On 31 May 2016, a round-table discussion on “Conceptual and Constitutional Analysis of the RA Economic Competition Protection and Enforcement Practices”, and presentation of the same survey results took place in the Ararat Hall of the Marriott hotel. The Armenian Minister of Economy, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the EU to Armenia, lawyers, businessmen and civil society representatives attended the meeting.

   The survey was carried out by the Arni Consult law firm with the support of the Concern Dialog law firm by the request of Armenian Software. The Commission enforcement practices and legislative basis for the activity have been studied. The compliance of the Commission activity with the fundamental principles of democracy has been analyzed with regard to proportionality, legal certainty, effective means of legal redress and the public's right to know.

   The study showed that the main target of the commission activity are businesses, meanwhile the Commission has not made decisions on anticompetitive behavior or actions of state bodies or officials. Commission is in a dominant position investigating the businesses, and this is not only due to the flaws in the law, but  also the fact of Commission disregarding the necessary phases of administration, and  the fundamental principles of administration, as well as the ineffectiveness of judicial review.

   Commission hasn’t published its decisions since 2013, explaining that there are trade secrets in all the decisions, thus limiting the public’s right to know.

   The full text of the survey is available at the following link:  http://joom.ag/3R5Q