Draft Law regarding damages arising from anticompetitive behaviours

Prague, 8 May 2017

The Czech Republic is under the obligation to transpose a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council – specifically directive no. 2014/104/EU dated 26 November 2014 – with respect to certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union. Hence, the Czech parliament is discussing a draft law on the damages resulting from such anticompetitive behaviours.

The draft law provides the presumption of damage where economic competition has been restricted by a cartel. Reverse onus will henceforth be the norm whereby a defendant in such a case will need to prove no damage resulted because of such anticompetitive behaviour.

The draft law also provides the possibility that before commencement of legal proceedings asking for damages caused by the curtailment of economic competition, the court will, at the request of a party proving the credibility of its right to compensation, order certain persons to disclose documents requested by the injured party. Another relevant change is that the corporate incorporation procedure of a limited liability company, sole proprietorship, general partnership and/or limited partnership are exempt from stamp duties and publishing fees.