GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
During the initial phase of an inspection, a coun - sel should undertake steps to: • examine the HCC inspection order and iden - tify the scope of the inspection; • make sure the undertaking and its employees do not obstruct the HCC officials; and • make sure the undertaking and its employees do not destroy any evidence. 2.5 Obtaining Evidence/Testimony The evidence examined by the inspectors may be either in printed form or in digital form (ie, stored on the undertaking’s server or cloud). Regarding electronic files, the search is con - ducted in any way deemed appropriate by the HCC ‒ for example, by looking into the files and texts using “keywords” or by folder/file. For more information on the power of HCC officials to obtain evidence during an inspection and the limitations thereof, see 2.2 Dawn Raids/Search Warrants . Apart from the HCC’s power to obtain evidence during an inspection, the HCC may also request the submission of certain types of information from the undertakings concerned – either in writing or through an online platform or an elec - tronic interface. Compliance with such requests is mandatory and the deadline within which to respond is less than ten calendar days. Moreover, to establish infringements of Articles 1 and 1A of the GCA, as well as Article 101 of the TFEU, the HCC may summon any representative of an undertaking to submit sworn or unsworn witness statements. During the statement, the declarant has the right to be assisted by a law - yer, who is not allowed to answer questions on behalf of their client nor intervene in the course of the statement.
Lastly, the HCC may also call to deliberations any representative of an undertaking ‒ as well as any other natural person ‒ via invitation sub - mitted at least five days before the date of the discussion. In the event of refusal, obstruction or delay in providing the requested information, or in the event of providing inaccurate, misleading or incomplete information, fines and sanctions apply, as described in 2.7 Non-Cooperation . 2.6 Attorney-Client and Other Privileges Attorney-client privilege covers all written com - munications before, during and after an inves - tigation. Attorney-client privilege is subject to two cumu - lative conditions: • the communication should aim to provide/ request legal advice, not necessarily for the purposes and in the interests of the client′s right of defence in competition proceedings; and • the privilege only applies to communications from independent lawyers – that is, external lawyers who are not bound to the client by a relationship of employment (eg, in-house counsel). Lastly, for the privilege to apply, the external counsel must be licensed to practise their pro - fession in any of the EU member states. In addition to attorney-client privilege, the privi - lege against self-incrimination applies in Greece (see also 2.2 Dawn Raids/Search Warrants ). 2.7 Non-Cooperation Initial requests for information, especially in the context of a cartel investigation, are not usually
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