Irish Competition Authority Amends Legal Representation Rules
The Irish Competition Authority on Wednesday released details of new guidelines
designed to resolve any potential conflicts of interest in relation to the legal
representation of those coming before the Authority. A key change is that under the new rules, where the Competition Authority is
of the opinion that the integrity of its investigative processes may be compromised
by the fact that the same lawyer represents more than one person in any particular
matter, it will permit that lawyer to appear before it on behalf of only one
of those persons. Explaining the reasoning behind the amendment of the legal representation guidelines,
Terry Calvani, director of the Authority's Cartels Division announced that: “The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure the integrity and effectiveness
of the Authority’s investigative processes." "He went on to add: "As we investigate potential price-fixing cartels or other possible breaches
of competition law we rely heavily on the testimony and statements of persons
attending before the Authority. We don’t want the enforcement of competition
law compromised by conflicts which potentially arise where the same lawyer represents
more than one person in the same investigation.” .
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