensation for damage caused by
competition law infringements, which came into force on 27 June
2017.
Under the new law, private enforcement can be sought by any entity
which suffered loss as a result of an infringement of competition
law, regardless of whether it is a direct or indirect purchaser of
a product or service. The injured party has the possibility to
claim full compensation, that is both damnum emergens and
lucrum cessans. The claimant can now request access to the
documents of the company suspected of a breach of the antitrust
regulations, provided that such a request meets the proportionality
rule.
The new rules enable pursuing damages from any undertaking, whether
large or small, Polish or foreign, by consumers or other entities
present on the market. However, the liability of small and
medium-size enterprises and those cooperating with the authorities
under the leniency programs may be limited.
The infringers will have to face not only the potential severe
sanctions from the antitrust authorities, but also a serious risk
arising from facilitated and more effective pursuing damage claims
in civil courts. The significant amendments in the court procedure
remove obstacles usual for claiming compensation for infringements
of the antitrust law. The companies may also be forced by the court
to produce certain evidence.
Anyone who sustained damage due to infringement of the antitrust
law is entitled to demand a proper compensation. To achieve that in
a more effective manner, the new law introduces the following
facilitations and legal presumptions in favour of the
claimants:
- Presumption of the infringer's fault
The undertaking responsible for the infringement is obliged to compensate the loss arising from it unless it is not culpable. The new law introduced a rebuttable presumption that the infringer is culpable. Therefore, the company accused for antitrust actions will not be found liable only if it proves that, having behaved rationally and with proper diligence, it could not be aware of the infringement. The law itself, however, does not provide a list of such exculpating circumstances. They will have to be determined on the case-by-case basis.
- Facilitations regarding proving the harm
The law introduces also the presumption that any infringement,
whether on the EU level or only on the domestic one, results in
harm. The injured party will have to prove only the extent of the
harm to obtain damages.
With regard to quantification of harm the law introduces also
another facilitation. The court may ask the antitrust authorities
of any EU member state for guidance on assessing the damage. The
court can also rely on the general guidance provided by the
European Commission on compensation for infringements of the EU
law.
Another facilitation is the possibility for the claimant to rely
on final and binding court orders and decisions of the antitrust
authorities confirming the infringement of the antitrust law. Under
the new law, the court is bound by such decisions with regard to
that matter. Therefore, the fact of the infringement cannot be
overruled in the compensation proceedings.
If evaluation of the harm cannot be done precisely on the basis of
available evidence, the court will have discretion to assess the
amount of the loss. However, this is only possible if there is no
doubt that the loss was actually suffered.
- Obligation to produce evidence
The injured party may request the court to order the respondent
or a third party to produce evidence in its possession to be used
in the proceedings.
The court would issue and order serving as enforcement title
against the entity requested to produce evidence. In case of delay
in performing that obligation, the court is entitled to impose a
fine. The court may also order disclosure of the evidence from the
files of antitrust authorities.
At the same time, the law introduced a safeguard protecting trade
secrets included in the evidence. The court may order to limit the
parties' access to these materials or to establish a strict
rules on access and use of them during the proceedings. The
disclosure requests made by the parties in bad faith are also
subject to a fine.
Infringers with significant market positions will have to factor in
the risk of having to pay out compensation to other market players.
Preparing a defence strategy in advance would be a good solution in
order to limit the risk. The newly introduced provisions on
evidence and presumptions act to decrease the disparity between the
infringer and the wronged parties.
To conclude, in order to avoid any possible claims for damages from
the other parties, every company should conduct diligent and
regular analysis of its activity with respect to potential
infringements of antitrust laws.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.