The Spanish Court of Appeal issues a decision that renders illegal some of the Competition Authority’s inspection practices (CNC)

Spanish Court of Appeal strikes down CNC’s Inspection Practices* The Audiencia Nacional (‘AN’) – i.e. the Spanish Court in charge of the review of decisions adopted by the Spanish National Competition Commission (‘CNC’) – recently delivered an important judgment quashing some of the CNC’s investigatory practices, which had elicited a great deal of controversy over the past few months. Background: In a raft of recent cases, the CNC's Investigation Directorate made use of the new investigatory powers provided for under Competition Act 15/2007. Those cases triggered a stern opposition from the legal community, which voiced that the CNC’s inspections might have deviated (i) from the