Parliament Approved Certain Procedural Changes On The Turkish Competition Authority's Investigation Proceedings

New development

Law No. 7511 on Amending the Turkish Commercial Code and Certain Other Laws ("Amending Law"), which was published in the Official Gazette dated 29 May 2024, brings certain noteworthy procedural changes to the Turkish Competition Authority's ("TCA") investigation proceedings.

For background, Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition ("Law No. 4054") regulates the procedural steps for full-fledged investigations which the TCA carries out. Before the Amending Law, Law No. 4054 envisioned (i) three investigation documents for the TCA's case team to prepare for all cases (i.e., investigation notice, investigation report and additional written opinion); (ii) three written defense submissions for the investigated undertaking to submit in response to these documents (i.e., first, second and third written defenses); and (iii) an oral hearing before the Turkish Competition Board ("TCB"), before the TCB renders its final decision on a full-fledged