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The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has granted applications for six search warrants under Section 28(1)(b) of the Competition Act 1998, reinforcing its approach to handling such applications.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating suspected bid rigging in tenders for roofing and construction services supplied to schools. It applied to the CAT for warrants to enter and search the business premises of seven companies alleged to be involved.
Legal Framework and Procedure
The 2014 amendment to the Competition Act 1998 transferred the jurisdiction for issuing search warrants from the High Court to the CAT. However, the CAT Rules were never updated to specify the exact procedure for these applications. Instead, the CAT follows the Practice Direction on search warrants used in the High Court, ensuring rigorous legal standards are maintained.
The CAT emphasised that the threshold for issuing a warrant must not be lower than that of the High Court. To grant a warrant, it must be satisfied that:
There are reasonable grounds for suspecting that relevant documents are on the premises.
These documents fall within the CMA’s authority under Section 26 of the Act.
The documents would likely be concealed, removed, tampered with, or destroyed if requested for production.
CAT's Decision
The CAT found that the CMA had reasonable grounds to suspect serious breaches of competition law. Given the nature of bid-rigging, which typically involves secret communications between participants, it was deemed likely that relevant documents would be located at the companies’ premises.
Citing previous case law, the CAT noted that in cases involving secret cartels, there is often a strong incentive to hide incriminating evidence, making search warrants an essential investigative tool. As a result, the Tribunal concluded that the legal criteria were met and granted the search warrants.
This decision underscores the CAT’s role in enforcing competition law and highlights the rigorous legal standards required for search warrant applications in competition investigations.