Books

This study constitutes a doctoral dissertation defended by the author at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) in 2015. The book examines the question of the protection of the undertakings' right to defence in the context of inspections carried out by the European Commission. The assessment of the level of protection granted to undertakings is based on the comparison of (i) the current EU legal order and the approach adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union with (ii) the protection enshrined by the European Convention on Human Rights and the standards set out by the European Court of Human Rights in this matter. The analysis covers the following issues: characteristics of the right to defence, the most relevant international (in particular European) systems or legal acts providing for the protection of the right to defence, the Commission’s powers of inspection, power to impose fines and periodic penalty payments and some related problems (fishing expeditions, subsequent electronic searches) as well as the most relevant rights and principles (being components of the right to defence) that constitute limitations of the Commission’s powers of inspection, i.e. principle of proportionality, legal professional privilege, privilege against self-incrimination, principle of effective judicial protection as well as right to privacy.