The Competition Council wins its first trial
October 31, 2022 was a historical day. The Rabat Court of Appeal settles an unprecedented dispute in competition law. And this is not the only exclusivity of this file that we had baptized “THE litigation of the first time”.
The Association of Chartered Accountants will ultimately have to pay 3 million MAD (275,000 USD). This judicial decision comes following a summary procedure initiated in mid-September 2022 by the Association of Chartered Accountants. The interim proceedings sought to urgently defer the execution of a decision of the Competition Council. The Association chaired by Amine Baakili was inflicted, at the end of July 2022, this financial penalty for price fixing. A directive of the Association of Chartered Accountants relating to Time Budget and Fees was accepted as evidence of the offence. Said directive had set a minimum honorary rate of 500 MAD/hour (370 USD) excluding taxes for the legal and contractual audit.
For the time being, the judges have not yet published their order so that people know the motivations of the judgement rendered. A fundamental question arose in this trial. Was the payment of the fine going to have “serious effects” on the financial health of the Association of Chartered Accountants? The answer is no, a priori, with regard to the position of the group of judges made up of three magistrates and chaired by Rachid Abdelkbir.
In addition, the Competition Council had accompanied its financial penalty with a penalty payment of 4,000 MAD (370 USD) for each day of delay. This penalty for non-performance is added to the 3 million MAD. It was to go live 60 days after notification of the regulator’s decision. This period has expired, and the counter has been running since October 02, 2022. The representatives of the corporation will therefore have to pay the fine to the General Treasury of the Kingdom.
Furthermore, the review of the merits of the case began on Wednesday, November 02, 2022. The Association of Chartered Accountants challenges its conviction for anti-competitive practice. The Association included in this procedure the Head of Government, the General Secretariat of the Government, the Ministry of Finance, and the chartered accountants firm IRAC at the origin of the complaint before the regulator.
Faiçal FAQUIHI
