ABSTRACT
As with any area involving the State’s enforcement of legal provisions, human rights and the rights of the defence are becoming increasingly important. Whilst competition law is rarely enforced against natural persons, it is clear that legal persons do have ‘human’ rights and can rely on the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act to protect them.31 In a competition law context it is probably Art 6 of the Convention, the right to a fair trial, that is of the greatest importance, although other rights may also come into play. The debate surrounding access to the file and the privilege against self-incrimination has already been discussed in Chapter 2, but there is scope for many more issues to come to the fore, particularly with regard to the new cartel offence in the UK.
