Preisabsprachen

This study addresses the responsibility of legal persons within the frameworks of criminal law and antitrust law in the matter of tender agreements made during the awarding of contracts and the possible administration of so-called ‘double jeopardy’ punishments as a result. After fundamentally outlining the culpability of natural persons according to §§ 146ff, 168b of the Austrian Criminal Code, the study explains the general conditions of legal persons’ responsibility within the frameworks of criminal law and antitrust law. In addition to examining the substantive conditions of the antitrust laws in Austria and the EU, it also addresses procedural issues. It then focuses on conducting a detailed analysis of article 50 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and on explaining whether proceedings according to Austria’s Verbandsverantwortlichkeitsgesetz (the law which regulates the liability of organisations in cases where their members commit a crime) or cases where the antitrust law has been breached can be classified as criminal proceedings, whether the choices available to decision makers within the framework of such proceedings represent legally binding alternatives and whether proceedings can be brought against legal persons for the same crime.