Civil liability arising from agreements, concerted practices and decisions restricting competition

Agreements, concerted practices and decisions restricting competition are regulated under Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition and are among the most common infringements of competition law. These infringements harm not only the process of competition in general but also third parties such as direct or indirect purchasers and consumers. The immediate response to this is the inclusion of sanctions by the legislature in order to prevent and minimize the harmful consequences at the societal and individual level. While administrative sanctions constitute one pillar of the sanctions for the infringements of competition law, the other pillar is civil remedies consisting of invalidity of anti-competitive agreements and decisions as well as the right to compensation. Indeed, at the time Law No. 4054 was enacted in 1994, the legislator had already included a section devoted to the right to compensation for the harm caused to third parties by infringements of Article 4. However, the right to compensation, though has been in force for a long time, is far from being effectively implemented. One of the main reasons for this outcome is that the content of the right to compensation is not regulated in detail within the scope of Law No. 4054. Due to the absence of a detailed regulation, general provisions set out under the Code of Obligations No. 6098 are applicable to compensation claims arising from infringements of competition law. This, above all, creates a debate in terms of the legal basis for these claims since the Code of Obligations regulate both contractual and tortious liability. Resolving this debate requires an innovative approach to suit the ever-evolving practice and challenges of competition law. In this regard, the first part of this study explores possible legal bases for third party compensation claims based on infringements of competition law through agreements, concerted practices and decisions. The second and third parts of the study focus on the conditions for civil liability, treble damages, and statute of limitations following the inferences made on the legal basis of compensation claims. Keywords: Competition, antitrust, competition law, civil remedies, infringement of competition law, compensation, liability, tort law, breach of contract, agreements, concerted practices and decisions, treble damages, statute of limitations.