PRAWNOKARNE ŹRÓDŁA INSPIRACJI W PRAWIE OCHRONY KONKURENCJI I KONSUMENTÓW

Abstract

The article deals with the issue of referrals to the study of criminal law as sources of inspiration for the enforcement of public law rules of competition and consumer protection (Act of February 16, 2007, on Competition and Consumer Protection (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 275) (oukk)). It is now widely accepted in antitrust jurisprudence that although the liability of the parties to the proceedings before the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) is not of criminal nature, and fines imposed by the President of UOKiK are not penalties within the meaning of the Criminal Code, the rules of judicial verification of the correctness of UOKiK’s decisions imposing these sanctions should meet the requirements analogous to those applicable by a court adjudicating in a criminal case. However, while there is little doubt that antitrust authorities should be required to apply standards of protection of fundamental rights as derived from the study of criminal law and international sources (European Convention on Human Rights, Charter of Fundamental Rights), the issue of transferring to competition and consumer law other standards recognized in criminal law remains open. The current jurisprudence contains divergent positions on this issue. The Supreme Court emphasized that „there are no justified grounds for applying the provisions of the general part of the Penal Code under the regime of administrative liability” (case I NSK 4/18). On the other hand, it approved references by analogy to the solutions taken from the Criminal Code in the absence of similar provisions in the uokk (case I NSK 8/19) or in cases where competition law uses concepts taken from criminal law (case I NSK 62/18). The article presents both of the jurisprudence lines mentioned above. In addition, the article point outs issues of competition and consumer protection law in the case of which, in the author’s opinion, the use of concepts derived from the study of criminal law would be justified.