동의명령제

Abstract

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (the “KFTC”) is to adopt the consent order program, under which aproposed respondent or respondent (collectively,“Respondent”)can settle the case with the KFTC regarding the alleged antitrust violation without Respondent’s admission of wrongdoing. As of December of 2008, the legislative bill for the consent order program (the “Bill”) is currently under the review of the National Assembly. From the antitrust authority’s perspective, the consent order program may promote sound antitrust enforcement system by saving valuable resource of the KFTC without sacrificing effective law enforcement and by allowing for the prompt enforcement of the terms of any settlement with Respondent. On the other hand, from Respondent’s point of view, the consent order program provides Respondent with incentives to settle the antitrust charges because Respondent can promptly resolve the antitrust case without admitting the violation of antitrust law and can avoid a prolonged litigation. In some jurisdictions (e.g., U.S.,EU), they have already operated the consent order program in antitrust enforcement, and developed the consent order programs in a way promoting the effective and efficient resolution of antitrust investigations. Therefore, it may be worthwhile to understand the consent order programs of foreign countries for the purpose of implementing better program in Korea. In this regard, this article introduces the consent order programs of U.S.and EU, explaining the overall procedures and a certain unique features of respective programs. Then, this article overviews the general mechanism of the consent order program under the Bill, addressing the subject matter, deliberation process, the consultation requirement with other governmental agency, and the legal effect of the consent order. Finally, this article discusses some potential issues under the Bill, with offering modest suggestion for furtherance of the consent order program under the Bill. In making some comments, some U.S. or EU examples are used to provide understanding from comparative law perspective.