The COVID-19 pandemic, which has necessitated changes in many areas around the world, has also shown some effects in terms of competition law. Within this scope, several competition authorities and jurisdictions have adopted remote working models and made the necessary infrastructure functional. In this regard, it is noteworthy that oral hearing meetings held before competition authorities have started to be conducted remotely via different communication tools.

In terms of adaptation to the ongoing pandemic in Turkey, the Turkish Competition Authority has begun to conduct online oral hearings, which were delayed for a long time. However, the said practice brings some legal questions with it considering the lack of legal basis for conducting online oral hearings and the compatibility of online oral hearings with the fundamental principles of law.

Please find attached Baseak CORE Papers No: 4 where we discuss the topic in detail.

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Balcıoğlu Selçuk Ardıyok Keki Attorney Partnership is an Istanbul-based full service law firm with a team of 130+ lawyers and economists. Our practice focuses on a wide range of areas including real estate, corporate, mergers and acquisitions, banking, project finance, capital markets, competition and anti-trust, employment, litigation and arbitration, telecommunication, regulatory and public law and intellectual property. We represent and advise Turkish and multinational clients, including Fortune 500 companies, in the banking and finance, private equity, real estate, manufacturing, hospitality and leisure, retail, automotive, energy, information technology, life sciences, luxury fashion and beauty, and media sectors.