‘Did They Do It?’ The Interplay between the Standard of Proof and the Presumption of Innocence in EU Cartel Investigations

Source abstract

This article examines the need for EU Courts to clarify the appropriate standard of proof in cartel proceedings. It discusses the usefulness of this legal benchmark in antitrust procedure, having regard to the Member States different legal traditions re the rules of evidence and the implications of a dissimilar approach to the problem across the EU, in a system of parallel enforcement regimes. In the absence of an EU provision on the matter, the article observes that the presumption of innocence, which is a generally recognized international standard, provides for a workable solution, considering the evidence based safeguards that stem from it, in light of both the Strasbourg and the EU courts case law. Bearing in mind the intrinsic distinctive nature between competition law cases, the article finally explores whether it is appropriate to argue the existence of a single uniform standard of proof and review and submits that these inevitably vary according to the subject matter of each case, notably, to whether the presumption of innocence is applicable or not.