Fundamental Rights and European Competition Law

The meeting will be held in Lecture Room VII in Brasenose College and sandwiches and coffee will be available from 12.30.

Both the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Charter on Fundamental Rights constrain the application of European competition law. Procedurally, both require strict judicial review of competition authorities' decisions. Both impose limits on surprise inspections and on access to databases. Both protect legal privilege and the right to know the case against one. Substantively, both create a presumption of innocence, and a right to remain silent. The two treaties are enforced by different Courts, and the advantages and disadvantages of each will be explained.

Dr John Temple Lang is a practising lawyer who was in the Legal Service of the European Commission and was a Director in the Competition Directorate General. He is an adjunct professor in Trinity College Dublin and is a Senior Visiting Research Fellow in Oxford. He has published widely on a variety of legal topics.