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The Competition Tribunal shall be located in Santiago

Dans le document HANDBOOK ON COMPETITION LEGISLATION (Page 133-138)

SECTION I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 8.- The Competition Tribunal shall be located in Santiago

Article 9.- The Tribunal shall function permanently, and shall determine the days and time for holding its sessions. In any event, it shall meet to decide cases in legally constituted sessions at least three times per week.

The quorum for sessions shall be of three members, and agreements shall be adopted by simple majority, with the deciding vote of the President in the event of a tie. Every other aspect shall be governed by Paragraph 2, Section V, of the Organic Code for Courts, as applicable.

Article 9bis.- The principal and alternate members of the Competition Tribunal shall make a sworn statement of their assets, under the same terms stipulated in articles 60 B, 60 C and 60 D of law N° 18,575, Fundamental Organic Law on General Bases for State Administration.

The statement of assets shall be made before the Secretary of the Tribunal, who shall keep it available for public review.

Failure to present the statement of assets in a timely manner shall be penalized with a fine ranging from ten to thirty UTM2. After sixty days have elapsed following the date on which the submission of the statement is due, the non- compliance of this duty shall be presumed.

Failure to comply with the obligation to update the statement of assets shall be penalized with a fine ranging from five to fifteen UTM. The fines referred to in the above paragraphs shall be imposed by the Competition Tribunal.

2 The UTM is a currency legally defined for tax purposes, indexed monthly by the Consumer

Price Index. The value of one UTM is approximately US$72 as at December 2009.

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The procedure can be initiated ex-officio by the Tribunal or following a complaint made by one of its members. The affected Judge will have a ten working days period to respond to the charges. If necessary, there will be an eight day period for the presentation of evidence. All forms of evidence may be presented, and its weighing shall be done according the Tribunal’s own good judgement. The Tribunal shall issue a ruling within ten days following the day on which the final proceedings are completed.

Notwithstanding the above, the offender shall have a period of ten days, as of the date of notification of the fine, in order to present the omitted statement, or to correct it. If the offender does so, the fine shall be reduced by half.

Article 10.- The monthly remuneration for the principal members of the Tribunal shall be an amount equivalent to the gross monthly remuneration of permanent nature for the post of National Economic Prosecutor. The alternate members, in turn, shall receive each month the amount of thirty UTM, plus ten UTM per session they attend where the corresponding principal member is not present, and up to a maximum of sixty UTM, regardless of the number of sessions which they attend.

In the event of unjustified absence, qualified as such by the majority of the remaining members of the Tribunal, the absent principal Judge shall have a reduction of 50% of the amount received by the alternate who replaced him.

Article 11.- Members of the Tribunal may lose their jurisdiction to hear certain cases due to a declared disqualification (after recusal or following the challenge of a party), by virtue of the causes specified in articles 195 and 196 of the Organic Code for Courts.

In any case, it shall be presumed de jure that the principal or alternate Judge, as applicable, shall also be disqualified when:

a) The interest in the case is that of his/her spouse or his/her relatives by consanguinity up to the third degree, or up to the second degree by kinship;

or of persons who are related to him/her by adoption, or that of companies or corporations of which these same people are legal representatives, agents, directors, managers, or incumbents in other executive positions, or hold, either directly or through other private individuals or legal entities, a share of the capital stock greater than 10% or that otherwise allows them to elect or prompt the election of one or more of the administrators, or where they exercise decisive influence over the administration or management of the corporation, as stipulated in article 99 of law Nº 18.045 on the Stock Market;

and

b) He/She provides advisory or professional services to private individuals or legal entities that are party to the case, or he/she has done so in the two years prior to the date of initiation of the case

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before the Tribunal, or has done so during the investigation by the National Economic Prosecutor which originated it.

Notwithstanding the provisions in paragraphs eight, nine and ten of Article 6, the following shall be cause for challenge of the principal or alternate members: having been a consultant to, or having provided services to, any of the parties during the year preceding that of the serving of the lawsuit or the publication of the decree that ordered the initiation of the procedure of article 31; the existence of relationships of employment, business, partnership or as a result of associations of a professional during the two years prior to the date of the filing of the case in question, a counterpart of those referred to in sub-section b) of the second paragraph of this article, in any judicial procedure or commercial negotiation, that could affect the impartiality of the Judge.

The cause invoked may be accepted by the affected member. Otherwise, it shall be ruled forthwith by the Tribunal, with the exclusion of such member, applying a fine for fiscal benefit of up to twenty UTM to the party presenting the challenge, should the motion for disqualification be rejected unanimously.

In absence or disqualification of any of the principal members, he shall be replaced by the alternate Judge of the same area of expertise, unless this rule hinders the Tribunal from holding session with the minimum quorum established in Article 9.

If, due to any impediment, the Tribunal lacks sufficient principal or alternate Judge to form a quorum, these shall be subrogated by Judges of the Court of Appeals of Santiago, as stipulated in the Organic Code for Courts.

Articles 319 through 331 of the Organic Code for Courts shall be applicable to the members of the Tribunal, with the exception of article 322.

Article 11bis.- Notwithstanding the conflicts of interest established in Article 6, principal or alternate members of the Tribunal may neither be administrators, managers, or dependent workers, nor may advise or provide professional services to private

Violation of this prohibition shall be punished by an absolute ban on holding any public office for the period of five years, and a fine for fiscal benefit equivalent to

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the last year of remunerations received in the post. These penalties shall be imposed by the Supreme Court upon request by any interested party.

The complaint referred to in the previous paragraphs shall state clearly and precisely the facts which constitute the violation and shall be accompanied by the elements of proof on which they are founded, or by an offer to submit such proof, as the case may be. If the complaint does not meet these requirements, the Plenary of the Supreme Court, convened for this purpose, shall declare it inadmissible, without further proceedings.

Once the proceedings are initiated, the President of the Supreme Court shall notify the defendant, who shall respond within a period of eight days following the date of reception of the relevant notification document, which shall be sent together with its background information by the channel deemed to be the quickest.

Once the notified party has responded or the period stipulated in the preceding paragraph has expired, the President of the Tribunal shall summon the parties to a hearing in which he shall receive the evidence offered, and shall designate the Judge to whom such evidence must be submitted. Once the proceedings have been conducted or the terms have expired without their performance, the Judge shall order that the relevant court records be brought before the Plenary of the Supreme Court especially summoned for that purpose. The Supreme Court may only decree measures for better resolving the case once the hearing has ended.

Any of the parties may appear before the Supreme Court up until the hearing of the case.

A decision that imposes the sanction to which this article refers, shall give the right to whomever deems himself affected to file an extraordinary motion for reversal before the Supreme Court of the ruling in which the defendant has participated, when the affected party considers that his acts and decision were damaging to his interests.

Article 12.- Members of the Competition Tribunal shall cease to hold office for the following causes:

a) End of the legal period of their appointment;

b) Voluntary resignation;

c) Destitution due to noticeable abandonment of duties;

d) Supervening incapacity: namely, that which prevents the member from performing his duties for a period of three consecutive months, or for six months in any giving year.

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e) When any of the circumstances listed in paragraphs eight and following of article 6 arises.

The measures of sub-sections c), d) and e) above shall be made effective by the Supreme Court, upon request by the President of the Tribunal or by two of its members, without prejudice to the disciplinary authority of the Supreme Court.

The resolution that makes the destitution effective must indicate the facts on which it is based and the background information that was considered to prove such facts.

Once a judge has ceased to hold office, if the remaining time of the appointment is greater than a hundred and eighty days, a substitute shall be appointed in accordance with the rules established in article 6 hereof. In the case of sub- sections b), c), and d) above, the substitute shall last in the post for the remaining time of the original appointment.

Article 13.- The staff of the Competition Tribunal shall be as follows:

Position Rank Number

Secretary 4 1

Court Clerk 5 1

Court Clerk 6 1

University graduate in economics 5 1 University graduate in economics 6 1

Head of the Budget Office 14 1

First Officer 16 1

Hall Official 17 1

Assistant 20 1

Total Staff 9

In addition, temporary staff may be hired when the needs of the Tribunal so require, after approval by the Government Budget Office.

The staff of the Tribunal shall be subject to the general labour law. In all, they shall be subject to the same regime of remuneration, dedication and incompatibilities as the staff of the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office.

The above notwithstanding, personnel who provide services to the Tribunal shall be regarded as public servants, for the purposes of administrative accountability and criminal liability.

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The Secretary of the Tribunal shall be in charge of the administration and shall have direct authority over the staff, without prejudice to the specific functions and attributions that are assigned or delegated to him by the Tribunal.

The Tribunal shall dictate rules of procedure based on which the Secretary shall evaluate the staff annually. An appeal against such evaluation may be brought before the Tribunal within a five working days period as of the notification of the evaluation.

Article 14.- Appointment of the officers shall be carried out by the Tribunal, on the basis of credentials or competitive examination.

The President of the Tribunal shall issue the appointments by a resolution addressed to the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic only for the purpose of its records.

The same procedure will be followed with regard to all of the resolutions related to the staff.

Article 15.- Notwithstanding the rules provided for in general labour law regulations,

Dans le document HANDBOOK ON COMPETITION LEGISLATION (Page 133-138)