CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Marios Pelides, Dominique Pelides and Konstantinos Efthymiadis, Georgiades & Pelides
• consumer protection organisations; and • employee representative bodies.
The Law does, however, provide that the CPC and its members are subject to an obligation to maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information received by them in the conduct of their duties. More particularly, they must keep information confidential and not pub - lish or circulate the information except to the extent required to evidence a breach of the Law or to other - wise ensure application of the provisions of the Law. 8. Appeals and Judicial Review 8.1 Access to Appeal and Judicial Review CPC decisions may be appealed (by way of admin - istrative recourse) to the Administrative Court. Deci - sions of the Administrative Court may be appealed to the Administrative Court of Appeal, with decisions of the Administrative Court of Appeal being in turn appealed to the Supreme Constitutional Court (on Appeals to the Administrative Court must be filed within 75 days of issuance of the CPC’s decision (or within 75 days of the date the decision was notified to the appellant). A party wishing to appeal a deci - sion of the Administrative Court to the Administrative Court of Appeal must file its appeal within 42 days of issuance of the Administrative Court decision. The possibility exists to appeal to the Supreme Constitu - tional Court on certain limited grounds. However, the applicant must first obtain the prima facie permission of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The relevant application for such permission must be filed within 42 days of issuance of the Administrative Court of Appeal decision. 8.3 Ability of Third Parties to Appeal Clearance Decisions In addition to the parties involved in the concentration that is the subject of a clearance decision, third parties who are affected by the decision may also appeal the decision to the Administrative Court (however, there are no reported cases of third parties ever having done so successfully). certain grounds and subject to leave). 8.2 Typical Timeline for Appeals
The CPC also has the right, where it decides to pro - ceed to a Phase II investigation, to enter into nego - tiations or discussions or conduct hearings with any person, where this would (in the CPC’s view) assist it in its investigation. No third-party views are usually invited in the context of a Phase I investigation. 7.2 Contacting Third Parties The CPC will often invite the views of interested third parties where it has decided to proceed with a Phase II investigation. Typically, the CPC will (i) request that the third parties concerned provide the CPC with a list of their competitors and other relevant parties; and (ii) do its own research to determine which third parties might be relevant. While the CPC usually involves third parties via the circulation of written questionnaires or conducting oral hearings, it has on occasion also used more informal means (eg, telephone calls). Part of the information that must be submitted to the CPC when proposing a remedy is a non-confidential description of the nature and scope of the proposed remedy, including the reasons why it is expected to resolve applicable competition concerns. The CPC has the power to use this non-confidential descrip - tion to market-test the remedy offered. 7.3 Confidentiality The CPC publishes both its decisions as well as the fact that it has received a notification in the Official Gazette of Cyprus and on its website. The publica - tions always include the names of the parties involved and a description of the concentration. When deci - sions are published, the relevant economic sectors are also identified. However, commercial information that has been notified to the CPC as confidential is generally not included. 7.4 Co-Operation With Other Jurisdictions The CPC co-operates with competition authorities in other EU member states, both on general policy mat - ters and with respect to specific transactions.
163 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook