France
Answer ... A private claim for damages and interest can be brought by any party that suffered harm as a result of an anti-competitive practice or abuse of dominance. This action is provided for in Article L481.1 of the Commercial Code. A private party can also bring an action for an interim measures asking for the court to order the anti-competitive behaviour to end. These actions can be joined.
In the case of damages, the plaintiff must show the following:
- an infringement of the competition rules;
- that it has suffered damage; and
- a causal link between the infringement and the damage suffered.
This applies regardless of whether the Competition Authority has taken any decision or investigated the matter. In practice, it is easier to win a case and obtain a remedy if the Competition Authority has published an infringement decision, since this constitutes irrefutable proof of an infringement (Article L481.2) and the plaintiff thus need only show loss and a causal link to the infringement.
In addition, any infringement decision by the European Commission will be considered as proof of infringement by the French courts, since they are obliged to decide cases in a way that is coherent with commission decisions. In contrast, the decisions of other national authorities only give rise to a rebuttable presumption of infringement.
There are specialised commercial courts that have specific jurisdiction for competition litigation. The most important is the Paris Commercial Court; but cases can be brought in seven other commercial courts based in Bordeaux, Fort-de-France, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nancy and Rennes.
The Paris Court of Appeal has sole jurisdiction to hear appeals against decisions of these courts.
France
Answer ... The legal basis is set out in Article L481.1 of the Commercial Code.