The Turkish Council of State recognizes the ne bis in idem principle in competition law (Mey İçki)

Introduction On February 23, 2021, the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”) has published seminal judgments of the 13th Chamber of the Council of State (“Council of State”). [1] These are landmark decisions that upheld the Turkish Competition Board’s (“Board”) analysis within the scope of its decision regarding the allegations that Mey İçki San. ve Tic. A.Ş. (“Diageo Turkey”) violated Article 6 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) through exclusionary practices in the vodka and gin markets (“Vodka and Gin Decision”). [2] The decisions of the Council of State are of particular significance since they affirmed a very rare usage of the “ne bis in idem” principle (i.e., a legal concept that restricts the possibility of a defendant being penalized