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ARTICLE · 04 JUNE 2024

Competition | UK Regulatory Outlook May 2024

Osborne Clarke LLP
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Surprise regulatory inspections, or "dawn raids", naturally took a back seat during the pandemic and are now back on the rise – with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also having to grapple...

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Simon Neill
Simon Neill
Katherine Kirrage
Katherine Kirrage
Marc Shrimpling
Marc Shrimpling
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A new (lower) bar for dawn raids on domestic premises

Surprise regulatory inspections, or "dawn raids", naturally took a back seat during the pandemic and are now back on the rise – with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also having to grapple with how to carry out dawn raids now so many people work from home.

A recent case has bolstered the CMA's ability to carry out dawn raids at home, further supported by new powers in the Digital Markets Competition and Consumer Act. In-house legal and compliance teams should plan for dawn raids of colleagues at home and may need to update policies and training accordingly.

The High Court has ruled that, when applying for warrants for dawn raids of domestic premises, the CMA does not require additional evidence of a "propensity to destroy documents". However it did confirm that a warrant to conduct a dawn raid on domestic premises required additional scrutiny on human rights grounds.

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