Austrian Supreme Court Rules That Scope Of Initial Search Warrant Can Be Extended Based On File Note Made After First Dawn Raids

On 26 November 2013, the Austrian Supreme Court ("Supreme Court") upheld a decision of the national Cartel Court that had extended the scope of a search warrant given to the Austrian Federal Competition Authority ("FCA") to cover not only vertical price coordination between a dairy producer and certain food retailers as well as horizontal price coordination between those food retailers via the dairy producer, but also vertical price coordination between all companies concerned and food wholesalers.

On the basis of an initial search warrant issued by the Cartel Court on 30 April 2013, the FCA searched on 15 May 2013 the business premises and the vehicles of the dairy producer and the food retailers concerned. The following day, 16 May 2013, the FCA applied to the Cartel Court for an extension of the search warrant to also cover vertical price coordination between the companies concerned and food wholesalers. According to a file note by the FCA dated 15 May 2013, the