Recommended framework for international best practices in competition law enforcement proceedings

Transparency
Engagement
Confidentiality
Due process/fairness
Non-discrimination
Accountability
Role of the courts

The best practices proposed in this document are intended to promote the adoption of procedural safeguards, directed at ensuring that due regard is given to the fundamental fairness of the processes by which competition authorities enforce their laws in an increasingly global context.
ICC believes it is essential that competition enforcement agencies embrace the principles of transparency, early and continuing engagement, due process, non-discrimination and accountability in order to operate effectively in this heterogeneous environment. Given the extent to which the actions of a given nation’s competition authority directly impact firms outside its borders, such principles are essential not only to ensure fairness to firms being investigated, but also to pursue more effectively the policies that underlie competition laws.