Guidelines

What documents must the officials present?

Luxembourg Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence, AC)
 

• Upon their arrival, it is very important to welcome the investigating officers, the investigators and the judicial police officer(s) accompanying them and invite them to take a seat in a separate meeting room in which the first steps of the administrative inspection can be completed (consultation of the administrative decision ordering the inspection, the investigating judge’s (juge d’instruction) order authorizing the inspection (if applicable), verification of the investigators’ IDs).
  
  At the same time, reception staff must inform the legal representative and/or owner of the premises and the company's lawyers (contacts to be predefined) that an investigation is underway on the company's premises.
  
  In practice, investigators should be asked to wait in this room and not be allowed to move around the premises before the arrival of the legal representative and/or the owner of the premises and/or the lawyers.  

• The officials must be in possession of the order from the investigating judge authorizing the inspection.
  
  The order shall be notified on site and at the time of the visit by the investigating officer, or the assisting officers or investigators, to the manager of the company or to the designated representative or, failing that, to the occupier of the premises, who shall receive a full copy thereof. If it is not possible to notify the order on site and at the time of the visit, it shall be notified by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt after the operations.
  
   
• The inspection shall in principle be carried out in the presence of the manager of the company, the designated representative or the occupant of the premises.
   
• The audited/inspected company must sign a receipt confirming that it has received the above documents.
  
  Carefully review these documents and verify the following points:
  
  
  • Is your company really the subject of the investigation/inspection?
  • Is this visit by the AC being conducted under its investigative powers or its inspection powers?
  • Is the AC acting on its own initiative or at the request of a foreign competition authority?
  • Has the investigating judge authorized the unannounced inspection of the premises (i.e. order)?
  • What are the allegations against your company and what is the alleged infringement period?
  • What is the scope of the control/inspection (which premises, documents, persons or activities are targeted)?
  • Which officials are empowered to conduct the control/inspection?
  • When can the control/inspection be carried out?
  • Is the seizure or copying of documents authorized (if so, which documents are targeted)?

Where and how may the officials carry out checks/inspections?

Luxembourg Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence, AC)
 

• It is recommended that, as soon as the investigators arrive, the company's legal department or solicitor be notified so that they can attend the inspection/audit.
  
  In the event of an inspection, the company's legal representative or the occupant of the premises must be notified within one month of the investigating judge's order (this period may be extended at the request of the investigating judge), as the inspection must be carried out in the presence of the company's manager, the designated representative or the occupant of the premises.
   
• The investigating advisers of the AC may carry out inspections:
  
  1° of all premises, land and means of transport of companies and associations of companies.
  
  2° at the homes of the company’s administrators, managers, directors and other members of staff (if there is reasonable suspicion that books or other documents relating to the company's activities and the subject of the inspection are located there).
   
• In carrying out their duties, investigators may call upon the assistance of law enforcement officers, in particular judicial police officers of the Grand Ducal Police.
   
• They may seize original documents and take or obtain, in any form whatsoever, copies or extracts of such documents.
  
  In this context, it is strongly recommended that you make copies of each of the documents that will be seized, or at the very least draw up an inventory of the documents that have been seized by the investigators (for the attention of your lawyers).

What may the officials search for?

Luxembourg Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence, AC)

Who may be interviewed by the officials and how?

Luxembourg Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence, AC)

The officials are entitled to request oral explanations from all representatives and employees of the company.