Notice as a Legal Procedure for Initiating Proceedings Before the Competition Council

Abstract

This research focuses on examining the notification procedure as the first procedural stage in dispute resolution before the Competition Council. It refers to the act of informing the Competition Council of a set of facts regarding anti-competitive practices committed in a given market, with the aim of taking the necessary legal measures to deter violators and protect the market. We find that the Algerian legislature has broadened the range of persons eligible to file such a notification; it is not limited solely to institutions harmed by these practices, but extends to include bodies charged with protecting the general economic order. The legislature has also granted the Competition Council absolute authority to accept or reject the notification based on a set of conditions that must be met. If the notification is accepted, the subsequent procedural phase—consisting of an investigation—begins; if it is rejected, the subsequent legal proceedings are terminated, unless the Competition Council exercises its authority to initiate an ex officio investigation to examine the matter subject to the rejected notification and thereby decide whether to proceed.