Procedural complaints: raising procedural issues in CMA cases

If you are a party involved in one of the CMA’s Competition Act, market or merger cases, the CMA’s Procedural Officer provides a way in which you can raise procedural issues that you have not been able to resolve with the CMA Group or staff member responsible for the investigation. Similarly, if you are involved in one of the CMA’s digital market competition regime cases or direct consumer enforcement cases, please see below for information on the role, scope and process for raising a procedural complaint with an adjudicator independent of the relevant CMA investigation (the ‘Procedural Complaints Adjudicator’).

The procedural issues that you can raise with the Procedural Officer or Procedural Complaints Adjudicator (as appropriate) vary depending on the type of case.

The Procedural Officer and Procedural Complaints Adjudicator are independent from the relevant CMA investigations, case teams and decision makers. Their role is intended to ensure that procedural issues can be addressed quickly, efficiently and cost effectively

The Procedural Officer also chairs oral hearings with parties in Competition Act investigations.

In direct consumer enforcement cases the oral hearing will be chaired by a CMA member of staff who, other than acting as chairperson or considering a procedural complaint, has not been involved as decision maker or in the day-to-day running of the investigation.

Procedural Officer role, scope and process: Competition Act 1998 investigations

The Procedural Officer determines significant procedural complaints that arise in Competition Act investigations. Significant procedural complaints considered by the Procedural Officer are those relating to:

deadlines for parties to respond to information requests, submit non-confidential versions of documents or submit written representations on the Statement of Objections, Supplementary Statement of Objections or any Draft Penalty Statement