GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Maria Kallidopoulou, Karatzas & Partners
5. Sanctions and Remedies in Criminal Cartel Enforcement 5.1 Imposition of Sanctions/Fines The HCC does not have the power to impose criminal sanctions, as this lies within the compe - tence of the criminal courts. For further details, please refer to 1.2 Regulatory/Enforcement Agencies and Penalties and 4.6 Issuing Crimi- nal Indictments . 5.2 Plea Bargaining/Settlement There is no “plea bargaining” or settlement pro - cedure in criminal cartel enforcement in Greece. However, the GCA provides for a settlement procedure. This settlement procedure concerns cases where undertakings make an unequivocal acknowledgement of liability in relation to their participation in conduct that violates competi - tion law. As a result, undertakings can benefit from a fine reduction of 15%. The settlement procedure is essentially modelled on the EU set - tlement procedure and aims at simplifying and expediting the handling of pending cases. On top of the unequivocal acknowledgement of the undertaking’s participation and liability in relation to the infringement, the parties should not request full access to the HCC file or an oral hearing before the HCC Board. They should also waive their right to appeal the HCC decision concerning (inter alia) the validity of the proce - dure and the HCC’s jurisdiction. Some undertakings settle in the context of hybrid decisions possible under the GCA and adopted by the HCC. Others others follow the standard procedure (see 4.9 Possibility of Mul- tiple Proceedings ). Settlements are not incompatible with lenien - cy. More specifically, when settled cases also
In addition, following the finding of an infringe - ment, the HCC sends the relevant information to the prosecutor so that the latter can investigate criminal liability. It often happens in practice that criminal proceedings are initiated following an HCC decision establishing an infringement. Multi-Defendant Cases The HCC may initiate enforcement actions against multiple parties in a single proceeding. By way of example, in 2016, the HCC initiated enforcement actions against several undertak - ings active in the construction sector in Greece for allegedly participating in collusive schemes regarding tenders for public infrastructure work. Some of these undertakings have opted for the settlement procedure. The HCC has therefore issued two separate decisions: • HCC Decision 642/2017 for those undertak - ings that settled, which found that the rel - evant undertakings infringed Articles 1 of the GCA and 101 of the TFEU, and imposed fines of approximately EUR81 million, while it also granted full immunity from fines to the leni - ency applicant; and • HCC Decision 647/2017 for those under - takings that did not settle, on which the HCC imposed fines of approximately EUR34,214,196 ‒ although, owing to insuf - ficient evidence, it found that some undertak - ings did not infringe Articles 1 of the GCA and 101 of the TFEU. It is also worth noting that HCC Decision 642/2017 featured the first settlement in cartel proceedings. Lastly, as to whether evidence obtained in one proceeding can be used in other proceedings, please refer to 4.7 Issuing Civil Complaints .
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