Judicial Review of the Administrative Court of Justice over the Competition Council and Related Institutions

The Iranian Competition Law has been introduced under the General Policy Implementation Law of Article 44  of the Constitution. One of the major issues in competition law is the competition body. There are such institutions in different countries, from countries with a long history of competition law, such as the United States, to countries in the Middle East. In Iran, the Competition Council is the only nationally-recognized authority to review anti-competitive practices and has the authority to make various and important decisions. Because these decisions can seriously affect the rights of stakeholders and economic actors, it is necessary to monitor and control their decisions. Due to its paramount importance and existing disagreement, competence of the Administrative Court of Justice in exercising judicial review over the decisions of the Competition Council and its Appeal Board will be investigated in the present study. The research method is descriptive-analytical. Results of the study indicate that to identify the authority competent to exercise judicial review over the competition council, one should pay attention to the structure and nature of the said council and the type of its decisions. The conclusion of the article is that the Administrative Court of Justice has the authority to exercise judicial review over general decisions, case decisions and the decisions and opinions of the Competition Council in the capacity of dealing with anti-competitive procedures. Moreover, the decisions of the Appeal Board of the Competition Council as well as the decisions and actions of the National Competition Center and their officials are subject to judicial review and criminal prosecution of the court.